Humma Mouzam

• Bachelor of Arts with Honours, Class I (First) in English Literature (University of Birmingham).

• Master of Arts, Class Distinction in Literature and Culture (University of Birmingham).

I completed my BA in English Literature in 2016 and my MA in Literature and Culture in 2018, and was introduced to medieval Arthurian literature in my second year of postgraduate study. My MA dissertation, a comparative study on Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur and its later reception, led to my current research interest in Arthurian motifs. In October 2018, I began my PhD in the Department of English Literature, under the supervisory care of a medievalist team.

Seminar Tutor, English Literature Department at the University of Birmingham:

Independently led and structured Undergraduate and Masters-level seminars, examining materials such as Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, and generating inspiring discussions on topics such as astrology and demons, lovesickness, and dragons.

Teaching Modules:

Mapping the Middle Ages-Magic and Medicine-Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

My thesis explores the far-reaching literary and cultural influences, drawn from European and Arabic sources, which informed the development of the dragon as a cultural symbol in English Arthurian literature produced between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. It traces literary-cultural transmission within and across medieval Arthurian works and considers wider political and sociocultural settings, in order to interrogate insular understandings of literary motifs.

My research interests include: Arthurian literatures, medieval motifs, literary-cultural transmission (specifically twelfth-century Latinate-Arabic translators and their translations of Arabic astronomical works), dragons and supernatural monsters, cross-cultural borders, and the representation of insular/ national identities in medieval English works.

Conferences

• 2021: Society for Renaissance Studies (SRS), Panel on 'Strange Places', Crowdcast Seminar. Paper given: 'Control and Conquer, Mounts and Monsters: Giant Spaces in the Prose Merlin and The Faerie Queene​'.
• 2020: Oxford Medieval Graduate Conference on 'Translation', University of Oxford, Zoom Webinar. Paper given: ​'Translating Gerbert: William of Malmesbury, Pope Sylvester II and the lure of al-Andalus​'.
• 2019: International Arthurian Society, British Branch Conference, Durham University. Paper given: 'Powerful Places and Stellar Skies: Medieval Britain and the astrological material of the Arab world' (revised).
• 2019: EMREM Annual Symposium, University of Birmingham. Paper given: 'Powerful Places and Stellar Skies: Medieval Britain and the astrological material of the Arab world'.​​

Public engagement and impact

• 2022: On Dragons and Dinosaurs. Expert on dragons in medieval literature and culture. Panellist alongside Dr Elsa Panciroli, Dr Thomas Halliday, Dr Will Tattersdill, Professor John Holmes, and author Phillip Pullman. Lecture, slideshow, and discussion hosted by Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
• 2021: Shakespeare workshop. Helped facilitate learning during Dr Kate Rumbold’s Shakespeare workshop for adults studying GCSE English at Birmingham Adult Education Service. This workshop is a part of the Birmingham Stories campaign, in association with the National Literacy Trust.
• ​2020: Livestream session with VALUE Foundation. Invited to provide Arthurian context and expertise on the newly released game, Pendragon, created by inkle, a BAFTA-nominated independent developer of narrative games and interactive stories.
• 2019: Manuscript Workshop​ at the Cadbury Research Library (CRL). Co-organised a workshop featuring the CRL's Mingana Collection. Presentation given: 'Serpents and Dragons, Horses and Simurghs, Lions and Elephants: Fantastic Beasts and the Shahnameh'.

Memberships:

• Member of the student-led Literary Early Modern and Medieval research group (LEMMæ)
• Member of the Centre for the Study of the Middle Ages (CESMA)
• Member of the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies (CREMS)
• Member of the International Arthurian Society, British Branch (IAS BB)​

Research grants:

• Supported in my first doctoral year by the Birmingham Doctoral Scholarship and The Vinaver Trust Award.
• Supported in my second year onwards by the AHRC Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership.