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Join us for an exclusive, seven-day Curated Retreat as we step into the mind of England’s most enigmatic monarch. We aren't just looking at history; we are conducting an Intellectual Enquiry of one of history’s greatest masters of self-fashioning: Queen Elizabeth I.
In this retreat, we will move beyond the common tropes of the "Virgin Queen" to explore the sophisticated, often contradictory political narratives Elizabeth constructed through her portraiture and personal writings.
We will bridge the gap between your professional expertise and the humanities, exploring:
The Rhetoric of Paradox: How Elizabeth used conflicting images (the King’s Two Bodies, the Virgin/Mother dichotomy) to navigate a world that wasn't built for a woman to rule.
Iconography as Compliance: Analysing how Elizabeth treated her image like a high-stakes legal document—every pearl, pelican, and globe in her portraits was a carefully placed regulatory signal to her court.
The Art of Self-Fashioning: A mirror for your own life. We will ask: If a Queen can construct her identity to survive and thrive in a hostile landscape, what can we learn about the stories we tell about ourselves today?
With this purchase, you will receive:
A reading list & curriculum
Details on the structure of the Academy (Date: 7 September to 13 September)
A welcome package with some resources will be posted
Join us for an exclusive, seven-day Curated Retreat as we step into the mind of England’s most enigmatic monarch. We aren't just looking at history; we are conducting an Intellectual Enquiry of one of history’s greatest masters of self-fashioning: Queen Elizabeth I.
In this retreat, we will move beyond the common tropes of the "Virgin Queen" to explore the sophisticated, often contradictory political narratives Elizabeth constructed through her portraiture and personal writings.
We will bridge the gap between your professional expertise and the humanities, exploring:
The Rhetoric of Paradox: How Elizabeth used conflicting images (the King’s Two Bodies, the Virgin/Mother dichotomy) to navigate a world that wasn't built for a woman to rule.
Iconography as Compliance: Analysing how Elizabeth treated her image like a high-stakes legal document—every pearl, pelican, and globe in her portraits was a carefully placed regulatory signal to her court.
The Art of Self-Fashioning: A mirror for your own life. We will ask: If a Queen can construct her identity to survive and thrive in a hostile landscape, what can we learn about the stories we tell about ourselves today?
With this purchase, you will receive:
A reading list & curriculum
Details on the structure of the Academy (Date: 7 September to 13 September)
A welcome package with some resources will be posted