Anne of Kiev (<i>c</i>.1024-<i>c</i>.1075) and a reassessment of maternal power in the minority kingship of Philip I of France

This article could not have been produced without the financial support provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in funding my PhD research.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2281.1213

Child Kingship in England, Scotland, France, and Germany, c.1050 - c.1250

This dissertation is a comparative study of children who succeeded as kings of England, Scotland, France, and Germany as boys under the age of fifteen in the central Middle Ages. Children are often disregarded in the historical record, even those divinely-ordained as king. The research undertaken in this thesis aims to uncover a more human aspect to medieval kingship by combining social aspects of childhood and gender studies with a political and legal approach to the study of the nature of rulership and royal administrative practices. Part I provides vital context of how royal fathers prepared their underage sons for kingship. I argue for the importance of maternal involvement in association, demonstrate the significant benefits a comparative approach brings to our understanding of anticipatory actions, and reveal the impact which changes in the circumstances and documentation of royal death had on preparations for child kingship. In Part II, I focus on vice-regal guardianship to expose how structural legal, social, political, and cultural changes affected the provisions for a child king. The symbolic meaning of knighthood, which had been a clear rite of passage to adulthood in the eleventh century, later became a precursor to kingship. The child’s progression to maturity was increasingly directed by legalistic ideas. These developments meant that, by the first half of the thirteenth century, queen mothers faced greater challenges to their involvement in royal governance alongside their sons. Part III presents a challenge to the idea that periods of child kingship were necessarily more violent than when an adult came to the throne through an analysis of instances of child kidnap, maternal exclusion from guardianship and departure from the kingdom, dynastic challenge, and opportunistic violence. Children often appear as passive actors controlled by the adults around them but accepting this unquestioningly is too simplistic. Child kings could make an impact on the political landscape even if they could not do so alone. Through an innovative comparative analysis of a child’s preparation for rulership, the care of king and kingdom, and the vulnerabilities and challenges of child kingship, I demonstrate far greater political continuity across medieval monarchies than is usually appreciated. This constitutes a fresh and original contribution towards the study of medieval rulership in northwestern Europe.This doctoral research was fully funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council between October 2013 and September 2016, and by the Institute of Historical Research, who awarded me a six-month Scouloudi Doctoral Fellowship (October 2016 to March 2017). Archive research trips were supported by additional funding from Emmanuel College, Cambridge (in particular the Whitaker Fund) and the Institute of Historical Research's Power and Postan Fund. The German History Society and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) jointly provided a grant for a month-long language course at the Universität Bamberg during my PhD. I also received travel and conference fee bursaries from the following institutions over the course of my PhD: the Muriel Brown Postgraduate Student Bursary Award to attend the 37th Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies (University of Winchester, 2014), Onderzoekschool Mediëvistiek (Groningen, for a conference in Leiden, 2015), the University of Cambridge (2015), the German History Society (2015), Oxford Medieval Studies at TORCH and The Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature (University of Oxford, 2016), and Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Madrid, 2017)

Experience of landscape: understanding responses to landscape design and exploring demands for the future

The research that forms this thesis is a portfolio of seven published papers together with a critical review, set out below, which gives a general overview of all the work. The work covers a period from the 1990s until 2008, with publication dates spanning a decade. The research has developed from an early interest in exploring the nature of landscape experience, responses to past and contemporary landscape designs, and what benefits people might gain from engaging with such landscapes. It has also reflected a desire to raise standards of scholarship and research in landscape architecture. The portfolio of work addresses three broad themes, interconnected but requiring different approaches in terms of method: the distinctiveness of place and design responses to it; design of public open space for the 21st century; and understanding people’s engagement with the natural environment. The research addresses the following questions and is presented under these headings, each representing a different strand or focus of attention. a) History, prototypes and local distinctiveness: what is the role of historic design prototypes in contemporary landscape architecture and how can an understanding of them enhance sensitivity to local distinctiveness in new design? b) Urban open space: how can an understanding of the history of landscape design inform the way urban open space is designed, planned and managed in the 21st century and what new paradigms might there be? c) Experiencing the landscape: how do people perceive, use and respond to green landscapes in their local environment, and what factors influence engagement with and benefit from such natural environments? The outputs in this portfolio are shown to have influenced other researchers as well as policy makers and practitioners; they are reflected in citations of the work and in government agency initiatives to develop new approaches to accessing the landscape. Finally, a conceptual framework is offered for understanding and responding to people’s diverse experiences of landscape

The future of women in technology:challenges and recommendations

When only women turn up to a panel on challenges for women in technology, how do we then reach out to industry, academia and government to encourage them to listen to the current challenges experienced by women in tech. Technology is rapidly changing and we are seeing women disadvantaged by less training opportunities, lack of role models, perceived penalties for taking time off to have children or discharge caring responsibilities as well as the risk that their jobs are subject to more automation. Multiple workshops at the Institute of Science and Technology highlighted significant challenges for women in tech, the data from our empirical study illustrates these challenges in detail. With the workplace still male dominated and the landscape changing rapidly, women have a significant role to play and we need to ensure that role is not only facilitated but the existing challenges are mitigated. This is a discussion paper with empirical data that illustrates challenges currently experienced by women in tech and how we can move forward to ensure not only equal opportunity but remove some of the challenges currently experienced. In this paper we have not considered the same impact on men who take career breaks for reasons of caring responsibilities.</p

The future of women in technology:challenges and recommendations

When only women turn up to a panel on challenges for women in technology, how do we then reach out to industry, academia and government to encourage them to listen to the current challenges experienced by women in tech. Technology is rapidly changing and we are seeing women disadvantaged by less training opportunities, lack of role models, perceived penalties for taking time off to have children or discharge caring responsibilities as well as the risk that their jobs are subject to more automation. Multiple workshops at the Institute of Science and Technology highlighted significant challenges for women in tech, the data from our empirical study illustrates these challenges in detail. With the workplace still male dominated and the landscape changing rapidly, women have a significant role to play and we need to ensure that role is not only facilitated but the existing challenges are mitigated. This is a discussion paper with empirical data that illustrates challenges currently experienced by women in tech and how we can move forward to ensure not only equal opportunity but remove some of the challenges currently experienced. In this paper we have not considered the same impact on men who take career breaks for reasons of caring responsibilities.</p

Contingency Support Simulation for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)

In March 2006, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-3 experienced an unexpected thrusting event, which caused significant changes to its orbit. Recovery from this anomaly was protracted, raising concerns during the Independent Review Team (IRT) investigation of the anomaly regarding the contingency response readiness. The simulations and readiness exercises discussed in this paper were part of the response to the IRT concerns. This paper explains the various levels of simulation needed to enhance the proficiency of the Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) and supporting elements in recovery from a TDRS contingency situation. The main emergency to address is when a TDRS has experienced uncommanded, unreported, or misreported thrusting, causing a ground station to lose the ability to acquire the spacecraft, as happened in 2006. The following levels of simulation are proposed: 1) Tests that would be performed by the individual support sites to verify that internal procedures and tools are in place and up to date; 2) Tabletop simulations that would involve all of the key support sites talking through their respective operating procedures to ensure that proper notifications are made and communications links are established; and 3) Comprehensive simulations that would be infrequent, but realistic, involving data exchanges between ground sites and voice and electronic communications among the supporting elements