I am an Art Historian by formation and a Medievalist by obsession.
Before diving into manuscripts and marginalia, I studied Economics and Finance in the Athens University of Economics and Business. I then pivoted toward the arts, earning a degree in Cultural Heritage Studies, Curation and Criticism in the University of Urbino. That led me to Edinburgh, where I completed an MSc in the Global Middle Ages in the University of Edinburgh, followed by a PhD in late medieval French manuscript illumination — supported by the Edinburgh College of Art Research Scholarship.
My research focuses on humour in text and image, and the unruly joy of the medieval world. I’ve shared my work at the University of Edinburgh’s History of Art Postgraduate Conference (2015), the Leeds International Medieval Congress (2016 and 2019), the Institut français d’Écosse (2017) and the International Congress of Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo (2021). I taught Art History at the University of Edinburgh for four years and was awarded the Edinburgh Teaching Award, earning Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy for my commitment to inclusive pedagogy.
I currently work at the National Galleries of Scotland. In the past I have worked in education, museum stores and archives, festivals and theatres, and I have freelanced in fundraising and management.
The storytelling you’ll find in my podcast The Court Jester and in live events draws on all of this: my academic work, my years in tabletop and live-action roleplaying games, and my obsession with how the Middle Ages live on in popular culture. I’m especially interested in neomedievalism, fantasy literature, gaming, and the strange afterlives of medieval stories.
When I’m not poring over manuscripts or leading storytelling workshops, I write a blog — a semi-academic space for all things funny and medieval. You’ll also find me making music, dancing to something silly or trying my hand in pyrography.
I research things that make people uncomfortable, I make my own mead and I test recipes from both medieval cookbooks and fantasy novels with varying degrees of success.
Get in touch if you want to talk to me about any of the above, here.
