I began this blog in 2015 to document my journey through postgraduate study. Since finishing my PhD in 2020, I have moved on to other projects. This website now provides details of my academic research, my biscuit art, and my collaborations with arts and heritage organisations. The blog posts I published between 2015 and 2021…
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Some of my research outputs are edible. Inspired by museum collections, art history, and costumes designed for the stage and screen, my biscuit (cookie) sets celebrate the material culture of the past and present.
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I have worked with the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Dash Arts on various projects relating to Shakespeare and theatre history.
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Six (and a half) months have passed since my PhD viva.
It’s been a weird old time. I’ve been sitting at my desk, Monday to Friday, getting on with an ever-changing to-do list: applying for jobs and research fellowships, writing a book proposal, revising a journal article draft. There’s always been one deadline or another around the corner.
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I’ve been getting back into the swing of writing lately. It’s been a fair few months since I last sat in front of a blank page. I took some time out to rest after submitting my thesis, and the final stretch of my PhD was much more about editing and formatting than writing. After a…
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It’s been a while since I last posted a PhD update. A lot has happened. I submitted my thesis for examination at the end of April, my viva was mid-June, and I deposited the final, hard-copy version of the thesis with the University Library last week. I’ve officially finished my PhD! I’m still not really…
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I started writing a blog post on 1 March. It was my annual PhD update. I wrote a few paragraphs about the bizarre emotional rollercoaster of thesis completion: what it felt like to be two months away from submitting, what sort of work I had left to do, and how general life chores (shopping, cooking,…
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This PhD thesis would not have come to fruition without the help of numerous inestimable contributors. Woodland walks of the West Midlands: our regular meetings were essential for the development of key ideas within this project, and for my mental health. The scones and parkland footpaths provided by the National Trust (especially Hanbury Hall) have…
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Reader, the final countdown is fully under way. There are now just under four (4) months until my submission deadline and things are getting intense. I have LISTS and SPREADSHEETS and WHITEBOARDS and a very strict schedule for getting each section of my thesis edited, proofread, and (gulp) finished. Thinking about actually submitting the thesis…
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*Post written on 30 November; publication delayed in observation of the UCU strike digital picket.* Academic Writing Month is officially over! At the end of my last post, I set out my plan to make some serious progress in November. I made a spreadsheet with intimidating daily writing targets and challenged myself to get to…
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My submission timeline just got a whole lot shorter. Until a few weeks ago, I was planning to submit my PhD thesis at the end of my fourth year (September 2020). I figured I’d use all the time I have available to make the thesis the best it can be. My new plan is to…
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Buckle in, team. It is T-minus 12 months until my final final (final) deadline. The time has come to get serious about my sit-rep and completion schedule. Current thesis status I’ve been thinking about my thesis as a patchwork quilt. Each chapter is a patch; the goal is to have a set of good-quality patches…
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I’ve always found I write best when I get a certain feeling in the pit of my stomach. It’s hard to explain exactly, but it’s a feeling that combines the nostalgic pangs of a sad sort of longing, frissons of excitement, and a deep drive to do something in the world. This feeling can be hard to…
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Ella Hawkins 