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Organising Committee
Ashley Brown
Ashley is a PhD researcher based at the University of Glasgow and funded by SGSAH. She is analysing masculinities present at Scottish universities in the post-Reformation period, which includes looking at James VI and I's impact on the institutions. Ashley has also written on masculinities present in the central middle ages. When not researching, Ashley runs a theatre company with her husband (Bottoms Up Theatre) and spoils her cat too much.
David Coney
David is a part-time PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, researching the development of the Scottish Chapel Royal 1501-1640, including the significant attempts to revive the Chapel Royal choir under James VI. While his interest is mainly musicological, his research sheds light on the institution as a whole, encompassing elements of liturgical practice, institutional organisation, royal patronage and court politics. In addition to David’s academic work he is also active in Edinburgh as a professional singer and conductor.
Olivia Dunderdale
Olivia is a SGSAH-funded PhD researcher at the University of St Andrews and the University of Dundee. Her research explores gender and popular politics in Scottish northern burghs between 1540 and 1603, investigating the exercise and experience of power, political languages and disorder. This includes reconstructing the ways in which these smaller, geographically distant communities engaged with crown and central administrative structures in this period. In addition to her research, Olivia is an undergraduate tutor at St Andrews for ‘The Kingdom of the Scots (c.900-1707).
Joseph James Ellis
Joe is an AHRC-funded PhD candidate in his final year of study at the University of York. Prior to this he completed a Master's degree, also at York, for which he was awarded the Early Modern History Dissertation Prize. His research focuses on the politicisation of royal travel, specifically the progresses of James VI & I in Scotland and England. Having a keen interest in public history, he has undertaken a curatorship internship at Hampton Court Palace, and regularly contributes to blogs, history magazines and podcasts, most recently the History Extra Podcast.
Nicole Maceira Cumming
Nicole is a final year PhD candidate at the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow, whose AHRC-funded research examines the role of hunting in the Scottish court of James VI, c.1579-1603. She is a Research Assistant for the Canadian SSHRC-funded project Gateway to Early Modern Manuscript Sermons (GEMSS) and in 2022 completed a research placement with the National Trust and University of Oxford, examining the history of ‘Horse Power’ within National Trust properties. She has forthcoming publications on ‘Animals, dominion and the natural order in Post-Reformation Scotland’ (Scottish Church History, 2023 prize winner) and ‘Reconstructing the menagerie of James VI, c.1579-1603’ (Scottish Archives).
Cameron Maclean
Cameron is a SGSAH-funded PhD student at the University of Glasgow. His research focusses on the Anglo-Scottish monetary union, which was established by James VI in 1604 in an attempt to bring his kingdoms of Scotland and England into closer union. He has published, blogged and presented on the coinage of James VI and has worked with the numismatic collections held by The Hunterian, National Museums Scotland and the Fitzwilliam Museum.
Alexandra Plane
Alexandra is a librarian and doctoral student funded by an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award, co-supervised at Newcastle University and the National Library of Scotland. She is currently in the final stages of her doctoral project, a reconstruction of the Scottish and English libraries of King James VI and I. She has co-curated the National Library of Scotland exhibition 'Renaissance: Scotland and Europe 1480-1630'.
Charlie Spragg
I am a History of Art PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, holding a scholarship from the Edinburgh College of Art. My research explores King James VI & I's use of visual and material culture to cultivate an image as a distinctly 'imperial' 'British' European monarch. My methodology utilises James' vast catalogue of writings as a lens through which to interpret the artistic materials. I have been working independently as a historical researcher, most recently for Historic Environment Scotland on their updated guidebook for Stirling Castle.
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