Three CHASE-funded students are among the fifty-three postgraduate students and early career researchers across the UK who have been offered the opportunity to enhance their research with an international fellowship at two of the International Placement Scheme (IPS) institutions; the Library of Congress, Washington DC and the Harry Ransom Center, Austin, Texas.
In an increasingly globalised world, researchers need to build strong international experiences. The Arts and Humanities Research Council’s International Placement Scheme facilitates such experiences by providing funded fellowships at some of the world’s leading research institutions to support access to their globally renowned collections, resources and expertise. This unique opportunity enables postgraduate students and early career researchers to enrich their research, understandings and connections through immersion in thriving research cultures.
Emma Milne (University of Essex, seen below) is one of the CHASE-funded students who will be carrying out a placement at the Library of Congress. Her research is based on criminal law and public opinion of the deaths of newborn infants: “It’s an honour to receive the funding and it is hugely exciting to have the opportunity to work at the Library of Congress. The knowledge of the library staff and the resources held in the library will massively further my research. I’m very excited about building in an American comparison to my research and having the opportunity to explore my topic within the context of a different legal system.”
Eleanor Careless (University of Sussex) will also visit the Library of Congress to further her research into the poetry and activism of Anna Mendelssohn. Eleanor said ““In joining the community of IPS researchers, I look forward to the chance to encounter scholars whose institutional formation will have created assumptions and paradigms which are unfamiliar to me from my past trajectory (Cambridge, Paris, Sussex), and offer new ways of thinking. From a professional perspective, this placement will afford the chance for me to familiarise myself with the broader academic landscape of the US. At the end of the placement, I anticipate adjusting my aims and methods according to the archival and wider experience I will have gained.”
Marc Farrant (Goldsmiths, University of London) is now in his second year of his CHASE studentship, researching “The Writing of Life, Time and Politics in Samuel Beckett and JM Coetzee”. Marc says: “Attaining an IPS fellowship through the AHRC to visit the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, has been both the defining aspect of my first year as a CHASE student, and pivotal to my ongoing research project. The Harry Ransom Center is an internationally renowned institute for the study of modern and contemporary literature, and its archival materials, facilities and staff are world-leading. The opportunity to work in such an environment has not only provided the immediate gains associated with my present study, but also the chance to familiarize myself with archival and empirical study and to network with an array of international scholars and professionals.”
For more information or details on how to apply to the International Placement Scheme please visit the AHRC website.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funds world-class, independent researchers in a wide range of subjects: ancient history, modern dance, archaeology, digital content, philosophy, English literature, design, the creative and performing arts, and much more. This financial year the AHRC will spend approximately £98m to fund research and postgraduate training in collaboration with a number of partners. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. www.ahrc.ac.uk.