Reading the Global Past

Nationally and internationally, skills training provision across our disciplines is diminishing. Few institutions can meet the needs of their students in essential skills like codicology, diplomatics, visual literacy, linguistic, literary and object analysis, linguistic competence,  material culture or archival research, not to mention the growing array of digital tools in areas such as handwritten text recognition or generative AI. Beyond the academy and across the GLAM sector, access to skills training as continuing professional development is even more patchy. IMEMS seeks to position itself as a leading provider in these areas, as part of existing and planned provision for our own PGT and PGR, for students enrolled for degrees at partner universities in the UK and abroad, and for professionals in the GLAM sector, as well as ECRs. We already offer training through online (synchronous/asynchronous) courses in palaeography and by supporting the 'Things that Matter’ and ‘Eat Medieval' Summer Schools. At this Forge, we explore building on IMEMS’s existing portfolio with a co-taught course introducing basic skills of analysis and interpretation of the past, provisionally called ‘Reading the Global Past’. Anyone interested in enhancing DU’s teaching offer in this way is welcome to 7 Owengate on Thursday 12 February at 1-2pm.