Joanna Perks

Research: My research is interdisciplinary, focussing on Anglo-Saxon diplomatic texts (charters, leases, wills and writs). This oft-overlooked corpus provides a wealth of material, not only linguistic (primarily Latin and Old English) and palaeographical, but also insight into the individuals and communities responsible for their production, transmission and preservation. I am preparing my DPhil thesis, 'Tributarius and Terminological Variation in the Anglo-Saxon Diplomas of Worcester and Selsey' (which investigated the temporal and geographic distribution of Latin and vernacular land-assessment terminology used in charters and related documents) as a monograph, whilst also working on papers stemming from this research, including 'Plundering the Archive: Terminological Revival in Anglo-Saxon Diplomas', where the re-emergence of archaic land-assessment terminology in tenth-century diplomatic is viewed in the context of hermeneutic Latin. My forthcoming research project, 'Gif ic hám ne cume: sentimentality in the Anglo-Saxon diplomatic corpus', aims to demonstrate the presence of evocative language in Old English wills and related documents, which provides a rare glimpse into the humanity behind the frequently terse legal transactions.

Teaching: Since 2021, I have taught a range of early Medieval tutorial papers (Introduction to Old English, Old English Literature in Translation, Anglo-Saxon History, and Old Norse Literature in Translation) and led the 'Vikings, Saxons and Heroic Culture' seminar for undergraduate students at Middlebury Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and received the student-nominated Tutor Award in Autumn 2025. I have also provided supplementary tutoring in Old English for the Oxford University English Language and Literature undergraduate course.