Anna Hegland

For my PhD, I'm researching the intersections of language and violence on the early modern stage. I'm focusing particularly on revenge dramas, which I've kept open purposely rather than saying revenge tragedies, because there are plenty of plays out there in the early modern canon that focus on revenge tropes without actually being specifically revenge tragedies. So, I'm looking at performance practice, I'm looking at textuality and I'm looking at rhetoric.

I chose to study at the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies because I'm really interested in making sure that my research is interdisciplinary. I come from a really interdisciplinary background studying English, history and classics in undergrad, to narrowing narrowing down my focus in my Master's and it was really important to me to make sure that I still had those kind of interdisciplinary influences in my research. 

Well, I came to Kent specifically for my supervisors and so the supervisory process is a really important aspect of looking at graduate degrees. My supervisors are both specialists within the field, one of them works specifically on Jacobean drama, the other is more of a literary historian and so having those two views together have really been an important influence on my research. I meet with them about monthly and that's really important as an international student because that's what is making sure that you're still checked in on campus and it's a nice way to check in and make sure that you're doing well in your research but also doing well as a student and having a good student experience as well. 

I'm particularly enjoying the student community here at Kent. The Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies has a really strong student community and they are the thing that support me day in and day out. We do monthly study days, we have outings together, we go and eat at restaurants in town together, we have a really great time, there are board game nights all sorts of things. So, they are what keep me keep me going and help me enjoy my time with my research. 

The University of Kent has a couple of different organisations that are geared specifically toward graduate students rather than undergraduates. There's the the Graduate School which runs a number of workshops and learning events specifically for Master's and PhD students, both taught and research. There are workshops from everything from kick starting your PhD to, you're in your second year and you don't know what's going on, so how do you progress in your PhD to you've submitted your thesis and now you need to prepare for your viva.
So, it's really nice to have that as kind of a support system outside of the Centres that we're studying in individually. There's also the KGSA, the Kent Graduate Student Association, they do primarily social events but they are a really nice network to have and they're very supportive on campus and it's a great little community. 

The Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies is also a great support system for me personally. The administrative staff is wonderful, they're always available to talk, they offer you a cup of tea and it's great to have that kind of support where they're rooting for you and actively there to give you a hand. So the facilities available for research students at Kent are broader than I first expected when I got here. The Templeman Library Special Collections and Archives have just gotten a microfilm reader, which is an amazing opportunity for both students and staff in the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Centre. So, we have that resource right here on campus ready for us.

Canterbury Cathedral is also an amazing place to have connected to the Centre. I go in there all the time into the reading room to look at early modern and medieval books. I've taken my classes in there as a teacher on undergraduate modules and it's a really nice way to get students to have some face-to-face time with some of the books that we're studying in modern editions and they can see what they look like as early printed books. Canterbury is also really nicely located to get to the British Library. It's 55 minutes into London on a high-speed train and you're right across the street from the British Library when you get off the train. It's a nice way to kind of go in and spend the day working on some research. 

My PhD is funded by the University of Kent, the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies and the School of English. I'm on a Graduate Teaching Assistantship Scholarship through the Vice-Chancellor's Research Scholarship, which means that my studies are funded and I also receive a small stipend for teaching that is required as part my contract. So, I teach in my second and third years of study, they give you the first year to get your feet under you and really start on your research and then it's a few classes every term that I'm teaching at the undergraduate level and then the rest of my studies are funded. 

After I finished my PhD, I'm hoping to go into an academic job but I'm also aware that doing a PhD, especially in an interdisciplinary centre like the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies has prepared me for any number of other jobs that might be outside of academia. So, there are a lot of marketable skills that I've learned within my PhD, so while I'd really like to go on and be a lecturer, I'm also keeping an eye towards working with theatre companies, continuing the kind of practices research that I've started in my PhD working maybe with dramaturgy or something like that in a theatre company.