Outreach
The Institute for Medieval Studies prides itself on working closely with many UNM departments and academic institutions, as well as the greater Albuquerque community to deliver programs, events, activities, and educational opportunities that benefit everyone!
The Medieval Outreach Program
The Medieval Outreach Program endeavors to cultivate community interest in medieval studies by working with secondary school students to spark their curiosity in the fascinating world of medieval research. Through an interactive process, IMS Outreach strives to connect enthusiastic university scholars with secondary school students to explore the challenges, discoveries, and limitless realms of inquiry offered by investigating the extraordinary cultural efflouresence of the Middle Ages.
This is achieved through graduate student led presentations in local high schools intended to support curriculums surveying the historical events, art, architecture, language, and literature of the medieval era. Past presentations have dived into the mere with Beowulf, inspecting the beauty of an Old English text crawling with monsters, feuds, word-battles, treasure, and dragons. Others have transported students to the age of Chaucer, or, the turbulent Fourteenth Century, where budding scholars can learn about the Middle English language, the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, and the Peasant’s Revolt as historical underpinnings of The Canterbury Tales. Following in-class presentations, IMS Outreach has provided additional opportunities for secondary school students to pursue a medieval research project of their choice under the guidance of a graduate mentor, offering students the ability to dive into the college writing process. Furthermore, IMS hosts an annual Medieval Faire in Smith Plaza to energize community interest in the Middle Ages.
There’s no time like the present to study the past, and the medieval world continues to capture the imagination, so join us in creating a community dedicated to the fabulous Middle Ages!
IMS Outreach Fellow
Luke Sheppard
M.A. Student, English Department
ljshepp@unm.edu
Luke Sheppard is a second-year M.A. student pursuing a degree in Medieval Studies through the English Department at UNM. Luke’s research interests include performance, embodiment, tragedy, and depictions of suffering in Middle English literature with a secondary focus on Old English verse.
As the IMS Outreach Fellow, Luke is excited to share the unique and multidisciplinary focus of Medieval Studies with secondary students in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas while fostering community interest in the medieval world.
