VEMS
Viking and Early Medieval Studies
Welcome to Viking and Early Medieval Studies (VEMS) at the Institute for Northern Studies. We specialise in the history, archaeology and languages of the viking and medieval world through world leading research such as the recent projects The Norse and the Sea, Connectivity and Communication in Norse Orkney, and Mapping Identities: Visual depictions of Scotland. We also host the North Atlantic World book series, published with Brepols. Our internationally celebrated MLitt programmes Viking Studies and Scottish Heritage together with our undergraduate BA (Hons) Culture and Heritage programme cover a range of different aspects of the Viking Age and the medieval period and can be studied from anywhere in the world.
VEMS has its centre at UHI Perth and hosts a variety of hybrid seminars, symposia and conferences.
Photograph: 2024 excavation, Machrins, Colonsay. By kind permission of Sven Kalmring
Staff
- Professor Donna Heddle, Professor of Northern Heritage, Director, UHI Institute for Northern Studies. FHEA, FSAScot, FRSA, FRSE
- Professor Alexandra Sanmark, Professor of Medieval Archaeology MA, FSA, FSA Scot, FRHist
- Dr Shane McLeod, Post Doctoral Research Associate FSA Scot
- Dr Andrew Jennings, Associate Professor in Island Studies MA(Hons), MSc, FHEA, FrHist, FSAScot
- Dr Oisín Plumb, Lecturer MA(Hons), MSc, FHEA, FSAScot
- Professor Stefan Brink, Professor of Scandinavian Studies Phil. Dr. FRSE
Photograph: Machrins, Colonsay. By kind permission of Alexandra Sanmark.
Associate Staff
- Dr Steve Timoney. Programme Leader MSc Interpretation: Management and Practice. UHI Perth.
- Dr Keith Ruiter. Honorary Research Fellow of the Centre for the Study of the Viking Age
- Professor Barbara Crawford. Honorary Professor, Member of the Norwegian Academy
- Professor Neil Price. Visiting Professor
- Professor Natascha Mehler. Visiting Reader
- Professor David Griffiths. Professor in Archaeology; Director or Research. University of Oxford
- Dr Colleen E Batey. Visiting Reader. University of Durham
- Brian Smith. Honorary Research Fellow
Photograph: by kind permission Shetland Museum and Shane McLeod.
Postgraduate Students
- Peter Randall. Places of Assembly in the Kings' Sagas
- Shanna Bryman. Making Herstory: Evaluating Female Leadership in the Viking Age
- Tara Athanasiou. Place, Space and Mobility - Female Networks in the Viking Age and Early Medieval Period
- Amanda Robinson. Spinning Threads: An Analysis of Viking Age Spindle Whorls in the North British Isles
- Alexandra Simpson. The Norwegian Bjarkøyretten of Nidaros, Oslo and Bergen, translated from Old Norse into English
- Suzanne Collyer. What's in a Name? The Western Isles as a Central Place During the Viking Age
- Harley Botham. Relaciones diplomáticas entre los nórdicos y la diáspora del sur [Diplomatic relations between the Norse and the southern diaspora].
- Matthew Farren. Blameless Bodies. Crime, Compensation and Corporeality in Viking-Age Law
- Matt Edwards. Insights from Laws and Legal Codes into Economic Development and the Challenges to Trade in Early Medieval Northern Europe
Photograph: The Wart, Hoxa, South Ronaldsay, Orkney. By kind permission of Alexandra Sanmark.