The Barony of Delftwood in the Kingdom of Æthelmearc invites you to a free weekend of online virtual classes on the lives and times of the people who dwelt in the lands from Constantinople in the West to Heiankyō in the East. The University is focused from the beginning of recorded history to 1600 CE including: the T’ang Dynasty through the Ming Dynasty in China, the Nara Period through the Sengoku Period in Japan, the North South States Period through the Joseon Period in Korea, Medieval India, the Abbasid Caliphate, and Medieval Byzantium. Registration is ongoing throughout the event. Please click on Attend above to receive a link to the event.
Please resubmit your proposal if your class or activity does not appear below.
Struck through items were withdrawn by the presenter. Life happens. We especially encourage replacements for these.
| Bharata Natyam Performance | 0.5 hours | An Ashtapadi from the Gita Govinda, a 12th century set of poems written by Jayadeva on the topic of the tumultuous love affair between Radha and Krishna. | Lakshmi Amman of Sri Ranganatha |
| By Imperial Decree | 1.0 hours | Writing awards for Japanese personas. How to create authentic sounding English text and write that text with authentic medieval Japanese characters. | Balthazar the Painter |
| Chinese Garb Basics: A Round Table Discussion | 1.0 hours | Are you interested in Chinese Garb but don't know where to start? Or maybe you watch C-Dramas and want to start looking into historical accuracy? This super basic beginner class is for you! Feel free to join if you have information for new people and want to contribute as well! | Choi Min |
| The Distaff's Mighty Pen: The Women Poets of Heian Japan and Al-Andalus | 1.5 hours | At the opposite ends of the Known World, at a time when women held little political power or agency, they held great influence in the cultural sphere, particularly in poetry. This class will examine the role of women in the poetic arts in Heian Japan and Al-Andalus, with samples of translations of works handed down to us today, with glimpses into the lives of the poets themselves. (Al-Andalus may be on the Iberian Peninsula, but it was a transplanted culture from an exiled Syrian house that grew and flourished in its new home, and at its height rivaled anything that came from Damascus or Baghdad.) Some poems presented may have implied adult content, but nothing overly graphic. | Kikkawa Michime |
| East Asian Calligraphy | 2.0 hours | This class will provide an in-depth overview on what East Asian calligraphy looks like, what hands to use, what tools you'll need, how to get base text, possible formats for scrolls, and examples. Possibly a Demonstration if there's time. | Choi Min |
| Fragrances in early Japan | 2.0 hours | After a short introduction to the history of fragrance used for health, beauty, and pleasure in early Japan, we will take a closer look at some recipes, including kneaded incense (takimono) and pills to perfume the body. | Dúgū Jìnán |
| From Gamaraga to Thaat: an Introduction to Indian Music Theory | 1.0 hours | A class on music in India from a western musician. We'll cover both current basic theory and some early historical, from pre-Gupta up to about 1250AD. Will include comparisons to western modes and solfege. | Amelie d'Anjou |
| Iberia and Asia - Late Period Encounters | 1.0 hours | In this class, we'll explore the impact of late period Portuguese and Spanish trading depots along the Indian Ocean rim and Southeast Asia. We'll look at how people and cultural ideas spread through these areas - and other Spanish and Portuguese colonies. I've had to rethink what I thought I knew about the late period world as I've looked at this cultural moment; I hope you'll find it equally enlightening. | Juliana de Luna |
| Introduction to Japanese Clothing and Construction | 1.0 hours | An overview of Japanese fashion in the Heian Period through the Azuchi-Momoyama period. We’ll look at a few of the typical garments and how they changed over time, as well as the basic construction and sewing techniques. | Kait of Phoenix Glade |
| Introduction to Japanese Pronunciation and Writing | 1.0 hours | And introduction to the basics of the Japanese language as it pertains to the SCA. We’ll cover pronunciation and romanization as well as introduce the 3 primary scripts and some useful phrases. | Kait of Phoenix Glade |
| Introduction to Middle Eastern Dance | 1.0 hours | An introduction to a little history and the base movements, with an emphasis of warming up and stretching, of Middle Eastern/Indian dance. | Ana Sirena de Valbuena |
| Introduction to T'ang Dynasty Women's Clothing | 1.0 hours | An introduction to various styles and parts of women's clothing through the T'ang Dynasty. Also included are some construction notes, suggestions, and things I've done wrong so other people can learn from them. If time allows, there will be a Q&A at the end. | Phaedra de Vere |
| Invitation to Indian Classical Dance | 1.0 hours | A step-by-step gentle introduction to Classical Indian Dance based on scholarly treatises outlining specific movements and postures along with associated meaning. Following a quick look at some of the source material, we will dive into some favorite moves along with how they would be performed within modern and medieval contexts. A seductive look into some of the movements that look great and are a whole lot of fun.
We will primarily focus on upper body movements - especially hand gestures and facial expressions. Participants may also optionally stand, walk, and move about, so sufficient space and clothing that allows easy movement would be beneficial, but are not required. | Lakshmi Amman of Sri Ranganatha |
| Introduction to Tuvan throat singing | 1.0 hours | An introduction to Tuvan throat singing. We will go over what it is, the different styles and then practice a few fundamentals so that one can begin to practice this interesting style of polyphonic overtone singing. | Arianwen o'r Llyn aka Jinfa |
| Itamae: Japanese Food and Feasts by Design | 2.0 hours | An introduction to medieval Japanese cookery dietetics and techniques. Beyond learning to cook pre-modern Japanese food, learn to design menus based on pre-modern cultural expectations, food preferences, dietetics, and methods. | Sǫlveig Þrándardóttir |
| Japanese garb for royalty - Hitatare and Hakama and Uchikake and Kosode | 1.5 hours | I've made Japanese garb for more than 15 years and have previously made garb for royalty and for elevation garb. I had the opportunity to make Japanese garb for the current Aethelmearc royalty. They picked the outfits from the Mitsuo Kure book Samurai. They had also seen previous royalty wearing similar outfits. Their majesties also picked the outer fabric. A lovely Joann Fabric special. Really. I used some guidelines of common Japanese color combinations and picked the middle layer fabric to go with the outer uchikake, hitatare, and hakama. The garments are from modern synthetiic fabric, except for the base layer. I used sewing machine and serger for most seams. The were a few short-cuts and other non-period construction choices that I made, but much of the outfit is based on example of period clothing from the Kyoto costume musem. Also, I did not line the garments, which would have been done for fall/winter garments. | Hara Kikumatsu |
| Japanese Kosode: Patterns and Construction | 2.5 hours | Kosode are the most common garment worn throughout most of medieval Japan. The first hour of this class will cover different types of kosode, variation in patterns, and how to find or design a cutting layout appropriate to your persona's social status and time period. The second hour covers construction using traditional Japanese sewing techniques (wasai). The last half hour will be for questions and discussion. | Oribe Tsukime |
| Kenchiku: Introduction to Japanese Architecture | 1.0 hours | Begining with an overview of the Golden Pavilion, an illustrated history of Japanese architecture focusing on the architectural styles of the imperial aristocracy, the military gentry, and Buddhist monasteries. | Sǫlveig Þrándardóttir |
| Korean Garb from Three Kingdoms to Joseon | 2.5 hours | A full overview focusing on tracking the evolution of clothing worn by Koreans from the (Korean) Three Kingdoms period (18 BC – 660 AD) to Joseon dynasty (Using the Imjin War/Japanese Invasions as a cutoff), and a smidge further, to show how these garments came to be the ones we know and love in Sageuks (Korean Period Dramas) today, and some pitfalls to avoid if you're thinking of making some hanbok for garb! | Choi Min |
| Korean Names from the 13th and 14th Centuries | 1.0 hours | Biographical Tables of the Goryeo Period yielded up a large number of names from period records. This class looks at the typical structure of Korean names as well as presenting tables that will allow one to assemble a Korean name. | Herveus d'Ormonde |
| Marriage and Divorce in the Abbasid Caliphate | 1.5 hours | Come nerd out with me about Persian history! Specifically, marriage and divorce in the Abbasid Caliphate. I started exploring the assumptions I had from the generally accepted facts about medieval Muslim women. And it turns out nearly all my assumptions were wrong. Yes, it was a patriarchal society. No, that doesn't mean women were passive. In fact, they had a surprising amount of legal rights. So come unlearn some of our common knowledge. And get an idea of what life was like for Abbasid women. | Vashti al-Ashsriyah |
| Mele Kahiko Aia lo Pele | 0.5 hours | Mele Kahiko means ancient chant. These are stories/ songs about the gods or a god of the Hawai'ian islands. The ancient Hawai'ians having been handing down the stories for hundreds of years and similar ones exist with other of the Polynesian peoples. This will be a bardic presentation of the story of Pele followed by a full mele kahiko aia lo Pele - there is Pele. | Arianwen o'r Llyn |
| Mongol Costuming | 1.0 hours | An overview of what the Mongol’s wore. General costuming and accessory ideas for living Mongol in our current middle ages. | Taran Saraev |
| The Mongol Gourmet | 1.0 hours | An overview of food and customs pertaining to the Mongols and Mongol Empire. | Taran Saraev |
| The Mongol Ordu | 1.0 hours | A look at Mongol encampments and with attention to daily life on the steep and SCA camping. Gers and more! | Taran Saraev |
| Mongol Heraldry | 1.0 hours | An overview of Mongol naming practices, armory practices, and scroll work viewed within a framework for SCA use. | Taran Saraev |
| Pilgrimage and Power: The Traveling Outfit of Heian Japan | 1.0 hours | While the life of a Heian noblewoman was fairly sedentary, she could take pilgrimages to temples near the capitol, Heiankyo. We will discuss the reasons noble women of the Heian period (794-1186) undertook these pilgrimages and what they wore on those sacred journeys. | Sugawara no Naeme |
| Presentation of 梁祝 Liang Zhu - The Butterfly Lovers | 0.5 hours | A telling of what is considered one of the four great legends of China. | Arainwen o'r Llyn / Jinfa |
| Sanskrit Theatre of India and the Nāṭya | 1.0 hours | India, looking at its possible origins in the Ancient world, its religious and spiritual influences, and an overview of important texts & playwrights. | Katherine Coscombe |
| Scouting Out the Bead | 2.0 hours | The history of beadwork with a focus on what was period in the Middle East and Asia. This class will include technique and documentation. | Sindara Lind Rachael Fessel of the Falconshield |
| Waka: Classical and Medieval Japanese Poetry and Poetics | 1.0 hours | From imperial poetry contests to ribald poetry parties, poetry was a central part of premodern Japanese social and political life. Discover classical love poetry, noh chant, death poems, and popular songs. Learn about the poetic language used to compose Japanese poetry including: kigo, kiriji, and makura-kotoba. Finally, learn to play a poetry game. | Sǫlveig Þrándardóttir |
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| Zo’en: Japanese Landscape Architecture | 1.0 hours | An illustrated introduction to Japanese gardens focusing on tea garden and temple garden architecture. | Sǫlveig Þrándardóttir |
If you have any questions about the university please feel free to contact the steward team at stewards@daigaku-ryou.org. The official event announcement and detailed contact information are available at: https://aethelmearc.org/event/online-daigaku-ryo-pan-asia-university-2/.