Christopher Callow

Dr.

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

I would welcome research students on a wide range of issues in the history and archaeology of early medieval western Europe, especially the Vikings and medieval Iceland and Scandinavia. Research proposals on social, cultural or economic history within particular medieval regions or communities would also be possible. I have published on the writing of history in the middle ages and would be interested in supervising similar topics on medieval narratives.

Current doctoral research students and their topics:
- Julie Kilbey, Childhood in Anglo-Saxon England (co-supervised with Dr Kate Sykes)
- Agni Papamichael, Icelandic perceptions of Byzantium (co-supervised with Prof Judith Jesch)

Past PhD students and subjects:
- Harriet Clarke, Kingship in medieval Norway (co-supervised with Prof Judith Jesch)
- Emma Thompson, Gender and burial practice in Viking Age Scandinavia (MRes, co-supervised with Paul Garwood)
- David Marsh, The Trade in Roman Glass (co-supervised with Dr Roger White)
- Steve Walker, Early medieval Cumbria (co-supervised with Dr John Baker)
- Bernadette McCooey, Pre-industrial farming practices in Iceland
- Ryder Patzuk-Russell, Education in medieval Iceland
- Emma Southon, The early medieval family

20042022

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

I have been in my current post since 2005. Before that I held temporary positions at Birmingham, Birkbeck College and UCL. I have held a variety of administrative roles at Birmingham. I am Senior Admissions tutor for the Dept of History. I have been my College's lead for Joint Honours programme and Head of Education for my School, each for three years.

In 2013 I held a Snorri Sturluson Icelandic Fellowship at Stofnun Árna Magnússonar in Iceland.

I have been a member of the Council of the Viking Society for Northern Research (2009-12). I was a founder member of Birmingham’s medieval studies research centre, Centre for the Study of the Middle Ages (CeSMA).

I have been external examiner for postgraduate taught programmes in Nordic Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands (2016-2020), undergraduate programmes for the Dept of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge (2017-2021) and for the Department of Scandinavian Studies at UCL (2024-).

I have been co-organising the Midlands Viking Symposium with colleagues in the School of English at the University of Nottingham since 2005. This public-facing event usually happens on a Saturday in spring in Nottingham or Birmingham.

Research interests

My central research interest is society of medieval Iceland. Wider issues and aspects of this include approaches to narratives; saga literature, including Sagas of Icelanders and Sturlunga saga. My first book, Landscape, Tradition and Power in Medieval Iceland (Brill, 2020) considered these texts by examining two particular regions of Iceland against the backdrop of institutional and familial structures, and economic patterns. I am currently thinking very hard about the role of place-names in shaping and being shaped by medieval people's ideas about the past. This is informing articles I am writing about 'Celts' and slaves in early Iceland.

I have been invited to contribute articles on the medieval Icelandic church to two books connected to the five-year research project on the major estate of Oddi in Iceland (Oddarannsóknin). One volume presents research for an international scholarly audience, the other (in Icelandic) presents its findings to the public.

My next project is a book on the attitudes of people in Iceland towards slavery from the medieval to the modern period. Icelanders wrote extensively about their own origins and sometimes about slavery in other places. These texts provide a rich view of Icelanders' identities and self-perception.

A long time ago I was a member of the AHRC-funded Viking Identities Network (2006-9) led by Prof. Judith Jesch (School of English, University of Nottingham) and have periodically worked on aspects of gender and the life course.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics where Christopher Callow is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
  • 1 Similar Profiles