Dr Steve Tibble
Contact Details
N/C
Background
When and where did you initially develop an interest in the history of the crusades and/or the Latin East?
Who or what sparked your enthusiasm for the subject?
In the late 1970s (1976-1979) when I was an undergraduate reading history at Cambridge, Jonathan Riley-Smith was one of my tutors. He was a very positive and supportive influence and helped kindle my interest in the subject.
Education
Please provide details of your Higher Education, including dates, institution(s) and the name(s) of your research supervisors.
Cambridge University 1976-1979 (BA/MA)
Norman Stone
Jonathan Riley-Smith (Both extremely influential supervisors)
DJV (Vivien) Fisher
London University c 1982-1985 (PhD)
Jonathan Riley-Smith (Outstandingly attentive, supportive and helpful as a supervisor)
(Otto) RC Smail was also extremely supportive both while I was at London and for a short time in Israel.
Career History
Please provide details of your academic career history, including confirmation of your current institutional affiliation and contact details.
Apart from the above, I have never had an academic career. I have worked in advertising and PR for most of my career and am now Communications Director for a large international financial institution [though I would perhaps like to return to academic work in a couple of years time].
Influences and Methodologies
What ideas and/or methodologies have informed your approach to your research?
Jonathan Riley-Smith was the main influence and support in terms of broad subject matter.
My fellow PhD students at the time were also very influential, particularly Dr Chris Marshall and Dr Peter Pattinson.
I used quantitative research techniques in analysing data for my book and my PhD thesis, which seemed to be relatively unusual at the time. In doing this I was heavily influenced by the market research techniques I was using as part of my role within the advertising industry.
Research Outlook
What do you consider to be the most important avenues for future research in the field of crusader studies?
It feels like there is opportunity to make the field of Crusader studies more ‘narrative’ again (ie building on the excellent specialist work of the past couple of decades) and trying to make the subject more relevant to modern understanding of the interface between Islam and the West etc [but this is a very uninformed ‘outsiders’ view, as I have not been actively researching for many years!]
Research Output
Please provide details of your research output, including publications and other media as appropriate.
Output was mainly a book called Monarchy and Lordships in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1099-1291 (Clarendon Press).