I am not a Laurel, Pelican, or Peer of any type nor do I play one on TV. I have held these classes out of love of the subjects, and usually because at least 3 people have come to me and said “Would you teach me that thing?” As the years have gone by and access to more/better/translated sources have become available, I have changed my notes. Where I have done so I have noted it inline and in the bibliographies. I have been lucky enough in my life to have been able to handle and see primary sources quite often, and where I have done so, I will have noted it as my own observation.
My classes tend to be informal, for a freshman college level audience.
In my classes for children, I do not necessarily “dumb it down”- for example I use the same language in a children’s cooking class as for adults, but I will do more demonstration and explanation of terms and utensils with more oversight than I would do for an adult class.
For my cooking classes, I introduce the subject and the ingredients, what we will be using, how to use it, where to find out more about it.. and then we get hands-on and play with food while we continue the discussion.
My more information-based classes lean hard toward open discussion where I present the subject matter and encourage questions while fostering individual study.
Handouts for most of these will be linked (eventually.. sorry, I’m working on it!), and are usually outlines with a bibliography.
Aphrodisiacs; herbal lore, nutritional theory, medicine
– as Everyday Medicine (Therapeutic)
– for the Pleasure (Non-Therapeutic)
– Ethnopharmacology of Love
– Food and Sex in Early Middle Ages Medicine
– Food and Sex in High Middle Ages Medicine
– Food and Sex in Late Middle Ages Medicine
– Food and Sex in Renaissance Medicine
– History of Contraceptives in Europe pre-1600
Women’s Health & Family Planning in pre-modern Europe
– Barrier Birth Control
– Chemical Birth Control
– Magical/Spiritual Birth Control
– The Trotula, focus on women’s health aspects
– Contraceptives, fertility, and childbirth in Europe pre-1600, a brief overview
– Miscarriage and Abortion in pre-modern Europe
– Women’s Libido and Fertility in Europe pre-1600
– STIs in pre-1600’s Europe
Women Physicians, Midwives, and Healers
Mini lectures/discussions on the persons listed below
– Trota of Salerno
– Hildegard of Bingen
– Dorotea Bucca
– Mercuriade
– Rebecca de Guarna
– Jacqueline Felice de Almania
– Isabiau la Mergesse
– Adelmota of Carrara
– Loredana Marcello
– Elinor Sneshell
– Leoparda
– Marcella
Sex and Love Pre-Modern Europe
– Courtly love: a primer and demo
– Flirting Then and Now
– Chivalry Then and Now
– “Loving Nobly” as a Literary Fiction
– Courts of Love, the basis of SCA culture
– History of European Prostitution pre-1600
– Sexual Subjects and the SCA
– All t3h pr0n: erotic art in history
– SCA Courtesans: Who, What, Why
– Sponsors, Patrons, Tullians: Who, What, Why
– Considering a Courtesan Persona?
– A Peek Under the Veil: Sex Workers in Pre-Modern Europe
KITCHEN WITCHERY
Life is short- eat dessert first!
– Sugared violets
– Sugared citrus peels
– All the Marchpane! (Marzipan, marzapan, massepain etc)
– Anis bon bon
– Saint Agatha’s Breasts
Just a taste – Stuzzichini! Because finger foods are fancy!
– Aphrodisiacs for Fitness & Fun
The Features – main dishes
Rabbit Food! Cleanse Your Palate
Drink Up – Hoist yer glass and toast Their Majesties or yourself!
– Fruit Meads for Beginners
Accommodating food allergies, sensitivities, and just damn picky eaters, a semi-educational rant
Some of my feast menus – a list
<there will be links here one day…>
On Using..or Attempting to Use.. Period Cookery Implements
Introduction to Starting Period Cookery
Intermediate Period Cookery- Let’s REDACT!
Period & Periodish Cooking in Camp
Modern Food Safety (I touch on this in EVERY cooking class)
OTHER CLASSES/DISCUSSIONS/ROUNDTABLES/DEMOS
⋅Getting Started in the SCA, or What to Do Now That You Have Been to A Meeting or Event
⋅Congratulations! You Are Now The Welcome Wagon! or Oh crap I’m the Chatelaine what do I do?
⋅I Went To Get Pizza And Now I’m The Seneschal, wut even..!
⋅But When Do I Wear? Garbing for the Overwhelmed
·Heliumhandosis- But I Wanna Help! Finding your comfort zone behind the scenes
·Volunterrorism and Burnout in the SCA- Ask your physicker for a heliumhandectomy today!
⋅Cotehardies for Fame and Fortune
⋅Venetian Fashion in the mid-1500s
⋅How do I Pee While I’m Wearing This and other garment issues
