Good Girl, Gone Bad...

Our celebrity edition poster!

Good Hair, Bad Hair: Elizabeth Robles presents this Thurs 1pm Grad. School

In a change to our usual offering, the coming week's presentation will take place on Thursday, 1-2pm (Ground Floor Seminar Room, Graduate School, 7 Woodland Road). Elizabeth Robles presents on:


'good' hair, 'bad' hair

In this paper, I aim to explore the role of hair and hairstyling in roti moti s 1995 multimedia performance project entitled Wigs of Wonderment and Sonia Boyce s work from the same year, Black Female Hairstyles. I will engage these works to begin unpacking the discourse of  good  versus  bad  hair and assert that hair is a potent site for the negotiation, inversion and subversion of fixed notions of race, gender, the authentic 'then' and the postmodern 'now', and the mainstream and the marginal.

Download the poster: JPEG (large) or PDF

Call for presenters - upcoming slots available

We are always eager to hear from students looking to present at the Arts PG Forum. There are still a few spots left for this term, and more opportunity for next term. Get in touch with one of our organisers soon!

Wendy Sijnesael, haxws@bristol.ac.uk  |  Aisling Tierney, aislingtierney@gmail.com

Download the poster here: JPEG

Stephanie Codsi, 'Enthusiasm in Blake' Fri. 25 Nov.

We are all looking forward to Stephanie Codsi's forthcoming paper Enthusiasm in Blake:

 Download: PDF or JPEG

Stephanie Codsi (Department of English

Speaker Report - Rachel Stenner

A big thank you to Rachel Stenner for her fantastic presentation on Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, and being an 'Eternal Reader'.

Rachel Stenner, engaging with her presentation material.

To help orientate us, Rachel created the atmosphere of the crowded theaters, brimming with rogues and the common folk. Contrasted with this wild world, that of the quiet reader was shown - leading us to see how texts can be appreciated in different ways by different readers. Throughout the presentation, Rachel used a number of approaches to engage the audience: PowerPoint; a handout; and various quotes. With perfect clarity, poise, eloquence and timing, the presentation was definitely a treat for everyone present.

Rachel Stenner on Shakespeare’s play, Troilus and Cressida

The weeks are really flying by and it's amazing to think we are already onto our third speaker, Rachel Stenner. This Friday, 18th November, Rachel will speak about:

‘Becoming the “Eternal Reader”?: Moving Troilus and Cressida From Stage to Page’

In this paper I shall consider the presentation of the performed and printed versions of Shakespeare’s play, Troilus and Cressida, especially through the paratexts of the earliest printed version.  This volume emerged in 1609, during a crucial transition in the development of English dramatic authorship, when authors were becoming professionals who newly wrote for publication as well as performance.  The 1609 Troilus and Cressida has been characterised as a text for readers that not only rejects its theatrical provenance, but stigmatises the supposedly lowbrow theatrical audience.  In a revision of previous arguments about this paratext, this paper suggests that the position of the reader is violently troubled and indeed implicated in the multitudinous audience that it apparently strives to leave behind.  As it imagines its future reader, the book of the play is embroiled in its own past.      

 Download the PDF or JPEG.

Rachel Stenner is in the first year of her MLitt on the subject of paratexts in early modern literature.  Before starting this research she completed a Masters in English here at the University of Bristol, and prior to that a Masters in Postcolonial Studies and a BA in English at the University of Kent.  Rachel is a regular contributor to the Routledge Annotated Bibliography of English Studies, edits articles for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy and writes for the Bristol Review of Books.  

2nd speaker report - Tamzin Simmons

A massive thanks to our Friday speaker Tamzin Simmons for her in-depth paper on Exile Prophecies in Dante's Inferno.

Tamzin Simmons, speaking at the Arts PG Forum

Tamzin certainly impressed us with her thorough grasp of the material, which was well-paced and enlightening. The range of questions that followed her paper demonstrated how engaging the topic was!

Organiser Wendy, top right, and other attendees.

1st paper report - Steven Lovatt

Last Friday, Steven Lovatt took the unusual step to look back on some of his past work, reread his previous dissertation and share his findings with the group. A confident speaker, Steven's enthusiasm for the subject was palpable and his musings explored the topic of Jewish artists' representations of the Russian landscape.

His review was infused with a range of atmospheric tools. To start with, the group was treated to some rustic music clips. Then a handout was provided, full of quotes that conjured up images of peasant life in Russia. Along with the PowerPoint images, we were able to visualise Steven's vision of Jewish artists and their struggles. 

While time constraints forced him to skip some fascinating material, we never felt rushed and were left asking for more! This groundbreaking research showcased some largely forgotten artists who clearly deserve the attention afforded them at this session.

This Friday's paper explores Dante's Inferno!

We are very much looking forward to Tamzin Simmons' presentation this Friday, 4.10pm, (Dept. of Archaeology) 43 Woodland Road. 


Individuals and Public Life: an Exploration of the Exile Prophecies of Dante's Inferno
I will provide a short overview of the political situation in Florence in Dante's time and talk briefly about his political ideas in the context of his other works before going on to consider three episodes in the Inferno where Dante's exile is foretold and examine the view of the relationship between individual and society that is presented in them.

Download the event poster here:
BEST: PDF

JPEG (high res)

JPEG (low res)

About the speaker:

Tamzin Simmons BA (Hons) French and Italian, University of Leeds. MA by Research in Modern Languages and Cultures (Italian), University of Leeds. 2nd Year PhD in Italian: "Rectitude, Revelation and Truth in the Christology of Dante's 'Commedia'."

New Resources section - now live

Check out Darrelyn Gunzburg's PDF file on presentation skills, available to download  from our new Resources section.
PDF: Darrelyn Gunzburg