What our students say
Our January 2013 MA graduands...
TRISHA LIU (MA Student 2011-12)
MA in Eighteenth Century Studies: The Global Eighteenth Century
"I still get strange looks when I say that I traveled from Hawai'i to England to study Hawai'i, but choosing CECS as my platform for scholarly engagement with my home was the best decision I have ever made for my research. CECS is impressive enough to encourage achievement and expansion, yet welcoming enough to inspire friendship and collaboration. If you have one year to give and a binder of research interests to explore, there is no better place to do it than here. For the people I've met and the things that I've learned, I'd give another year!"
RHYS JONES (MA Student 2011-12)
(Now researching a PhD on 18th Century London Welsh Identity, with funded scholarship from the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies at the University of Wales)
"My experience at CECS was absolutely and unreservedly positive. It wasn’t only the extent to which taught elements of my MA course increased the breadth and depth of my knowledge, or the expert help and support I was given in researching my dissertation. The collaborative, interdisciplinary and unpretentious atmosphere at the Centre made even a Masters student like myself feel part of a wider research community including both staff and postgraduate students, and was vital in giving me the confidence to pursue further study. I leave the Centre having gained interests I never knew I had, and with a reawakened sense of excitement about the possibilities of academic research."
KATE CHAPMAN (MA Student 2011-12)
MA in Eighteenth Century Studies: Representations and Contexts 1750-1850
"It is hard not to gush about York's MA in 18th century studies. The professors are all exceedingly nice, helpful and knowledgeable, and there is a very warm atmosphere between MA students, PhD students and professors, which encourages learning in and outside of the classroom. The advisors work hard to ensure success in their students regarding the MA dissertation and offer great deals of support in many different areas of a student's academic career. I heartily enjoyed my time in York and believe that it has enabled me to see life in a very positive way and has helped me feel confident in my ability to complete long-term projects."
SAIRAH REHMAN (MA Student 2011-12)
MA in Eighteenth Century Studies: Representations and Contexts 1750-1850
"My year at CECS was a wonderful learning experience and I was able to develop my research skills and learn a great deal in a short space of time. The department excels, both at pastoral care and teaching and the staff are knowledgable, friendly and approachable.The combination of social and academic makes the department a brilliant place to study and I would thoroughly recommend the MA in Eighteenth Century Studies to anyone - I'm very glad I made the decision to study here!"
Comments from June 2011
Hannah Lyons (MA Student, part-time, 2010-12)
(Update: Hannah is now working for Tate Britain)
MA in Eighteenth Century Studies: Representations and Contexts 1750-1850
Deciding to do an MA was an easy decision for me; having completed my BA at the University of Sheffield continuing to postgraduate level seemed like a natural progression. It was the task of working out how to pay for my MA that was the problem. Before I started at CECS I had a vague idea that the career I wanted to progress into, post York, would be based in the heritage sector. I realised that in order to finance my MA and gain some vital work experience in this area, I would need to study part time.
The Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies could not have been more supportive in my decision not to study full time. The MA programme for part time students is organised so that rather than studying two modules per term you study one module per term, over two years. Having this extra time has benefited me hugely – I still participate in the Centre’s lively research seminars and still feel very much involved in all of the Centre’s activities. When CECS organised a research trip to Fairfax House in the 2010 autumn term I was able to chat to the House Director and organise some work experience. Nearly one year and two exhibitions later I am still interning at Fairfax House and will hope to complete my dissertation, based on the House’s portrait collection, later in 2012.
The Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies has opened many doors for me. The staff have been most helpful, not only with regard to academic matters but with encouraging me to pursue my wider interests. In June 2011 myself and another postgraduate student organised an interdisciplinary day conference entitled ‘The Portrait and the Country House in the Long Eighteenth Century.’ This CECS conference brought together academics, curators and the general public, with the aim of providing a fresh and exiting look at the people and the places at the heart of our national history and heritage. The Centre were hugely supportive of this conference, offering their extensive knowledge and time to help us create a very successful and well received symposium, the fruits of which I am still working on today!
LINDSAY Porter , History/CECS PhD Student, formerly CECS MA Student
Almost twenty years after finishing my undergraduate degree in French and Art History from St Andrews University I enrolled in the MA course in Eighteenth Century Studies at York. In the intervening years, my career as a publisher’s editor and freelance writer had allowed me to pursue an interest in the culture of late eighteenth-century France. The interdisciplinarity of the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies was the perfect match for my earlier degree and the different perspectives that staff and students bring to the seminar discussions is what makes the Centre such a lively and inspiring place to study.
Professor Alan Forrest, whose course on the Cultural History of the French Revolution had originally drawn me to York, was so encouraging during my MA dissertation that I am now in the second year of a PhD under his supervision. I am looking at popular rumour during the French First Republic, specifically the relationship between rumour and the rise of popular print culture; government attempts to police rumour through a network of observateurs (i.e., old regime spies under a new name); the effect of rumour on eighteenth-century notions of reputation; and ultimately, how rumour co-exists within a Republic whose government emphasises openness and transparency. The York French Revolutionary Collection is a rich source of printed material covering this period. Most recently, however, a travel grant from the AHRC has allowed me to spend a large part of the coming year consulting the archives in Paris.
Simon Ford (MA in Eighteenth Century Studies: the Global Eighteenth Century)
The diversity of research at the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies gives a truly multidisciplinary structure to the taught post graduate courses available. Regular seminars led by eminent guest speakers, academic staff and post graduate students create a relaxed but incredibly focused and inclusive atmosphere, in which the latest research is previewed to a community of dedicated scholars. The Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies combines supervision from world class academic staff, a friendly supportive atmosphere and the historic settings of The Kings Manor to form the ideal environment for anyone considering the study of the early modern period.
Sophie Columbeau CECS/English PhD Student
(Sophie has also written a very successful first novel, published last year)
I applied to do my PhD at York because I was continually told that, for the project I wanted to do, I’d be a fool to go anywhere else or work with anyone except my supervisor. It only took one visit to CECS (to the Christmas party, as it happened) to make me realise the truth of that statement in many respects. CECS is a friendly, welcoming and dynamic community, where staff, doctoral students and Masters students are all treated as intellectual equals. The full-to-bursting programme of research forums, research seminars, conferences, workshops and varied social events ensures that everyone knows one another, and always has plenty to talk about. I’ve heard that doing a PhD can be a lonely business at some institutions, but that just isn’t a problem at CECS.
I’m working on the British novel 1780-1820 – specifically on how the politically charged act of naming is treated within the novel by a range of authors including Frances Burney, William Godwin and Charlotte Smith. Meetings with my supervisor and the other academics on my Thesis Advisory Panel continually encourage me to develop my reading and question my reasoning, but I’ve also found it really helpful to speak to visiting academics at the interdisciplinary Tuesday evening research seminars, and to present my own developing research at the Graduate Research Forum to get feedback from peers. I’ve also put together two panels for conferences with friends from CECS. Opportunities like this have really helped me to get the most out of my PhD to date.
Ryan Hanley (funded PhD Student, Hull University), formerly student for MA in Eighteenth Century Studies 2010-11
What I like most about being affiliated with the Centre is that from day one you're fully integrated into the postgraduate lifestyle. You're invited to attend conferences and to see academics present their latest research before their peers. You can take part in the day-to-day work of world-leading scholars from around the world, and your opinion is always considered, rather than 'indulged' by the people you work with. There's a great sense of equality between the MAs, PhDs and staff here.
The facilities at King's Manor are very good – particularly useful is the private workroom, reserved specifically for CECS postgrads – although you may need to fight the pigeons if you want to take a break out on the roof. The university library houses most of the books you'll need, and a few special collections you can't get anywhere else, which gives your research a bit of a boost.
The world-class scholarly environment, the big names and the great facilities are what drew me to the Centre, but what I ended up liking most about it were the friends I made here.