“What advice would you give to early career academics?”
Don’t discount yourself from anything, apply to every job that you would like to do, no matter how competitive if may be, apply for all available research funding (you don’t ask, you don’t get!), and go to as many conferences as possible! Continue reading
You’re stranded on a desert island, but luckily you pre-empted it. Which book do you take with you?
“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglass Adams. Because you only need that and a towel to survive.” Continue reading
“What has been your most memorable career moment so far?”
Probably passing my viva and getting a job on the same day, although I can’t say I remember much about it, other than the celebratory nachos. (There were a lot of nachos.)
Other than that – hosting the BAAS postgraduate conference in 2011. Lots of great people, lots of fascinating research, and a disproportionate amount of time spent worrying about tea urns and chocolate digestives. Continue reading
What has been your most memorable career moment so far?
“I would have to say that it was when I found out I had been granted funding for my PhD. I remember feeling relieved that I was going to be able to support myself financially during my PhD and it made me think that I might actually have the skills and qualities required to become a historian. I was in such a state of disbelief that I had to email the School to confirm that they had offered the funding to the correct applicant!” Continue reading
How did you come to your current area of research?
“When I started my Masters dissertation, I was already writing papers for a module on American Literature which I had found incredibly stimulating. I decided to write down a list of all the books I had read in my lifetime that I had found most enjoyable and the list strangely emerged as one featuring almost exclusively Cold War writers.” Continue reading
If you could time-travel to observe one moment in the history of America, where would you go?
“So many possibilities! I think I’d have to travel back a couple of hundred years and visit Yosemite Valley, without having seen it in photographs first. That would be pretty special. Failing that, Hill Valley in 1955 to see Marty McFly play ‘Johnny B. Goode’ for the first time.” Continue reading
You’re stranded on a desert island, but luckily you pre-empted it. Which book do you take with you?
“This is a horrible, horrible question. I never have just one book with me. However, I’m going to pretend that my house is on fire and I can only rescue one. That would be my signed copy of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It’s my favourite book. It’s beautifully written and every time I read it I get something different from it.” Continue reading
If you could time-travel to observe one moment in the history of America, where would you go?
“I’d probably travel back to 9 April, 1939 and stand with the 75,000 people that gathered to see Marian Anderson perform a concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. It’s an often overlooked moment in civil rights history, but definitely a very significant one!” Continue reading
Who would you invite to your fantasy dinner party?
“That’s a long list but I’ll try and give the short version. Terry Pratchett, Mary Shelly and J.R.R Tolkien would make up the literary section; from politics, Hilary Clinton, Lyndon B. Johnson, Harry Barnes Jr. and Salvador Allende.” Continue reading
What profession other than academia would you like to attempt?
“Been there, done that. I was a police detective for 25 years in another life. Researching history is a lot like detective work with less danger involved… and no late nights.” Continue reading