Hi there,

I am an Australian currently in China trying to put together a research proposal for PhD work on Chinese military history. I am actually more interested in arms and armour study but it seems that this is not an area of serious academic study. I was wondering if anybody knew why most universities seem to ignore this area of history.

Do you know of any academics studying weaponry as an academic subject at a university in Australia (or anywhere)?

Thank you any help you can provide would be extremely appreciated.

Regards,

Douglas Eacersall....

EVERYTHING is an academic subject. That's why folks complain that graduate study is producing more and more about less and less. However, as far as I can tell the study of arms and armour is more typically a specialty within the fields of art history or archaeology. I forget where Toby Capwell earned his doctorate or in what discipline, but I do recall that his dissertation was focused specifically on English armour. So, it can be done. It's all about finding the right program and mentor. Of course, few people have had more influence on our study than Ewart Oakeshott, and he was not an academic in the formal sense of the term.

It's not impossible, but it's difficult. It's kind of a narrow field, I think. Furthermore, it seems to me that at the highest level, the study of armour requires international travel, and, optimally, being connected to a vast network of museum curators and even owners of private collections. There are two parts to the study of armour: the historical side, which is to say the reading of primary and secondary sources that assist in understanding it, and the side that involves having access, to some degree or another, to the collections of armour around the world. In this way it's not that different from the general topic of art history, but it is a much narrower focus.

I would say, to echo Mr. Flynt's words, that it is probably best approached as a specialty within the fields of history and/or art history, or perhaps archaeology.

As I have found personally, it also really helps to know a little bit of German, and to a lesser degree French.

One of the greatest contributors to the study and collection of armour though - Bashford Dean, curator of the Metropolitan's collection - started out in the field of biology and got into armour relatively late in the game. In his case, it helped that he was already established as an academic authority on something.

Randall Moffet, a member of this community is doing/has done a Phd to do with crossbows.

Tod

If you think arms and armor is a difficult subject to pursue academically, wait till you get a load of historical combat (as an academic subject). :)

You have no chance in Australia. The best opportunities are probably in the UK.

I believe Kansas State University has a program in hoplology. I'm not sure how close this is to your related field, but it is as close of a program I can think of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplology

I know of someone who did a thesis on the excellent (and now largely unseen) arms collection held by Melbourne Museum. Lucky sod.

I don't recall what the course was. Museum studies, possibly. Something like that is the best bet in this country.