Thijs Porck

Scholar of Old English, Tolkien and Early Medieval England

Teaching

I have taught at university level since 2008, mostly at Leiden University, with a brief spell at Radboud University Nijmegen. On this page you can see an overview of my efforts in the field of teaching innovation and an overview of the courses I am currently teaching, as well as a list of courses and guest lectures I have taught in the past. An overview of the completed BA and MA theses I have supervised in the past can be found here: overview of thesis supervision.

Teaching innovation

How can we use modern technology to improve teaching? This question has been at the basis of various projects I have (co-)led on teaching innovation. Most of these projects were sponsored by Leiden University’s ECOLe (Expertise Centre for Online Learning).

I have also shared my experiences in teaching innovation with colleagues through lectures at events. Between 2021 and 2023, I was one of the co-chairs of the Leiden Teachers’ Academy, which promotes teaching innovation at Leiden University.

Scroll down for a full overview of projects or click here.

Courses

My main areas of teaching are Old English, Middle English, medievalism and J. R. R. Tolkien. I have also taught courses in history of the English language and linguistics.

My courses are part of the BA English, the MA Literary Studies and the Minor Medieval and Early Modern Studies (all at Leiden University); I also coordinate courses in the pan-national MasterLanguage programme.

For a full overview of courses, scroll down or click here.

Summer schools and guest lectures

I teach an annual 10-day summer school in Old English as part of the Leiden Summer School in Languages and Linguistics. In addition, I have taught guest lectures at Utrecht University, the National Research School for Medieval Studies and the University of Costa Rica (see, e.g., Guest lecturing in Costa Rica from your own home: Early medieval English in Central America).

For a full overview, scroll down or click here.

Extracurricular activities

In addition to regular teaching, I like organizing extracurricular events, such as field trips, film nights and online gatherings.

For a full overview, scroll down or click here.

Awards

In 2014, I was awarded with the Humanities Faculty Teaching Prize for the most inspiring lecturer of the faculty of Humanities at Leiden University. In 2015/2016, I was one of the teaching ambassadors for ‘blended learning’ at Leiden University’s Expertise Centre for Online Learning (ECOLe). In 2017, I was one of three nominees for the LUS Teaching Award. In 2019, I won the LUS Teaching Award for ‘most outstanding achievement in the area of teaching within Leiden University’.

Teaching innovation

Teaching innovation projects

  • Facebook group ‘Old English Enthusiasts’ (2012-2023) – In 2012, I started the Facebook group ‘Old English Enthusiasts’, which grew to over 450 members to date – all students and alumni of my courses in Old English. The group has developed into an ever-growing network for Dutch people with an interest in Old English and early medieval England. Read more about this initiative here.
  • Old English Grammar Bytes (2015-2016) – I have developed a number of short Old English grammar videos, which are now available on YouTube. See: Old English Grammar Videos
  • Old English and Pitch2Peer (2016-2017) – I have used the Pitch2Peer environment as an alternative to in-class presentations. In groups of three, students uploadtheir own research vlogs (on the Norman Conquest or a particular Exeter Book Riddle); they are graded on the quality of their vlogs, as well as their cooperation and their ability to provide peer feedback. I have published on this project with my then student-assistant Jodie Mann here.
  • Thesis supervision via Trello (2016-) – As part of a blended learning project, I have used the online collaboration platform Trello for supervising theses. This method of thesis supervision has since been adopted by various colleagues in the Leiden English department.
  • The Leiden University Old English ColloQuest (2018; with dr. Krista A. Murchison) – We developed a digital edition of a part of Ælfric’s Colloquy with adaptive glosses. The digital edition is available here. We have published on this project with our then student-assistants Amos van Baalen and Jennifer Jansen here.
  • Beohyf: Collaborative Old English Translation (2018-2019) – With student assistant Berber Bossenbroek, I am experimenting with ways to translate an Old English text collaboratively, rather than individually.
  • Old English grammar memes (2021) – To aid my online teaching, I have made my own memes based on Old English grammar; a full overview is available here: https://thijsporck.com/oegrammarmemes/
  • Tolkien Things that Talk – In collaboration with the Things That Talk platform, I have curated the zone ‘Tolkien Things That Talk’, which features contributions by students of my Tolkien course: https://thingsthattalk.net/nl/zone/tolkien-things-that-talk
  • Online teaching experience – I have also been involved in the making of the Online Experience of the BA English Language and Literature.

Lectures on teaching innovation for colleagues

  1. ‘Online Scriptiebegeleiding’, for Leiden Teachers’ Academy, Leiden University (27-01-2020)
  2. ‘The Leiden University Old English ColloQuest: A Digital Teaching Edition with Adaptive Glosses’, for ExpertiseCentrum Online Learning (ECOLe), Leiden University (19-05-2018) [with Amos van Baalen, Jennifer Jansen and Krista Murchison]
  3. ‘Kennisclips, hoe maak je ze en hoe zet je ze in?’, for ExpertiseCentrum Online Learning (ECOLe), Leiden University (20-10-2016)
  4. Scriptie begeleiden online: het kan!’, for ExpertiseCentrum Online Learning (ECOLe), Leiden University (21-06-2016)
  5. ‘The medium is the message. Integratie van nieuwe media in het onderwijs’, for ExpertiseCentrum Online Learning (ECOLe), Leiden University (11-05-2016)
  6. ‘Pitch2Peer’, for ExpertiseCentrum Online Learning (ECOLe), Leiden University (28-01-2016)
  7. ‘Hoe verrijk ik mijn vak met sociale media?’, for ExpertiseCentrum Online Learning (ECOLe), Leiden University (08-10-2015)

Courses

At Masterlanguage (National graduate programme):

At Leiden University (graduate level):

At Leiden University (undergraduate level):

  • British and Irish Culture, 1940-Present (2016)
  • English-language Popular Culture (2017-2026)
  • Grote Boeken uit de Literatuur van de Middeleeuwen en de Vroegmoderne Tijd (2011-2025)
  • Linguistics 1: An Introduction to English Phonetics (2008-2009)
  • Linguistics 2: An Introduction to English Syntax (2008-2009)
  • Linguistics 4: English Phonology (2009-2010)
  • Linguistics 5: An Introduction to English Morphology (2009)
  • Linguistics 5C: English Historical Linguistics (2008)
  • Panorama van de Middeleeuwen en de Vroegmoderne Tijd (2013-2025)
  • Philology 1: An Introduction to Middle English (2009-2025)
  • Philology 2: Introduction to Old English (2009-2026)
  • Philology 3: History of the English Language (2009, 2011-2014, 2016, 2019)
  • Philology 4: Highlights of Medieval English Literature (2016-2026)
  • Philology 5/6: Old English Literature (2011-2022;2024-2025)
  • Philology 5/6: Early Modern Everyday English (2009-2010)
  • Philology 5/6: Introduction to Late Modern English (2011)

At Radboud University Nijmegen:

  • English from Old to New (2010)

Summer schools and guest lectures

Summer schools

For Leiden Summer School in Languages and Linguistics:

  • 10-day summer school ‘Old English’ (2017-2019; 2021-2023)

Guest lectures at universities and research institutes:

For Universidad Nacional de Costra Rica:

  • Guest lecture ‘From the Angles, Saxons and Jutes to Alfred the Great and Old English as a Germanic Language’ (19-08-2020)

For Jagiellonian University Kraków:

  • Guest lecture ‘It is a gift! Reshaping the Germanic Economy of Honour in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings‘ (20-10-2025)

For Onderzoeksschool Mediëvistiek (National Research School Medieval Studies’:

  • External expert in the course ‘Your Dissertation: Concepts, Questions, Composition’ (02-06-2026)
  • Lecture in the course ‘Introduction to Medieval Studies in the Netherlands’: ‘A Basic Introduction to Medievalism’ (04-03-2026)
  • Lecture in the course ‘Introduction to Medieval Studies in the Netherlands’: ‘Medieval Research at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society’ (28-02-2024)
  • Recurring guest lecture in the course ‘Foundations 1’: ‘Approaching Medieval Literary Texts’ (2022;2023)
  • Recurring guest lecture in the course ‘Medieval Sources Course’: ‘Approaches to Medieval Literary Texts and The Battle of Maldon‘ (2015; 2017; 2019)

For Utrecht University:

  • Guest lecture in the course ‘Old English’: ‘From Beowulf to Bilbo: The Afterlives of Old English and Beowulf’ (4-12-2024)
  • Recurring guest lecture in the course ‘Great Heroes: Medieval to Modern’: ‘Elderly Heroes in Anglo-Saxon Literature’ (2015-2020;2022-2023)
  • Guest lecture in the course ‘Unlikely Heroes in Medieval Literature’: ‘Elderly Heroes in Anglo-Saxon Literature’ (03-05-2013)

For Leidenhoven College, Amsterdam:

  • Lecture in the course ‘Tolkien: De lezingencursus’: ‘Beowulf Balings? Sporen van Oudengelse literatuur in Tolkiens The Hobbit’ (18-10-2012)

For Leiden University Medical Centre:

  • Recurring lecture for Academic Development Week, MA Vitality and Ageing: ‘Medieval Stereotypes of Old Age’ (2022-2025)

For Leiden University:

  • Guest lecture in the course ‘Imagining Reconciliation in Literature, Art and Media: Middle Ages to the Present Day’: ‘Failed Conflict Resolution in Beowulf‘ (24-02-2026)

For LUCAS Graduate Programme for PhD students, Leiden University:

  • ‘Teaching Methods – Best Practices’ (2019; 2021; 2025)
  • ‘Conferences: Presenting, chairing, organizing’ (2023; 2025)

For HOVO, Leiden University:

  • Guest lecture in the course ‘Bye, bye, Britain…’: ‘Middeleeuws Engeland en de fantasiewerelden van J. R. R. Tolkien en G. R. R. Martin’, in the course  ‘Bye, bye, Britain…’(18-03-2019)

Extracurricular activities

HOERA: Hwæt Old English Reading Assembly

I contribute to the regular sessions of an Old English reading group, organized by my PhD students Suzanne Klare and Lucas Gahrmann. These contributions include mini-lectures, collaborative translations and puzzles.

Old English Fun Time Online

During the corona-crisis (April 2020-August 2021), I organized 14 monthly online gaherings called ‘Old English Fun Time Online’, which featured collaborative translations of Old English, student presentations and interesting factoids about early medieval England.

Philology field trips

I have organized several optional field trips with students to visit locations, lectures or museums with a link to Anglo-Saxon England or the Middle Ages. Locations include Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, London and Oxford.

Philology film nights / Medieval movie nights

A combination of a lecture and a film for students interested in medieval England, all at Leiden University.

  1. ‘The Worst Beowulf Movie Night: Grendel (2007) + lecture ‘Mistakes were made: A reflection on modern Beowulf adaptations”, Leiden University (15-04-2021)
  2. ‘Medieval Movie Night: The Bad Reputation of Æthelred II: Unready or Undeserved?’, Leiden University (24-04-2018)
  3. ‘Medieval Movie Night: A Woman’s Place Is at Her Embroidery? Women in Early Medieval England’, Leiden University (23-03-2017)
  4. ‘Philology Film Night: Lindisfarne and Its Gospels: The Horrible History of Holy Island’, Leiden University (29-04-2015)
  5. ‘Philology Film Night: Arthur, the Once and Future Legend’, Leiden University (20-11-2013)
  6. ‘Philology Film Night: The Norman Conquest + 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth’, Leiden University (15-05-2013)
  7. ‘Philology Film Night: The Monsters in Beowulf Movies + Beowulf & Grendel’, Leiden University (24-04-2013)
  8. ‘Philology Film Night: The Various Faces of the Grendelkin in Beowulf Movies’, Leiden University (25-04-2012).
  9. ‘Philology Film Night: Laece Hwa – Doctor Who in Anglo-Saxon England’, Leiden University (22-03-2012).