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Today, we readily understand that medieval marriage was often preceded by complex economic negotiations about dowers, dowries, inheritances, and even the costs of weddings. This article argues that medieval courtship—whether aimed at marriage or not—was also an occasion for negotiation and benefit. Focusing on evidence from late medieval England, it shows that courtship was not solely (or even predominantly) a path to marriage: it was also a pastime, an amusement, and—for women—a transaction of its own. Medieval people expected that any man might give any woman material benefits in return for the pleasures of her company and, possibly, the pleasures of sexual relations with her, too. This article also shifts well-recognized medieval discourses about female greed to new modern understandings about female need. The reliance of poor singlewomen on the material benefits of courtship speaks to us today about their profound vulnerability and neediness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-stakes assessments prominently influence what is done in secondary school science lessons ('washback' effects). It is therefore important that assessments of knowledge and understanding gained from practical work are constructed to reward and incentivise effective practices in practical work. To do that, they must differentiate between pupils who have experienced practical work in different ways. This empirical, mixed-methods study identifies generalizable characteristics of written assessments that differentially reward pupils who experienced practical activities through hands-on work, teacher demonstration, video demonstration, or reading about the activity. Conclusions are drawn from 1486 post-intervention tests completed by pupils aged 14–15 in England, from lesson observations and teacher interviews. This study also identifies pedagogical practices that were more noticeable in practical work that was most rewarded by the written assessments: the work was teacher-guided; and pupils were encouraged to be active participants. Existing literature describes negative washback effects of high-stakes, written assessments that limit the use and effectiveness of practical work as a pedagogical tool. We describe ways in which written assessments could be constructed to better reward effective practices in practical work (practices that better support learning), with the intention of having positive washback effects on pedagogy by better incentivising these practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the author's interest in what the curious allure of death and maidenhood discloses about power dynamics between women and men. Topics covered include "Death and the Maiden" that provides a rich cultural vein that talks of patriarchy tinged with Greek and Roman precedents, how the Virgin Mary never fully succumbed to death and the powerful but fictive tales available to late medieval English audiences in Latin, Anglo-Norman and English.

The article discusses the practice of compulsory labor service in late Medieval England. This set of labor regulations was issued by King Edward III in June 1349 as a response to grain shortages brought on by the Black Death. Specific focus is given to the high incidence of compulsory service among women in England. The Black Death's devastating effects on the English economy, largely agricultural at the time, are described. Legal action taken against those who refused to accept compulsory service is discussed.

Based on arguments developed more fully in the author's History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism (2006), this article urges historians of women and gender to develop a richer appreciation of the distant past. The article uses data from recent conferences and journals to demonstrate that our field is now overly focused on the modern era, and especially the last century. Then, in the spirit of encouraging further discussion and debate, the article lays out some reasons for this contemporary tilt, some ways we might right the balance and some benefits of doing just that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the comments concerning her book "History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism." An overview of her response on the various commentaries is given. She thinks that people need not stumble over the matters of words. She notes that the book intends to be a "provocative" material, which raises questions about heteronormative values in women's gender history and on the place of history in contemporary feminism.

Never-married women were common in the streets and lanes of late medieval London, but few of their wills survive. Philippa Russell is one of only 15 such testators recorded in London probate courts between 1450 and 1500, and her will is especially long and informative. Providing readers with a translation of Russell's will, this article examines what it reveals about Russell's piety, charity, civic-mindedness, wealth, and personal and familial relations. It also discusses the varied meanings of the new term 'singlewoman' (Russell's chosen self-identification) and compares Russell's last provisions with those of other singlewomen, maidens, puellae and virgines in late medieval London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on several studies regarding students' understanding of entropy. A measure of the number of energy distribution ways among the different energy levels within and between particles is provided by entropy. According to a study conducted on 98 Scottish high school students, generally students believe that entropy is a measure of disorder. Another study conducted on 56 student-teachers in their final year of college revealed that the students believed that entropy and kinetic energy of the particles have strong relationship. It was also found that students considered that entropy is the cause of disorder in the system. It is stated that results from the questionnaires and interviews show that comprehending entropy is difficult for undergraduates.

Gay and lesbian histories abound with insightful analyses of texts produced by the powerful and privileged, but they are relatively poor in scholarship about the ordinary lives of average people. The author offers here a proposal that might adjust this balance a bit. The rich insights brought by intellectual, cultural and literary studies of same-sex love are invaluable, but the author seeks to complement these with more complete understandings of the same-sex relations of people who were more real than imagined and more ordinary than extraordinary. Lesbian histories are, of course, even more challenging to construct, for even fewer documents tell of past lesbians among either privileged or ordinary folk. Various explanations are plausible and intriguing, and they are not mutually exclusive. But they too often construe a tiny group of authors as representing a broad medieval reality, reconstructing medieval attitudes about same-sex love between women mostly from the ideas of clerics — that is, the most male and most sexually anxious segment of medieval society. The observations and speculations of this clerical minority are certainly impressive, but their world view too often becomes, in modern interpretations, the medieval world-view.

Opinion. Discusses various charity ales where people raise money for worthy causes. How people come together to raise money; Creation of webs of reciprocal obligations by these ales; Who benefits from these ales; Form of mutual help circulating among families who were well-established in their communities.

Provides a historical survey and assessment of the status of women scholars in the academe and the Medieval Academy, and of feminist scholarship in the medieval fields. Feminist medievalists; The `Speculum' journal's Latinity, antimodernity, and masculinity; Politics of feminism; Revising the field of medieval studies in three directions.

Presents an explanatory essay on confronting continuity in women's history and articles which responds to suggestions in the essay. Suggestions for a partriarchal equilibrium; Arguments over the effects of the narratives of transformation in women's history.

Focuses on the future plans of the Coordinating Committee on Women in the Historical Profession/Conference Group on Women's History (CCWHP/CGWH) twenty-five years after its founding. Rethinking of the organizations' roles in relation to women historians and women's history; Plans for name changes.

The article presents an obituary for James Ambrose Raftis, professor emeritus of medieval history at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies in Toronto, Ontario.