Jennifer Weeks

My primary research interests are in medieval children and education, particularly the development of the medieval universities. My MA Dissertation examined how the treatment of choristers reflected attitudes to childhood in late medieval England c. 1375-1550. Secondary interests include medieval schools and colleges, music, the medieval Church, and middle English literature.

PhD Abstract

“Children in gowns”: the study of children at the medieval University of Oxford c. 1375-1550

How did boys aged within the defined age groups of pueritia (7-14) and adolescencia (15-19) live in the academic community of Oxford in the later Middle Ages? How did the younger students interact with older university attenders, specifically within the academic colleges? Do accounts of their lives and interactions reflect wider definitions and stereotypes attributed to children in the late medieval period?

My thesis will draw upon a range of sources – administrative records and accounts, statutes and chapter books, personal correspondences, school and university textbooks, student poems and songs – to examine the lives of young boys associated with the university.  

Scholarships and Prizes:

Caroline Barron Prize (2017)

RHUL College Studentship (2017-2020)

Head of Department Prize, Department of History (2016)

Kathleen Nixon Award (2016)

Bedford Scholarship (2013-2014)

Papers and Talks

'Son if yu list to understand: Memory and the culture of children in late medieval England', International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds (July 2018)

'Collegiate Communities: Youthful experiences in the late medieval colleges of Oxford', British Federation of Women Graduates Conference, London (May 2018)

Senior Member, University of London Intercollegiate Halls (2016-2017)

Senior Student Ambassador, Directorate of Student Recruitment & Partnerships (2016-present)

Learning Activities Assistant, Historic Royal Palaces (2016-present)