i went to the first day of katharine park's seminar called sources for the study of medieval and renaissance medicine. it seems absolutely terrific. every week there is a latin medical work to be transcribed and translated for discussion, and also readings on medical culture in the late middle ages and the renaissance. from strict medical commentaries, consilia and questiones to prayers, magical chants and incantations and canonisation testimonies, nearly every genre of medical texts will be covered. but she also allows "medical" to be interpreted loosely - hence, for our final projects, we could look at banns advertising a physician's services, or a criminal court medical testimony, a letter from a medical student describing his studies - anything really in a previous year, someone did their final project on a latin transcript of a 14th century court trial of a male transvestite prostitute. the idea is to find a short text not previously translated and produce a "scholarly edition" and write an introduction and commentary for it. i am nervous about that having no previous paleographical and editorial background but i think this is a way of learning by doing. i do hope i find something that is good in the course of the year!