I'm from Palo Alto, CA. I've also lived in China, Chicago, Indiana, Arizona, and Fremont, CA. I've gone to 10 public schools before Stanford. From that experience, you would think that I should be able to remember names fairly well, but I'm terrible at names and recognizing people. Sorry. I lived in Roble last year, and everyone seems to know my roommate, Nana Wilberforce. I now live in FroSoCo in what is effectively a two-room single. I see my "roommate" every now and then.

My major is mechanical engineering. I will declare as soon as I feel like hunting down an advisor and forcing him to meet with me. I'm also taking ME203 this quarter, so I might end up living in the PRL as I work on my project. (That's the machine shop.) I also think that I like CS. During any existing free time, I like following Thoroughbred horse racing and watching it if it's on TV (which doesn't happen very much because it seems that I'm the only one who watches it). I also do cross-stitch needlework and knitting. Someone taught me to crochet last quarter, but I haven't had time to do much with that. I like reading historical fiction novels, so I know all these random things about medieval English kings, but I never know if it was Edward the First or Edward the Second, so I'm no good at Jeopardy when those things pop up. I really like castles. That was definitely one of the reasons why I wanted to take this class.

Contact me at helenlu@stanford.edu.

Dunstanburgh Project Proposal

I'd like to explore either the military aspect of Dunstanburgh or feudalism. For example, I could look at the priorities the castle's builders had. Defense and emphasis of power must be primary objectives, and I could either explore those in detail or find other elements that the builders considered in Dunstanburgh's design. I could also look at any renovations, add-ons, and modifications, and relate them to the changing times.

Dunstanburgh's construction, as well as any major changes, would be supervised by an architect. The architect is a specialist, and an artist. He takes pride in his work. Perhaps sometimes his own taste doesn't mesh with the lord's orders. What does he want the castle too look like? Maybe he manages to satisfy both the lord and himself. How does he advise the lord? On occasion, how does he tactfully try to change the lord's mind?

The architect also controls a team of skilled and unskilled workers. He divides labor and ensures that quality is good throughout. He needs massive quantities of timber and stone delivered. Perhaps funds are short at times, and he petitions the lord for more gold. What role does the architect play in this organizational challenge?

My Pages

• Feudal (wrote some lines to organize the links)
• Architect
• Thomas of Lancaster (someone else put up some stuff, and I expanded upon it and organized it into sub-pages)
• Lancaster's Dunstanburgh
• Lancaster's Political Career
• Lancaster's Ghost
• Master Elias
• Henry of Holme
• John Lilburn, Constable
• King Edward II
• License to Crenellate
• John of Gaunt's Renovations
• Dunstanburgh's Military Weaknesses
• Earl of Warwick, Enemy Commander
• The Design of Dunstanburgh, my presentation pages