Centre for Medieval Studies
Tracey Davison
Keeping up Appearances. Investigating perceptions of clothing and textiles in Anglo-Saxon England
My thesis addresses the absence of a body of scholarship devoted to the use and perception of textiles and clothing in Anglo-Saxon England. By examining the degree to which the art historical and archaeological evidence for early medieval textiles, clothing and adornment can be woven into and supported by the literature (vernacular and Latin, secular and ecclesiastical) produced and circulating in Anglo-Saxon England. Examining the material and visual evidence, alongside the way language was used and narratives were structured, will vastly enhance our understanding of ‘appearance’ in Anglo-Saxon England.
Biography
I started university as a mature student with four children, I successfully completed a History of Art BA at University of York, achieving a high 2:1. It was also very rewarding to be History of Art Course Rep in the second and third years of my undergraduate degree. During my MA at York, I received the Ede and Ravenscroft Scholarship and was shortlisted for the Art Scholars Award. I wrote reviews for the first two issues of the peer-reviewed journal Aspectus and joined the editorial board for the 2020/21 issue. I had a paper on Skeuomorphic Textiles accepted for the NEMICs conference in Glasgow, July 2020. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 the conference was cancelled. Interdisciplinary collaboration is integral to a conference I am helping to organise called Art and Affect in the Predictive Mind, bringing together the departments of Sociology, Philosophy, History of Art and Music.
