In 1867, Augustus Wollaston Franks donated a carved whalebone box to the British Museum. Called the Franks Casket, the box dates from the Northumbrian Renaissance— between 690 and 750 AD—and was probably created in a monastic setting, before it wound up in a shrine and then in a family home in Auzon, France, where it…
Gargoyles, Stained Glass, and Travel Learning by Sarah Thomas
Being a part of Dr. Arnold’s Castles and Cathedrals Travel-Learning Course has been one of my favorite experiences as an OWU student. It allowed me to truly experience the material that I have spent the past three years learning. To copy from another program, I got to put “theory into practice.” One of the things I…
The Importance of Riddling By Patricia DeMarco
Tucked away in the Rare Book archives on the second floor of Beeghly Library is a facsimile of a rare, handwritten manuscript over 1,000 years old known as the Exeter Book. The original manuscript, dating from the late tenth century and owned by the Exeter Cathedral Library, holds the greatest treasures of English literature including…
The Life of a Saint By Rebecca Pollard
When we think of saints, we often think of holy, celibate, virtuous people, and when we think of holy, celibate, virtuous people, oftentimes our eyes will glaze over, drool will spill from our mouths, and we will be shaken awake by angry people who like talking of such boring things. Yet, if we go beyond…
Do You Play Croquet? By Becca Pollard
It is almost that time…the time when normally civilized students and professors resort to their most base qualities in an attempt to seek vengeance on poor grades or late papers…the time for The Annual AMRS Croquet Death Match. For one day, we students will put aside our chosen time periods and join together on the…
Whose English and When It Matters by Abby Dockter
It seems when people travel to English-speaking countries, the most noticeable differences are ones that don’t matter very much. So you say “hob” and I say “stove.” I call that arrangement of stars “The Big Dipper” and you call it “The Plow.” You say “ye” and I thought no one had used that form of…
Amsterdam’s Museums: A Guide by Amadea Weber
This will be a rather brief (as brief as I can make it) summary of a trip I took with one of my art history classes (Genre Painting, heavy emphasis on Dutch painting) to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The trip was a lot of fun, especially because, as one of three Americans (and the only one…
Greetings from Cork! by Abby Dockter
So, confession time: I am not an AMRS kid. More importantly, though, I am personally acquainted with the mascot, and maybe ye of AMRS bent will get something out of the gibbering of an English/Anthropology/Sociology student abroad in Ireland. They told us at Orientation that culture shock is a W curve. When you get here,…
Killarney by Amadea Weber
For the first time in a great many weeks, Captain Rohan and I left the city to go on a trip anywhere. This weekend we went northwest to Killarney, a town that lays claim to Ireland’s largest national park (possible it’s only, since it doesn’t appear that there are any other parks of significance on…
Ireland Update by Amadea Weber
Hi all! I know it’s been a while, but honestly, not much has happened that is especially noteworthy around here. Oh, of course there are the little events that happen in each day that are memorable but as far as reporting from abroad, not so much. While I have been here I have discovered an…