Category Archives: Reading group

Working Group: Beauty Studies in the Premodern World

The Consortium for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine has a new working group: Beauty Studies in the Premodern World. The group offers a transdisciplinary forum to explore the cultural histories of beautification and bodily care in the premodern world, examining beauty practices as historically significant forms of knowledge related to health, hygiene, status, and identity. The Working Group will meet once a month.

For registration, see here: https://www.chstm.org/group/beauty-studies-premodern-world

We are delighted to start with a reading seminar with Evelyn Welch (University of Bristol): ‘Whose Hair is it Anyway? Beauty, Health and Shaven Heads in Early Modern Europe’. This is based on Chapter 5 of Renaissance Skin (Manchester University Press, 2025). The full book is available open access here.

This will be on 13 October at 1:00 pm UK time / 2:00 pm CEST. The meeting link is available via the CHSTM website after you register.

We very much hope to see some of you there. Please share this to any of your colleagues that might be interested.

There are two more talks scheduled for 2025:

Monday, November 10, 2025, 1pm UK time/2pm CET
Seminar with Katharina Seidl (Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna / Ambras Castle, Innsbruck) on the “The Art of Beauty exhibition” at Ambras Castle, Innsbruck (June-October 2025)

Monday, December 8, 2025, 1pm UK time/2pm CET
Reading seminar with Erin Griffey (University of Auckland) on her book Facing Decay: Beauty, Aging and Cosmetics in Early Modern Europe (Penn State University Press, 2025)

On behalf of,
Erin Griffey, Montserrat Cabré, and Romana Sammern

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

The next session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 30 August at 2-3pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on the topic of ‘Violence and the Colonial Household’. See schedule below.

The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on the Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

We are asking those interested to register again on TryBooking at https://www.trybooking.com/CZJNA, although drop-ins are always welcome.

Please contact the convenor with any queries: Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

Reading Group Schedule S2 2025 UPDATED LINKDownload

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

The next session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 26 August at 11-12pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on the topic of ‘Materiality and Masculinity in Monastic Communities’. See schedule below.

The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on the Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

We are asking those interested to register again on TryBooking at https://www.trybooking.com/CZJNA, although drop-ins are always welcome.

Please contact the convenor with any queries: Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

Reading Group Schedule S2 2025 UPDATED LINKDownload

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

The next session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 29 July at 11-12pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on the topic of ‘Gender and Account Books’. See schedule below.

The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on the Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

We are asking those interested to register again on TryBooking at https://www.trybooking.com/CZJNA, although drop-ins are always welcome.

Please contact the convenor with any queries: Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

Reading Group Schedule S2 2025 UPDATEDDownload

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

The next session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 24 June at 11-12pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on the topic of ‘Medieval Herring Casks’. See schedule below.

The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on the Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

We are asking those interested to register again on TryBooking at https://www.trybooking.com/CZJNA, although drop-ins are always welcome.

Please contact the convenor with any queries: Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

Reading Group Schedule S1 2025 UPDATEDDownload

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

The next session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 29 April at 11-12pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on the topic of ‘Compassion and the White Ship’. See schedule below.

The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on the Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

We are asking those interested to register again on TryBooking at https://www.trybooking.com/CZJNA, although drop-ins are always welcome.

Please contact the convenor with any queries: Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

Reading Group Schedule S1 2025Download

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

A reminder that the next session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 25 March at 1-2pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on Extinction and Fish Hunting. See schedule below.

The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on the Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

We are asking those interested to register again on TryBooking at https://www.trybooking.com/CZJNA, although drop-ins are always welcome.

Please contact the convenor with any queries: Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

Reading Group Schedule S1 2025Download

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

The first session of the 2025 ANZAMEMS reading group is on Tuesday 25 March at 1-2pm Melbourne time (UTC+11). This will be on Extinction and Fish Hunting. See schedule below.

The Zoom links, readings, and full schedule can be found on the Google Drive at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF.

We are asking those interested to register again on TryBooking at https://www.trybooking.com/CZJNA, although drop-ins are always welcome.

Please contact the convenor with any queries: Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

ANZAMEMS Reading Group

The final session of the 2024 ANZAMEMS ECR/Postgraduate reading group is scheduled for Tuesday, November 26. This will be a session on the topic of Jesuits, Japan, and Gendered Knowledge. See schedule below.

All readings and any updates to the schedule will be shared through the reading group’s Google Drive folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Qi0W8i-38w0Dgwia9jJ0aDCh5OEQjpRF?usp=sharing

Sign up is via the following link: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1322413

Please contact the convenors with any queries: Alexandra Forsyth (University of Auckland), afor784@aucklanduni.ac.nz, and Emily Chambers (Murdoch University), emily.chambers@murdoch.edu.au.

UPDATED ANZAMEMS Reading Group Schedule S1 24.docxDownload