Edward Mills

University of Exeter

I am currently employed full-time as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University, and therefore do not have significant teaching responsibilities. Over the past several years, however, I have worked as a Lecturer in Medieval Studies (and, more recently, Lecturer in French) at the University of Exeter, teaching on a range of modules across History and Modern Languages. In 2022-23, I was involved with the following modules:

  • HIH1138: Medieval, Manufactured? Uses and Resuses of the Middle Ages. A first-year ‘sources and skills’ that I have designed around the concept of ‘medievalism’ and the post-medieval reception of the medieval world. Topics explored include Romanticism, chivalric imagery in the First and Second World Wars, and recreations of ‘medieval’ education in Shrek the Third.
  • HIH3628: Civil Wars. A team-taught ‘comparative’ module that encourages critical consideration of the phenomenon of internecine conflicts throughout history.
  • MLF2001: French Language. Translation from French to English, for second-year Modern Languages students.

I also contribute to teaching on HIH1410 (Understanding the Medieval and Early Modern Worlds), HIH2001 (Doing History: Perspectives on Sources), and HIH3005 (Dissertation in History). Learning resources for all of the above modules can be found on ELE, the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, and students will be provided with links to pages for individual modules.

Modules taught in previous years

  • SML2209: Music in Medieval Europe (2021-2). This second-year module introduces students to the musical cultures of the medieval period between c. 900 and c. 1400, and offers the opportunity to engage with a variety of sources from modern recordings to original manuscripts (including some kept in Exeter’s Special Collections).
  • SML3050: Music, Poetry and Society in Late-Medieval France (2021-2). This final-year module explores the multimodal outputs of the 14th-century court, including the poetry and music of Guillaume de Machaut and the subversive Roman de Fauvel.
  • HIH1053: Gender and Sexuality in the Middle Ages (2021-2). Part of the History Department’s ‘sources and skills’ suite of modules, this first-year course introduces aspects of medieval culture through the lens of two seemingly ‘modern’ concerns: gender and sexuality.
  • HIH2208: Medieval Paris (2021-2). This module takes as its focus the city of Paris across the medieval period, exploring how it grew and changed between the 12th and 15th centuries through the study of art, architecture, literature, and music.

Prior to my appointment as Lecturer, I was fortunate to teach on a range of courses within Exeter’s Department of Modern Languages and Cultures. In 2017-18, I worked as a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant on MLF1014 (Love and Death in French Culture), and the following year, I taught on MLF1001, a first-year French language module, while also lecturing on French grammar. I reprised this role in 2020-21, teaching three seminar groups and supporting formative and summative assessment. I have also worked in a similar role for MLF2001 (second-year French language, with a particular focus on translation), as well as leading seminar groups on MLF1017 (The Making of Modern France).