The School of English hosts many major research projects, pushing the boundaries of what we know about literature. Every year, we invite our students to apply for summer internships on some of the research projects in the School. On their internships, our students get the opportunity to conduct high-level, cutting-edge research with the help of our experienced academic staff.
In this series of blog posts, some of our interns from the 2021 Summer School reflect on their experience. The second student is Hadley Crissey, who interned on Mapping Marlowe. This project, Dr Rory Loughnane, is studying the places and spaces of Christopher Marlowe’s plays. Christopher Marlowe is one of Canterbury’s most famous authors. After being born and studying in Canterbury, Marlowe went on to become one of the most popular and controversial playwrights of Early Modern England. He wrote seven of his own plays, including the devilish Dr Faustus, as well as co-writing several plays with his good friend William Shakespeare. Dr Loughnane is now preparing a new critical edition of Marlowe’s works for Oxford University Press, along with his School of English colleagues Prof Catherine Richardson and Dr Sarah Dustagheer. The work of our summer interns, such as Hadley, will directly influence the content and structure of this major new edition of one of England’s greatest writers.
BA English and American Literature and Creative Writing student, Hadley Crissey, shares her experience:
When I first saw the opportunity to work with the School of English, I jumped at the chance to further develop my skills. I couldn’t be happier that I decided to apply. I have been working on the Mapping Marlowe internship programme now for several weeks. Close reading Marlowe’s work has been both fun and rewarding. I’ve gotten the chance to read plays that I might not have had time to enjoy under different circumstances. I’ve also gotten to expand my subject knowledge over the summer term in ways I wouldn’t have done on my own.
During my time working with the internship programme, I’ve had the privilege of working with a team of dedicated fellow students. Working closely with other students with similar interests has been great fun, but it’s also been a great learning experience. I feel like I’ve picked up some really valuable skills in how to work with a team on projects in the academic field. I’ve been learning useful things such as proof reading, peer review, and teamwork skills. We have been given enough freedom and input in the project to personalise it, but have also received the necessary guidance to make it a success.
The internship programme has taken only a few hours a week. We meet once every two weeks to discuss our work. I have easily managed to maintain a good balanced working life alongside my other job and still enjoy my summer term. Taking this position has given me the best opportunity to continue learning whilst still having fun and enjoying my student experience.
All of our work and meetings have been online. This has made accessibility very easy during the pandemic. I have been able to work entirely from home. Not having to travel has been ideal. As somebody with a clinical vulnerability, I’ve been able to work on the project whilst minimizing contact with others, making it a perfect position to have during COVID.
Image credit: Image via WikiCommons.