Yahweh and his Asherah
It is a commonly held belief that religion starts wars, but to what extent does war impact religion? My research project is on how, if at all, war changed religion in the ancient Near East, particularly in relation to…
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Women, Linen and Gender in the Cyfraith Hywel Dda
Mediaeval women’s and gender history always present some particular challenges arising from the sources. Women are rarely mentioned, either as individuals or as a class in mediaeval texts; Women almost always had no…
The Scottish Opposition to Sir Robert Walpole
February 1742 signalled the end of Sir Robert Walpole’s twenty-year political career. His time in government was characterised by dominance in both domestic and foreign affairs. However, by 1741 this strong hold on the…
Scots in the Amazon !
My research is called Scots and the Amazon and I aim to research the lives of Scottish people in the Amazon in the 19th century, and how this can inform us of the bigger picture of British presence and relationship…
Walking the Path of Medieval Inquisition
May 24th, 1274, Raymond Baussan of Lagarde, of Laurac is sitting in front of an inquisitor, Brother Pons of Parnac in Toulouse, telling the story of his journey to Lombardy, and therefore his adventure into heresy.[1]…
In the Archives of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
There are many things the Laidlaw Scholarship allows its scholars to do: improve their leadership skills, research interesting topics, travel around the world, meet new friends. What it did for me, however, was…
The Generally Still-Practicing Society
What better way to develop as a leader than to lead a new society? This was my supervisor’s idea early in the scholarship. After learning to jump through bureaucratic hoops, keep a cashbook, and hustling membership…
Female Computers at the ROE
On June 1st 1909, two women began work at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. While not the first women to work at an observatory in the UK, they would be the first employed in any permanent capacity at the ROE, working…
Lost in Borges’ Library
“When it was announced that the Library contained all books, the first reaction was unbounded joy” wrote Borges in “The Library of Babel”. Borges describes an infinite world, a cosmic library, containing every…
Poetry, Politics and Imposters
When you picture a cool night out on the town in Edinburgh I’m almost certain that poetry comes into the equation. However, spoken word and slam poetry have gained a significant degree of popularity over the past few…