Category Archives: Postgraduate student interviews

Postgraduate student interviews: Isabella Gammon-McConville (MRes)

This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2023-2024.

Can you tell me a bit about your academic experience at Queen’s so far?

I started at Queen’s back in 2018 and I did my undergraduate [degree] in Spanish. I did my [first] two years at Queen’s and then I went abroad to Spain, where I worked as a language assistant. That was during Covid, so it was a bit of a different experience, but I was in the south of Spain there. I came back and did my final year, then went on and did the MRes, also looking at Spanish.

Isabella Gammon-McConville, personal archive

What topic did you choose for your MRes and what drew you to it?

I handed in my dissertation back in September [2023] and the title was ‘Language Acts and World (Un)Making: The Poetics of Power and Resistance in the Drama of Ana Caro and Leonor de la Cueva’. I was looking at Golden Age drama and specifically the comedia. I’d done a bit of that in my undergraduate work, I’d looked at a few different areas but I hadn’t seen a lot of work done by female dramatists. I was interested in how they wrote resistance into a lot of their work, because they followed the societal norms and expectations of writing literature in order to be able to write in the period, and they also managed to get in things that made their work different to the canonical work of the period.

What was the highlight of your post-grad experience?

That’s a difficult one. Honestly, probably handing my dissertation in! No, making my work and research fit within the field and seeing links between the research done by everyone else. The collaborative idea of research is that you get to do something that’s a bit different, but you get to draw on work that has already been written by other people and make your own space within the field. For me, this was developed throughout the MRes: the research methods classes which introduced various lenses to look at Caro and Cueva’s work, the discussions with my supervisor, and my own research into publications on the authors. Coming to conclusions using different research methods was really interesting. I guess it’s [about] coming up with something new, isn’t it?

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Postgraduate student interviews: Claire Whyte (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2023-2024.

What has your academic journey looked like so far? What did you study during your undergraduate and previous postgraduate experiences?

I undertook my PhD in Spanish as a mature student. For my undergraduate degree I did Languages and Latin American Studies [at the University of Essex]. After university I didn’t go straight on to postgraduate study. I travelled after my degree and I lived abroad for several years, teaching in a number of countries (South Korea, New Zealand). In 2016, when I was made redundant from the language program I was teaching on, I applied for a Master’s in Modern Languages at Queen’s. I then had a year between finishing my master’s and applying for the PhD. I enjoyed the return to studying and university life. So, I put a proposal together, applied for the PhD, and got accepted, which I hadn’t really expected! I just finished my PhD in November [2023] – there were some interruptions to my studies, especially because of the pandemic, so my journey was a bit more protracted.

Would you be able to give a brief explanation of your PhD research?

I will try! My broad area is Mexican Studies; in my thesis, “Frida Kahlo and Astrid Hadad: Performing Woman and Nation in 20^th Century Mexico”, I look at artist Frida Kahlo, and cabaret político [political cabaret] performer Astrid Hadad. I examine how they perform, resist and contest the hegemonic constructs of Mexican womanhood. So, I look at Kahlo’s self-portraits against the background of cultural nationalism in post-revolutionary Mexico (the period following the Mexican revolution of 1910-1920). I contextualise her work against the art history and discourse of the period. In relation to Astrid Hadad, I examine her work against the backdrop of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed towards the end of the 20th century. I look at how she uses her cabaret performances as political commentary and how she performs womanhood in that context.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Isabel Buckley (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2023-2024.

What has your university journey been like so far?

During my A-level studies I au-paired in Spain and I really enjoyed using the language there. I did History and Spanish for my undergraduate degree [at Queen’s] because I didn’t want to lose my Spanish and I found the Spanish side more interesting for me and that’s how I have come to do an MRes [Master of Research] now.

So, tell me about your current research project: ‘Genre and gender in female authored narco-novelas’.

It looks at female narco-novelas which are women-authored books about drug trafficking. I’m looking at Perra Brava by Orfa Alarcón, who is a Mexican author, El Leopardo al Sol by Laura Restrepo, who is a Colombian author, and Pistoleros by Paula Castiglioni, who is an Argentinian author. So, my scope is across Latin America. From what I have seen, most of the productions on drug trafficking, like TV series, focus on male figures so I thought it would be interesting to look at a female-narrated point of view and the portrayal of women and see how that is different.

Where did your interest in this topic come from?

I enjoyed Sarah Bowskill’s module on US/Mexican border issues during second year and then in final year I did Sarah’s other module, on Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, which touched on the issue of drug trafficking. I really enjoyed the further readings that were set within these two modules and believe the good grades I achieved were down to how much I enjoyed the content. Then when I heard about the MRes and how flexible it was, I decided to do that, and I also got funding which has helped.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Lauren McShane (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2022-2023.

What has your academic trajectory been so far?

I really enjoyed languages at school. I studied Spanish at GCSE and took French just before GCSE, and I decided to continue them. I did an undergraduate degree in French and Spanish, and decided that I hadn’t had enough of French. I really wanted to keep going so I decided to continue on to MRes because I wanted to work in a research-led, more heavily dissertation-weighted kind of course, and I didn’t think the taught programs, like the MAs, were as good a fit. I did an MRes on medical humanities and French culture, even though I had never studied medical humanities before. The MRes is a good space to discover something completely new. I really wanted to keep this going, so I decided to apply for a PhD (which you absolutely do not have to do if you get an MRes!). The MRes sets you up well for it; you get the chance to explore other areas of the School and get a chance to experiment with some more independent work.

What are you currently working on, and why did you choose the topic?

I’m still within the medical humanities, I really enjoy it. While I was doing my MRes, I got really interested in broader networks of people. So, for example, I was looking at one person suffering with alcoholism, but I became interested in what the experience for other people around them might be like and what their lived experience of care is like. I decided to put together a PhD project with my supervisor on narratives of family alcoholism. I’m looking at people who have grown up with an alcoholic mum or dad and how they write about their lived experience and have come to understand health care and their parent’s experience. For me, it really grew out of my MRes project. I will say that that the project did change post-proposal, so there’s nothing wrong with you or the project if it has to change. The research evolves and grows with you.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Rochelle Marsh (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2021-2022.

Hi Rochelle, what has your university journey been like?

Its’s been a very long one! I studied French and Spanish at A-Level and carried on with those two languages here at Queen’s [in my undergraduate degree]. In my third year, I went to Asturias and took the risky decision to stay there during the Covid pandemic to complete my year abroad. I later returned to Queen’s to complete my final year and started thinking about my next steps. Initially, I wanted to do a PGCE [Postgraduate Certificate in Education] but after speaking to my lecturers I learned about the Master of Research [MRes]. Intrigued, I submitted a proposal, then I was awarded a scholarship to help with funding, and now I am at the end of my Masters with a dissertation deadline this September.

Your dissertation is entitled ‘Female Voices and Testimonies From the España vacía/vaciada’, can you tell me more about this?

The female voices refer to these texts written by contemporary female Spanish authors: Tierra de mujeres, by Maria Sánchez, Feria by Ana Iris Simón and Un amor by Sara Mesa. They each focus on a unique aspect of the countryside, a motif that has long been discussed in Spanish literature but was recently brought into conversation after Sergio del Molino’s book La España vacía. The title means ‘empty Spain’ but critics challenged that La España ‘vaciada’, meaning ‘Spain emptied’, would have been a more accurate title to describe the changing countryside. His book explored the portrayal of the Spanish countryside and rural to urban migration trends in literature, film and press articles. My dissertation therefore analyses how these three texts dialogue with the concept of ‘España vacía’ and how these texts challenge the mistreatment of the countryside and rural women. I also look at the extent to which these texts can be a form of provocation or activism and if there is a correlation between the success of these texts and the fact there is a wide female readership in Spain.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Aislin Kearney (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

On the 20^th of April I interviewed recent Queen’s PhD graduate Aislin Kearney to discuss her research. In February 2021, Aislin successfully passed her viva for a PhD in Spanish with a thesis entitled ‘’The Ambition of Melancholy: The Aesthetics of Heroism in the Lyric poetry of Juan Boscán and Fernando de Herrera’.

Aislin began her studies at Queen’s as a drama student, where she started a beginner’s course in Spanish. She enjoyed the course so much that she decided to change pathways, majoring in Spanish with a minor in Drama. In her final year she described how she was (begrudgingly) enrolled on a Renaissance module. Unexpectedly, however, the module caught her interest, and when she went on to an MA in Spanish at Queen’s, she devoted her Master’s dissertation, and later PhD, to further examining the poetry of the period.

Portada de *Las obras de Boscán y algunas de Garcilaso de la Vega repartidas en cuatro libros*, Barcelona, Carlos Amorós, 1543.

Her Master’s dissertation focused on the work of Spanish poet Juan Boscán, a lesser-known contemporary of Garcilaso de la Vega. Central to her study of Boscán’s poetry was the emerging idea of melancholic heroism, which Aislin explained was particularly interesting when considering the historical context in which the poetry was being written. During a period in which the country was rising to become somewhat of a superpower, much of its most prominent literature was characterized by lovesick, introspective, and melancholic figures.

Aislin described her PhD as a natural progression from her Master’s research, in which she further explored this melancholic aesthetic, and Spain’s attachment to it, by examining not only the work of Boscán but also his successor, Fernando de Herrera. Aislin explained that her choice in poets was influenced by a number of factors. First, the consecutive periods in which these poets were writing allowed for a better understanding of the historical trajectory of Spanish literature during this time. Second, these two lesser-known poets’ peripheral positions in relation to the extensively studied Garcilaso de le Vega allowed for a more expansive understanding of Spanish poetry of the period. Finally, the fact that both of these poets produced theoretical works alongside poetry, where they discussed their methods and approaches, made them interesting subjects on which to focus research.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Jordan McCullough (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

Interview with Jordan McCullough, second year PhD student at QUB.

So, Jordan, what has been your university trajectory so far?

I studied French and Spanish at Queen’s, then continued on to do an MRes, with a dissertation examining end of life care in France, from the perspective of the patient and their family. While completing this, I felt like I would like to take things further and see where it might take me. I applied for PhD funding whilst I was still doing my MRes, got funded by Northern Bridge and here I am now, in the second year of my PhD!

What is the topic of your current research project?

My project looks at parental grief narratives, that is, writing by parents who have lost children for a variety of different causes, such as terminal illness, suicide, violent death, terrorist attacks or even accidental death. There are a wide range of causes of death but what I’m trying to do with that is to find out, first of all, what makes the parents write; what do they get out of it themselves, and what do they give to their children through this idea of continuing bonds and ongoing legacy, and secondly, what drives these parents to go beyond writing for themselves and their child and publish their text, and what changes when there’s a readership and an audience involved.

What has been the most interesting part of your research so far?

By far, the most interesting aspect of my research journey has been the short placement I undertook with the regional paediatric palliative care team in Brittany. It was wonderful to see how my research might have some sort of positive impact in the everyday lives of parents grieving the loss of their child. I learnt a lot from the staff at the unit and I think I was able to give something back in return. All being well, I hope to get back across to France next year to spend some more time with the team.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Evie Domingue (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

Evie Domingue is an MRes in Arts and Humanities candidate, whose research focuses on representations of Afro-Brazilian women in the media and the ways they represent themselves in their own media productions. In this interview, I speak with Evie about, amongst other things, her reasons for pursuing research on this topic, the strong sense of urgency it holds in Brazil’s current socio-political context, and her advice for those thinking of doing an MRes.

Prior to postgraduate study, Evie completed her BA Hons in Spanish and Portuguese at Queen’s University Belfast. She cites the ‘Brazilian Digital Culture’ module that she completed in her final year, taught by her MRes supervisor Dr Tori Holmes, as having sparked her interests for both media and Brazilian studies. It also gave her the opportunity to incorporate her passion for race studies into the aforementioned topics. She notes that the independent study she completed as part of this module gave her insight as to what was to come for the MRes.

In terms of methodology, Evie is analysing various forms of media – a YouTube channel, music, a film, a streaming platform and a telenovela (serial drama) – and picking up on the most prominent themes within this material. She notes that whilst her project is still developing and evolving, so far she has found recurring topics in her research material to be issues of identity, black aesthetic standards in the realm of self-representation, and black female protagonism.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Ciaran Harty (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

On Wednesday 14^th 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 19^th 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.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Laura Kennedy (PhD)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

From Paris to London to Queen’s, we caught up with Laura Kennedy to learn about her global PhD French project and her advice for undergraduates considering postgraduate study.

Q. What has your journey to PhD been like?

It’s been enjoyable, but unexpected. My B.A was in French studies at the University of London Institute in Paris. In my final year, I took a French colonialism class, and became really interested, particularly in Algeria. My interests have always been in literature and postcolonial literature was the perfect overlap. I did my final year dissertation on Kamel Daoud and his book Meursault, contre-enquête. The next step for me was to get a theoretical base of postcolonial scholarship. Once I graduated, I worked for a year in Paris and researched Masters programs. I found SOAS University of London. They did a Masters in Comparative Literature of Africa and Asia which I completed in 2020. SOAS was a watershed moment for me academically; I could focus in on my interests which I came to realize were language politics and postcolonial novels. Once I realized this, I put PhD proposals together – I wasn’t going to stop after the Masters. I felt like I would be an outsider coming to Queen’s at PhD. I’m happy to be mistaken on that. Within weeks, I felt welcome and part of the community.

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