Thijs Porck teaches Old English, Middle English, Tolkien and Medieval Studies at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. He is a cultural historian of early medieval England, with a background in medieval history as well as English language and literature. The common strand in his research is gaining an understanding of Old English language and literature, and of how modern generations have interacted with this early medieval heritage, in both scholarship and popular culture. He has published widely on Beowulf, Old English textual criticism, medievalism, Tolkien studies, old age and the life course in the Middle Ages, and the history of Old English studies. His latest monograph Old Age in Early Medieval England: A Cultural History (2019) is the first book-length study of the cultural conceptualisation of growing old in early medieval England. He is the Primary Investigator of the ERC-funded project 'Early Medieval English in the Nineteenth Century [EMERGENCE]' (2024-2028).

More information about Thijs Porck

Thijs Porck teaches Old English, Middle English, Tolkien and Medieval Studies at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. He is a cultural historian of early medieval England, with a background in medieval history as well as English language and literature. The common strand in his research is gaining an understanding of Anglo-Saxon culture and of how modern generations have interacted with this early medieval heritage, in both scholarship and popular culture. He has published widely on Beowulf, Old English textual criticism, medievalism, Tolkien studies, old age and the life course in the Middle Ages, and the history of Old English studies. He is the Primary Investigator of the ERC-funded project 'Early Medieval English in the Nineteenth Century [EMERGENCE]' (2024-2028)

You can find out more about him and his research on his personal website and blog: www.thijsporck.com. For a full version of his CV, click here.

PhD supervision

As co-promotor (daily supervisor):

• (completed) Sander Stolk, Semantic Treasure Troves: Sharing and Reusing Topical Thesauri on Historical Periods (Leiden University; with prof.dr. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr & prof.dr. Piek Vossen; 2016-2023)
• (in process) Song Tan, Imitatio Imperii or Translatio Imperii? The Idea of Imperial Rule and the Representation of the Classical World in Early Medieval England (Leiden University; with prof.dr. A. Wessels & dr. S.T.M. de Beer; 2021-)
• (in process) Amos van Baalen, Old English Renewed: Tracing Transitional English in the Twelfth Century (Leiden University; with prof.dr. J. Grijzenhout; 2021-)
• (in process) Martina Marzullo, Old English in Contemporary Literature (University of Heidelberg; with prof. dr. P. P. Schnierer; 2020-)

Books

Porck's latest monograph Old Age in Early Medieval England: A Cultural History (2019) is the first book-length study of the cultural conceptualisation of growing old in Anglo-Saxon England.  He has also published six edited volumes and special issues on the topics of Old English medievalism, the life course in early medieval England, digital approaches to Old English lexicography, scholarly correspondence, the familiar and the foreign in Old Germanic Studies and history of scholarship. For more information see: https://thijsporck.com/books/.

Publications

For a full overview of his publications, with Open Access options where available, see: https://thijsporck.com/research-and-publications/

BA and MA thesis supervision

Porck supervises any thesis on Old and Middle English language and literature; Anglo-Saxon culture and history; medievalism; and fantasy literature (especially Tolkien). For an overview of BA and MA theses he has supervised as a first reader, see: https://thijsporck.com/teaching/thesis-supervision/

Teaching

Porck has taught at university level since 2008, mostly at Leiden University, with a brief spell at Radboud University Nijmegen. In 2014, he was awarded with the Humanities Faculty Teaching Prize for the most inspiring lecturer of the faculty of Humanities at Leiden University. In 2015/2016, he was one of the teaching ambassadors for ‘blended learning’ at Leiden University’s ExpertiseCentre for Online Learning (ECOLe). In 2017, he was one of three nominees for the LUS Teaching Award; he won the award in 2019. He is the current co-chair of the Leiden Teachers' Academy. 

He teaches Old English, Middle English, Tolkien studies and Medieval Studies in the BA English Language and Literature and the MA Literary Studies: English Literature and Culture at Leiden University. You can find out more about the courses he has been involved in here:  https://thijsporck.com/teaching/. This website also includes an overview of his projects in teaching innovation.

Press and popularisation

Porck shares his knowledge of the history, culture and language of the Middle Ages with people in- and outside academia. His research blog www.thijsporck.com/blog (active since October 2015) has had over 450.000 views by more than 320.000 unique visitors. He is also one of the founders of the Leiden Medievalists Blog, the Leiden Teachers Blog and the Podcast Middeleeuwse Toestanden. He is also active on Twitter and YouTube. In addition, he regularly gives public lectures and appears in national and local media. For an overview, see: https://thijsporck.com/outreach/. In 2020, he was awarded the LUCAS Public Engagement Award. 

Ancillary positions (selection)

• International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England (ISSEME) - President (2020-present)
• Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik (Brill) – Member of the Editorial Board (2015-present)
• Neophilologus: An International Journal of Modern and Medieval Language and Literature (Springer) – Managing Editor (2011-2022); Member of Advisory Board (2022-present)
• Studies in Old English Literature (Brepols) - Member of Advisory Board (2021-present)
• Vereniging van Oudgermanisten (VOG) - Chair (2018-2021)
• Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland (TOEBI) – Committee Member and Webmaster (2017-2020)

Grants & awards

• Vlaams-Nederlandse Prijs voor Teksteditie 2010
• Onderwijsprijs Geesteswetenschappen 2014 
• Research grant Leiden University Fund (LUF) / Bolland Fonds 2016
• LUS Onderwijsprijs 2019
• LUCDH Small Grant 2020
• LUCAS Public Engagement Award 2020
• Young Academy Leiden Outreach Grant 2022

Publications