This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.
On Wednesday 14th April 2021, I had the pleasure of interviewing Queen’s PhD student in Spanish, Ciaran Harty. Ciaran completed his undergraduate degree in French and Spanish at QUB and then proceeded to do an MRes on the Representation of Madrid in the Artículos de Costumbre by the 19th century Spanish writer, Mariano José de Larra. Whilst undertaking a PhD was not initially on the cards, Ciaran discovered a true passion for this particular area of studies, and so, in 2018 he began his PhD with the QUB Spanish department. The current working title of his thesis is: Precursors of Costumbrismo: The creation of a genre at the end of Spanish Enlightenment.
Ciaran described the Masters as a “stepping-stone” to the PhD, because although there are many similarities, the PhD unsurprisingly involves considerably more reading, researching and writing. I was particularly interested in finding out how his writing style had changed over time. Many undergraduate students believe the common misconception that in order to be successful in your degree, you must produce work with a high-brow, overly-academic style of writing. He assured me that while feeling this pressure was normal, and indeed something that he had experienced too, it was ultimately unnecessary. The most important thing is finding your own writing style and this is something that the PhD has allowed him to do. Through extensive reading, constructive feedback from peers and supervisors and consistently practising writing, he found that he was able to develop his own style and allow it to flow more naturally. This made the process more enjoyable for him and the content more digestible for his readers.
As our conversation continued, Ciaran spoke about working as Teaching Assistant in the Spanish department as part of his PhD experience. He has taught grammar classes at beginner level and to level 1 and 2 students (with teaching moving online in 2020/2021 as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic). Overall, he feels very positively about the role, despite preferring in-person teaching (like the majority of us!). However, he did comment that when he first started teaching, he faced difficulties in finding the balance between this new academic responsibility and his PhD research. Thankfully, though, he was able to adapt to the new role over time and find a balance that works for him.
Ciaran’s PhD experience at Queens has been largely positive and worthwhile. Aside from improving his research and writing abilities, he has also developed many new transferable skills such public speaking and breaking down niche topics so that they are understandable for different audiences with varying understandings of his topic area. In regards to his future career, Ciaran is interested in staying in the world of academia and is considering turning his PhD thesis into a book.
I thoroughly enjoyed my chat with Ciaran about his PhD experience at QUB. It gave me a deeper insight into both the challenges and benefits of further academic study, and opened my eyes to the many transferable skills that PhD study can provide. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to speak with him – a fellow Madrid-lover – and someone who I know would be happy to answer any questions that fellow language undergraduates may have about MRes or PhD study at Queen’s.
Interview by Emily Anthony, final-year undergraduate in French and Spanish