Danica Ramsey-Brimberg is a First Year Doctoral Candidate at the University of Liverpool. In her guest post today, she shares her experience of moving away from her hometown in America to embark upon her PhD journey in England.
If
someone asked you to take a leap of faith, leave your country, and spend hours
locked in a battle with books, technology, and your own mind, would you? Probably not.
Me on the other hand, I recently made the three-year (and potentially
longer) jump without looking back or any hesitation.
Ok, I
just made it sound way more daunting than it is. Honestly, it’s not that bad at all. Being an American PhD student in the UK has
been a dream of mine for the past few years, and it is finally coming true.
So
you might be wondering, “Why are you doing a PhD in the UK? Why not a PhD in
the US?” These are perhaps the most
common questions that I get asked by people on both sides of the Atlantic. The answer that I usually give varies, but
usually centers on the fact that I wanted to be near what I wanted to study
(the Vikings in Britain and Ireland). To
give the more complete, longer explanation for my choice requires me to go back
further into my past.
Around
the time I was 5 years old, I knew that I wanted a PhD. In what field I wasn’t sure, but I wanted to
be Dr. Dan. Yes, I know most 5-year olds
don’t typically think in terms of what advanced degree they want, but at that
point, I was also thinking about what colleges/universities that I wanted to
attend. (I was an unusual child.). Fast
forward to years later, I decided in my sophomore (second) year at Boston
College to take a course called “The Vikings” with Professor Robin Fleming. It inspired me (as well as a family trip when
I was 8 to Denmark where we visited many museums) to pursue further study of
the medieval period, especially the Vikings.
I continued taking more early medieval and Viking courses from Professor
Terry Barry and Dr. Stephen Harrison at Trinity College Dublin the following
year on my junior (third) year abroad.
That year was the first time that I had spent longer than two weeks away
from my family. I was nervous, but
excited. In Ireland, I had an incredible
time experiencing new things, making new friends, and visiting new places. When I returned for my senior (fourth) year,
I knew that those classes weren’t enough and that I wanted to pursue medieval
archaeology with a focus on Vikings.
Since this particular degree was not available in the United States, I
decided to go to the area of what I wanted to study, either Britain or Ireland.
After
earning my BA in History with a minor in Irish Studies and spending a fifth
year at Boston College finishing my MEd in Secondary Education in History, I
went off to York (Jorvik in the Viking age), England. (I’ve learned to say
England because there are several places in the US called York as well as a
York University in Canada.). Some people thought I was crazy traveling that far
or even pursuing a second Master’s degree, but I found most of my family and
friends were incredibly supportive of my decision. In York, I met like-minded people pursuing higher
degrees in a number of fields and many came from other parts of Europe, the US,
and the world. The classes in the taught
MA in Medieval Archaeology course, directed by Dr. Aleksandra McClain, (Taught
masters include coursework and a dissertation, while research masters just
involve a dissertation, which is much longer.) provided me a better
understanding of the time period, as well as knowledge on osteoarchaeology and
ancient biomolecular studies. I
culminated my degree with my dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Steve
Ashby; it focused on varying ethnic identities in Viking burials along the
Scottish and Irish Sea coasts. During my
MA, I still wanted to pursue a PhD, and I knew that I wanted to do it in the
UK. It wasn’t that the degree was
shorter (A UK PhD lasts 3-4 years, while a US PhD can take 5+ years.) or it
involved less coursework (A US PhD requires the first 2 years to be coursework,
while a UK PhD allows courses to be optional.), rather being close to what I
would study and to many of the conferences, books, and academics in my
particular field. As I took a year out
substitute (supply) teaching and working retail, I applied to doctoral
programs. Knowing that I was unlikely to
get funding (as a non-UK person most types of major funding were not
available), I knew that most of my decision would be based on my potential
advisor, my specific dissertation topic, the brief feel I would get from the
campus/town during my quick trip before my MA graduation, the number of
resources in the library, accessibility to the airport, ability to do
interdisciplinary studies, and gut instinct.
While I know most of those decision-making processes are based on logic,
gut-instinct is by the far the most reliable indicator. It’s how I chose my undergrad university and
my MA university. It’s hard to explain
fully, but sometimes, you have to just go with what feels right.
I
chose to earn my PhD in History at the University of Liverpool under the
primary supervision of Dr. Clare Downham and the secondary supervision of Dr.
Marios Costambeys. My thesis focuses on
the Vikings’ manipulation of Christianity to gain political and social power in
the Irish Sea area through burial and sculptural evidence in conjunction with
place-names and written sources. My
research uses interdisciplinary evidence drawing upon archaeology, art history,
history, and geography. Among the History
PhD students, I study the earliest time frame, but compared to many of my
friends in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Classics, and Egyptology, I’m
modern. If I need to talk to someone
familiar with my subject, I have my advisors, friends from my MA, and academics
and other PhD students that I’ve met at conferences. Being at the University of Liverpool provides
me a unique niche at the University and makes it a lot easier to take books out
of the library and not have them recalled. Since arriving last October, I have made new
friends and have fallen in love with the city of Liverpool, which is
consistently rated one of the friendliest cities.
Being
a US student in the UK has both its’ ups and downs. I miss my family and pets, but with the availability
of Facetime and Skype, it’s almost like I’m with them even though there is an
ocean between us. I miss being able to
visit certain places and go to certain stores, but it makes them even more
special when I do visit them when I am in the States. I do miss certain foods, but I’ve developed a
system of either searching stores (Co-op has Honest Tea, and several stores
have “American” sections.) or bringing them with me in my suitcase (like Jello,
Kraft Jet Puffed Mini Marshmallows, Hershey’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and
Trident or Stride gum). You adapt, and
you focus on all the opportunities available here. If I wanted to visit a medieval church, it’s
a lot easier to find one here than in the States. If I needed to see the location of a Viking
burial or even a Viking skeleton itself, all I have to do is hop on a train or
a short plane ride to see one. If I craved Cadbury chocolate, I know there will
be less wax in it than if it was made in the US. In any experience you have, you learn to
focus on the positives and be happy.
Would I prefer to be somewhere else right now? Definitively no. I’ve had unique experiences, made incredible
memories, and developed so many wonderful friends that will last a lifetime.
One
of my favorite quotes is from Auntie Mame,
a play that was later adapted into a movie and then a musical. In Auntie Mame, the following motivational exchange
occurs –
Auntie
Mame: Live! That’s the message!
Agnes
(her secretary): Live?
Auntie
Mame: Yes, life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death! Now
come on, Agnes, live!
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