Elaine Sanderson did her undergrad and
masters at the University of Exeter, where she was also President of the Exeter
Classics Society in her 3rd year. She moved to Liverpool after graduating from
her Masters' course with distinction to commence her doctorate research, and
having received a full PhD funding award from the AHRC NWCDTP. Some of her
research interests include: Latin Literature, Latin Imperial Epic (particularly
Lucan and Valerius Flaccus), Ancient Rhetoric and Greek Tragedy. Follow Elaine
on Twitter at: @ElainaM42, or send her an email: e.c.sanderson@liverpool.ac.uk. If you would also like to see Elaine’s personal blog (it’s fab – go check it
out), here is the link: www.stimulosdeditaemulauirtus.blogspot.co.uk
Firstly, it would be great
to hear a little bit about your PhD research. What is your subject and what are
you researching?
My current PhD title is
‘Lucanian Transformations: Civil War, Necromancy, and the Resurrection of
Rome’. Lucan is a Latin poet who lived
under the Emperor Nero and wrote an epic poem on the civil war between Caesar
and Pompey, a conflict which many people credit for hastening the end of the
Roman Republic. My thesis looks at
Lucan’s portrayal of necromancy and civil war as processes of transformation,
rather than evidence for decline, as they are frequently interpreted. I’m really lucky in that my chosen topic
allows me to explore a variety of literary, political, and even magical texts
as part of my research!
Why did you decide that
you wanted to embark on doing a PhD?
I’ve been fascinated by the
Ancient World for as long as I can remember, really enjoyed studying Latin at
school, and have always enjoyed doing independent research. I first discovered Lucan when I was doing my
Extended Project at school, and haven’t really said goodbye to him since. I came up with the core idea for my thesis
while auditing a Latin course run by Dr Sharon Marshall at the University of
Exeter during the second year of my undergrad degree, and knew that it was
something I wanted to pursue properly. I
also hope to follow an academic career, so after my BA and MA degrees, a PhD
was the next logical step.
In your first year so far,
what experiences, if any, have you had that you perhaps didn’t anticipate prior
to starting your PhD?
The PhD has, for the most
part, lived up to my expectations. I
love being free to pursue my own research questions and ideas, and even spend
some time going off on tangents in my reading.
The only thing which I perhaps did not fully anticipate was how doing a
PhD would make me feel. People often
tell you that PhD life can be lonely, and that it is important not to get so wrapped
up in your work that you forget that there’s a real world going by outside your
office! I always assumed that this sort
of pressure would mostly come from outside, from things like writing deadlines
for supervisions, planning for seminars, etc.
I didn’t expect that all of this pressure would actually come from me,
that I would be the one pushing myself to become utterly consumed by my
project. This is, of course, by no means
a bad thing. I love my research, and I
love waking up and being excited about what I’m going to look at each day, and
how my thesis is going to progress.
Sometimes it is nice to be totally engrossed in a project- I personally
find that it gives me something of a sense of purpose. Even so, you can have too much of a good
thing, and I’ve found that it’s so important to not let the PhD eclipse
everything else!
What would you say you’ve
enjoyed the most about doing a PhD so far? Has anything really rewarding
happened yet?
One of my favourite things
about the PhD so far has been meeting other students, both within my own
discipline, and across the Arts & Humanities. It’s always great to hear about what other
people are working on, and get a sense of where my field might be heading in
the future. I feel very lucky, as quite
a few rewarding things have already happened during my PhD journey. I’m really looking forward to picking up the
Graduate Teaching Assistant mantle and teaching some seminars in my department
this term. Although planning how I’m
going to deliver these sessions is a little nerve-wracking at times, I’m also
excited to come up with engaging activities for my students to (hopefully!)
enjoy. Also, this morning I received the
wonderful news that I will be organising the Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in
Ancient Literature at Liverpool this year.
This conference brings together postgrads from all over the world who
are united by their interest in the literature of the ancient world, so I’m
feeling very honoured and excited to be hosting such a valuable and prestigious
event. We’ll see if I’m still saying
this a week before the conference kicks off…
Your PhD is funded by AHRC
(NWCDTP), what advice would you give to prospective PhD students that are
seeking funding?
My main advice for prospective
students seeking funding is to cast your net wide. I applied to 5 institutions for my PhD, and
filled out multiple funding applications for each. With so little funding to go around, it’s
important to remember that there must always be an element of luck in the
selection process. Even though filling
out endless applications is time-consuming, it’s worth it to try and improve
your odds in this game. Secondly, it’s important
to read the application guidelines for whichever funding pot you’re applying
to. These guidelines will help you
tailor each application, and also act as a handy check list to make sure you’ve
included everything important before you submit. You don’t want to be turned down simply
because your application does not meet their criteria. Thirdly, don’t be impatient! I am definitely
guilty of this one! Funding bodies receive thousands of applications for a very
limited number of places/studentships.
Naturally, it takes a while to go through them all. I’d pretty much given up hope on the funding
front when I received my letter from the NWCDTP. So don’t abandon the hope of doing a PhD and
rush off to make other plans if you don’t hear back for a while!
In independent-led work,
it can at times be easy to feel unmotivated because there is less structure due
to the fact that we are responsible, as individuals, to organise our own
deadlines and productivity. What is your advice when you have slow-moving days,
and feel slightly unmotivated in terms of your work and progress?
I’m quite lucky in that I
haven’t yet had a day when I haven’t felt motivated! I really hope this streak
continues for the next three years…
Even though I seem to be doing
pretty well on the motivation front, there are, of course, days when things
seem to be going a little slower than I would like. The independence of PhD life allows me to
organise and tweak my schedule on a monthly, weekly, and even daily basis
(people who know me know that I love to make elaborate schedules!). This means that I can reshuffle my to-do
lists and turn my attention to another task, before turning back to my original
work with some fresh eyes. In addition
to my PhD work, I’m auditing a Greek language course in my department, which
gives me plenty of additional bits and pieces to be getting along with in my
spare time. Despite having a somewhat
irrational fear of Greek during my undergrad degree, I actually now find it
quite therapeutic to go over passages of text in preparation for my next
class. It definitely helps to break up a
slow research day.
Have you experienced any
challenges yet in your PhD that others could maybe relate to? Do you have any
fears or worries about your PhD journey?
I think my main worry
(probably the main worry of any PhD students) is that I won’t finish on time! I
drew up a timetable for my 3 years just before I started my PhD back in
October, and it seems to be going to plan so far…
If you could say something
about your general PhD experience so far, what would it be in a nutshell?
My general PhD experience so
far has been very positive. It’s
incredibly liberating to be in (almost) complete control of your own research,
goals, and schedule, and to be able to challenge and push yourself every day. It has also been very exciting to settle into
a new university and department, and also meet my extended Arts &
Humanities family through the NWCDTP.
And finally, what is your
end goal? Do you have any aspirations yet as to what you want to do after your
PhD?
Right now, I’d love to go into
academia after completing my PhD!
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