Student Testimonials

WUN's Global Exchange Programme continues to attract a growing number of applications from postgraduate students attracted by the opportunity it offers. Over the past year or so, postgraduate Medievalists studying at WUN universities have been encouraged by their supervisors to make the most of this program. As a result, several students have travelled between the UK partners and the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign. These transatlantic exchanges have benefited a wide range of research on medieval studies, ranging from eleventh-century monastic culture, to representations of Saint Katherine of Alexandria and gender studies. They are also helping to reinforce the development of a WUN community of medievalist scholars.


UIUC Students

Kristen Nash - PhD candidate, English Department, UIUC

Thesis: Wheels of Industry: Saint Katherine of Alexandria and the Mixed Life in England, 1200-1500

Study Abroad Exchange: University of Southampton, Centre for Medieval Studies

Studying at the University of Southampton with Bella Millett was instrumental in developing the first half of the dissertation, which covers the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries and a selection of texts. Bella’s knowledge of the period, and of the texts under consideration in my project, is thorough and encompassing.

Working with Bella definitely helped my intellectual and professional development along. Studying with Bella was a wonderful experience, and the WUN program is a resource I’d always like to be available to grad students.

Rebecca I. Starr - PhD candidate in English, UIUC

Study Abroad Exchange: University of Leeds, Centre for Medieval Studies

I am writing as the first WUN beneficiary from the University of Illinois. That summer, I availed myself of the advice of Dr. Mary Swan, director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Leeds, reacquainted myself with old classmates, and met many new colleagues. I also attended their Medieval Congress--the largest in Europe, which gave me the great opportunity to exchange ideas with many scholars from around the world. The WUN affords scholars otherwise unable to go abroad the opportunity to share in that experience.

My dissertation project was met with enthusiasm by my adviser at Leeds. Dr. Swan’s interests had, after a fashion, shaped my own, and it was inspiring to spend time with her again. In my opinion, international experience is invaluable to any medievalist intent upon pursuing graduate work. Therefore, for the benefit of American scholarship, I strongly urge the committee to support the WUN into perpetuity.

Rebecca Brackmann - PhD in English, UIUC

Thesis: Language, Land, and Law: Laurence Nowell’s Anglo-Saxon Studies in Elizabethan England

Study Abroad Exchange: University of York, Centre for Medieval Studies

I went on a WUN exchange in the summer of 2004 to the University of York and worked with Prof. Graham Parry while I was there. Prof. Parry’s expertise guided me to some considerations of politically-motivated nationalism that I might not have discussed otherwise. That nationalism will be the main focus of the book manuscript that I am developing out of the dissertation, so my conversations with Prof Parry and his former student Liz Evenden, remain central to my professional writing.

The WUN Exchange to England also gave me the opportunity to consult the manuscripts that my dissertation discussed. By the time I left, I had seen every one of Nowell’s manuscripts in the UK. This allowed me to see his use of rubrics and colored inks, and also to compare watermarks, so that I had a better idea of the relative dates of his manuscripts and their states of completion. This sort of manuscript study (aided by the expertise of some of my colleagues at York) was one of my dissertation’s chief contributions to the field, and would not have been possible without the WUN exchange.

Carlee Bradbury - PhD in Art History, UIUC

Thesis: Imaging and Imagining the Jew in Medieval England

Study Abroad Exchange: University of York, Centre for Medieval Studies

During my time in York I built an excellent network of people and resources that would be of great value in my dissertation. I met with the following faculty in the Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS) at York: Richard Marks, Mark Ormrod, Sarah Reese Jones, and Barrie Dobson. In addition, I also made wonderful connections with the graduate students at the CMS in York. I was even invited to join a choir under the direction of a graduate student interested in medieval music.

Preparing for my minor field examinations with Jane Hawkes allowed me to pursue an area not offered in the Art History Dept in Illinois. After the three months, I amassed a solid bibliography and a more confident grasp of the material pertaining to Early Medieval Art in the British Isles. Overall, my time in York was a highlight of my graduate career!

Graduate Student Visitors to UIUC

Hannah Williams
PhD student – Home University, University of Manchester

Thesis: Authority and Pedagogy in Hermann of Reichenau’s De octo vitiis principalibus

The WUN trip was of enormous benefit to the successful completion of the project and has continued to provide a vital grounding for my continued professional development. The opportunity to conduct daily research in the campus library was invaluable. There is no library of comparable size in the UK which is also open-access, and for research in medieval history the ability to browse easily through a large number of volumes is often a crucial element in any project.

The community of scholars, both faculty and graduate student, at UIUC is also extremely vibrant. I was able to attend a large number of seminars and lectures offered not only by UIUC faculty, but also by visiting scholars of truly world standing during my stay. Most importantly, I was able to discuss and develop my work under the guidance of Professor C. Stephen Jaeger as a world-expert in the field of medieval literature.

Carolin Esser
PhD in English - Home University, University of York

As a participant in the WUN Global Exchange programme, I have spent the three months of April to June of this year at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. I went during the writing stage of my thesis in order to work on two chapters under the supervision of Prof. Charles D. Wright, and to make use of the research opportunities of the exceptional library there. Further objectives where to tie contacts with the postgraduate research and student community and to get an insight into the American University system.

The exchange has been a success for me in all these respects and many more. Working with Prof. Wright has opened a new perspective on my research and enriched it deeply. Working with him has been an experience that has made me grow in many respects and will remain with me. All this has lead to the successful completion of a 20,000 word chapter and preliminary work on another, which is now shortly before completion.

The Medieval Graduate Student community has also been very welcoming. I have had the opportunity to deepen my friendship with some of the students who had visited York before, and made new contacts there. Some fruits of these contacts will carry on in connection with WUN, as Valerie Wilhite from Illinois and I are co organizing a session for the Congress in Kalamazoo next year under the joint sponsorship of WUN and the Medieval Program of Illinois, UIUC on the ‘Arts of Meditation’. Two other medieval postgraduate students from the UK had been in Illinois on the Global Exchange scheme while I was there: Hannah Williams (Manchester) and Abbie Gometz (Leeds). We have bonded well, and will remain in touch.

Kathryn Green
PhD in History – Home University, Manchester University

Thesis title: Ideology and chronicle literature in Ricardian politics

I am currently studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Professor Carol Symes, with whom I meet regularly to discuss my thesis. Symes’ methodological approach to dramatic literature has been a great influence on my own understanding of the ways in which late fourteenth century historiographical literature actually represented political actions, and how this genre functioned within contemporary political spaces, such as Westminster Abbey. Taking part in the WUN programme has thus given me important new perspectives on my work, and has offered the opportunity to defend my thesis in preparation for presenting my ideas at conference and ultimately to my PhD examiners.

In terms of my professional development, experiencing university life at Urbana- Champaign for six weeks will provide proof to future employers of my ability to adapt quickly to new environments while maintaining a high standard of original research- a skill which would not be tested to such an extent by a more long-term exchange. Lastly, my organizational skills were directly challenged through participation in this programme, as it has been necessary to work long-distance with Professor Symes to construct a specific research focus for my time here.

Emily Hutchison
PhD student – Home University, University of York

Professor Hedeman’s research interests in late fourteenth and early fifteenth-century manuscripts, overlap with my doctoral research. She was most helpful in guiding me through the approaches used by art historians in the study of manuscript illumination. She also suggested a myriad of additional secondary literature, and provided feedback on my work.

During my global exchange, I involved myself in all the academic and social events organised by the Program in Medieval Studies. This was extremely fruitful, as I made many friends in addition to gaining valuable advice on my research project and the academic job market. Because the people I came in to contact with were from different host departments, being immersed in an interdisciplinary environment that is similar to, yet remarkably different to the Centre for Medieval Studies at York, was invaluable.

This exchange was a wonderful opportunity for me because the UIUC’s library stacks many texts that the University of York does not have, texts which are relevant, and necessary for my thesis. The use of the library and my interaction with postgraduates and scholars affiliated with the Program for Medieval Studies was invaluable, and has benefited my work and my academic outlook considerably. I spent a lot of time also speaking to various postgraduates at the Medieval centre at UIUC and encouraged them to apply for a WUN exchange to the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. I believe that my exchange helped make the communication that is already established between our centres of study more effective.