Category Archives: Postgraduate student interviews

Postgraduate student interviews: Zoe Coyle (MRes)

This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2024-2025

The MRes project

Zoe’s research project is focusing on the ways in which violent resistance to France has been represented, and repressed, in Martinique and Guadeloupe since they became French départements (rather than colonies) in 1946. She detailed how although these islands are often seen as dependent on France, or even passive, there has been a long history of resistance. Her project will use literature to explore how this resistant relationship with La Métropole [‘mainland’ France] has been represented at key moments of public uprising. This project will challenge the assumption and idea that these islands are simply reliant on France. Zoe will also consider the two islands in a wider context of protest across the postcolonial francophone world, as seen most recently in New Caledonia and Mayotte.

Academic background

Zoe studied French, Spanish and History at A Level, and suggested that it was her interest in history that first sparked her interest into départementalisation [the process by which certain French colonies were made into official departments of France in 1946] and the effects that residual colonialism has left on the outre-mer territories [French overseas territories]. After A Level, Zoe went on to study French and Spanish at QUB at undergraduate level.

Genesis of the project

As Zoe mentioned before, her interest in history and historical events greatly influenced her decision to research this topic. At university level, there were certain modules that also piqued her interest into this chosen pathway. In final year, she first got a taste for independent research after taking the ‘2666 by Roberto Bolaño’ module in Spanish [taught by Professor Sarah Bowskill]. This module gave her the opportunity to explore her own avenues of research and develop her own areas of interest. Similarly, it gave her the tools to navigate independent research – tools which have served her well over her undergraduate degree and into her postgraduate studies.

The module that steered her towards her interest in postcolonial studies was the final year ‘Caribbean Cultures’ module with Professor Maeve McCusker. It was Zoe’s first time studying the topic during this module, and she described how it was fundamental in her decision about her research topic. She discussed how this module demonstrated the importance and relevance of the breadth of francophone cultures, and how there is a much richer tapestry of la francophonie [the global community of French-speaking people and countries] than just France.

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Agallaimh le mic léinn iarchéime: Katie McNamee (PhD, Gaeilge) / Postgraduate student interviews: Katie McNamee (PhD, Irish)

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Tá an phostáil seo mar chuid dár Scéim Tionscnaimh Taighde do 2024-2025.

This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2024-2025.

[ENGLISH TEXT ALTERNATES WITH IRISH TEXT BELOW]

Inis dom faoi d’aistear leis an Ghaeilge go dtí seo, conas a d’fhoghlaim tú í den chéad uair agus cén fáth gur phioc tú an Ghaeilge mar ábhar ollscoile?

D’fhreastail mé ar mo bhunscoil áitiúil, mar sin thosaigh mé ag foghlaim na Gaeilge nuair a bhí mé ceithre bliana d’aois. Is dócha go bhfuil sé níos fusa teanga a fhoghlaim ar an bhealach sin, nuair a bhíonn tú óg bíonn tú in ann teanga a phiocadh suas go gasta agus ní bhíonn ort dua a chaitheamh lena foghlaim. D’fhreastail mé ar shruth na Gaeilge i gColáiste Chaitríona, Ard Mhacha ina dhiaidh sin, bhí mé in ann staidéar a dhéanamh ar ábhair trí mheán na Gaeilge agus chuidigh sin go mór liom mo chuid scileanna scríbhneoireachta a fhorbairt. Bhí mé iontach paiseanta faoin teanga agus d’éirigh go maith liom sa Ghaeilge ar scoil ach nuair a chríochnaigh mé ar an scoil ní raibh mé cinnte cén sórt post a ba mhaith liom.

Tell me about your journey with the Irish language so far. How you first learned the language and why you chose Irish as a university subject?

I attended my local Irish-medium primary school, which meant that I started learning Irish when I was four years old. I was the first in my family to learn Irish and it was seen as a bit of a risk sending me there as the school had just been established a year earlier, in 2003. But my mother is a teacher and she was very aware of the benefits of bilingualism and the effectiveness of immersive education. I think it was a lot easier for us to learn Irish as children as we were able to pick it up very quickly simply by interacting with our teachers.

I then attended an Irish-medium stream in my secondary school and I was able to do most of my subjects in Irish. I think that writing essays in subjects like history in Irish really helped develop my writing skills. I have always loved the Irish language and it was definitely my favourite subject in school, especially when we started to study poetry. When I finished secondary school, I didn’t know what sort of job I wanted but I knew I wanted to do something with Irish.

Cén t-ábhar dochtúireachta atá idir lámha agat agus cén fáth ar roghnaigh tú an t-ábhar sin?

Tá mé ag caitheamh súil ar an dóigh a dtéann scríbhneoirí na Gaeilge i ngleic le ceisteanna a bhfuil stiogma agus náire ag baint leo. Bím ag plé leis na teicnící éagsúla a bhíonn in úsáid ag scríbhneoirí chun dul i ngleic le ceisteanna cigilteacha ar nós na gnéasachta agus an mheabhairghalar, mar shampla. Díríonn mo chuid taighde ar na straitéisí cosanta éagsúla a mbaintear úsáid astu chun dul i ngleic le hábhair a bheadh róchigilteach aghaidh a thabhairt go díreach orthu.

Bhí suim agam i gcónaí san fhilíocht agus scríobh mé mo thráchtas bunchéime ar fhilíocht Greagóir Uí Dhúill agus thaitin an taighde go mór liom. Nuair a scríobh mé mo thráchtas máistreachta ar shaothar Dhairena Ní Chinnéide, d’éirigh mé níos muiníní mar thaighdeoir agus bhí a fhios agam go raibh mé ag iarraidh dochtúireacht a dhéanamh. Le linn na máistreachta, chuir mé suim sa smaoineamh go mbíonn feidhm theiripeach i gceist leis an fhilíocht in amanna, agus bhí mé ag iarraidh an cheist sin a chíoradh.

What PhD topic are you working on and why did you choose this topic?

My research looks at how Irish-language writers approach sensitive issues in their work that involve stigma and shame. I focus on the various strategies these writers employ in their work to deal with issues such as mental illness or sexuality, for example. This involves analysing works that use distancing strategies to tackle issues that would be too sensitive to discuss head on.

I was always interested in poetry and I decided to write my undergraduate dissertation on the poetry of Gréagóir Ó Dúill. I really enjoyed the research and when I wrote my Masters dissertation on the poetry of Dairena Ní Chinnéide, I gained a lot of confidence as a researcher and I knew that I wanted to do a PhD. During that masters, I became interested in the therapeutic aspect of poetry and I wanted to do further research on that topic.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Erin McCombe (PhD, Spanish and Portuguese)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2024-2025

In the 21st century, postcolonial literature has progressively shifted from the cultural periphery to the mainstream. It offers a path to understanding the ever-present effect of colonialism within contemporary society, in particular by giving a voice to those who were historically silenced. On the 21^stof March 2025, I discussed this topic with Erin McCombe, a Spanish and Portuguese PhD student whose thesis examines the topic of conviviality within literature by women of African descent in Spain and Portugal [1].

When did you first develop an interest in postcolonial literature?

I suppose as an undergraduate, on the Portuguese side [of my degree]. I remember reading [the short story] ‘O embondeiro que sonhava pássaros’ by [Mozambican author] Mia Couto and that still sticks out in my mind as my initial contact with postcolonial literature. I then went on to study Lusophone African cinema and that developed my interest even more. In final year I started looking into postcolonial Africa within a Spanish context and come across some research on authors from Equatorial Guinea.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Isabella Gammon-McConville (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2023-2024.

Can you tell me a bit about your academic experience at Queen’s so far?

I started at Queen’s back in 2018 and I did my undergraduate [degree] in Spanish. I did my [first] two years at Queen’s and then I went abroad to Spain, where I worked as a language assistant. That was during Covid, so it was a bit of a different experience, but I was in the south of Spain there. I came back and did my final year, then went on and did the MRes, also looking at Spanish.

Isabella Gammon-McConville, personal archive

What topic did you choose for your MRes and what drew you to it?

I handed in my dissertation back in September [2023] and the title was ‘Language Acts and World (Un)Making: The Poetics of Power and Resistance in the Drama of Ana Caro and Leonor de la Cueva’. I was looking at Golden Age drama and specifically the comedia. I’d done a bit of that in my undergraduate work, I’d looked at a few different areas but I hadn’t seen a lot of work done by female dramatists. I was interested in how they wrote resistance into a lot of their work, because they followed the societal norms and expectations of writing literature in order to be able to write in the period, and they also managed to get in things that made their work different to the canonical work of the period.

What was the highlight of your post-grad experience?

That’s a difficult one. Honestly, probably handing my dissertation in! No, making my work and research fit within the field and seeing links between the research done by everyone else. The collaborative idea of research is that you get to do something that’s a bit different, but you get to draw on work that has already been written by other people and make your own space within the field. For me, this was developed throughout the MRes: the research methods classes which introduced various lenses to look at Caro and Cueva’s work, the discussions with my supervisor, and my own research into publications on the authors. Coming to conclusions using different research methods was really interesting. I guess it’s [about] coming up with something new, isn’t it?

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Postgraduate student interviews: Claire Whyte (PhD, Spanish)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2023-2024.

What has your academic journey looked like so far? What did you study during your undergraduate and previous postgraduate experiences?

I undertook my PhD in Spanish as a mature student. For my undergraduate degree I did Languages and Latin American Studies [at the University of Essex]. After university I didn’t go straight on to postgraduate study. I travelled after my degree and I lived abroad for several years, teaching in a number of countries (South Korea, New Zealand). In 2016, when I was made redundant from the language program I was teaching on, I applied for a Master’s in Modern Languages at Queen’s. I then had a year between finishing my master’s and applying for the PhD. I enjoyed the return to studying and university life. So, I put a proposal together, applied for the PhD, and got accepted, which I hadn’t really expected! I just finished my PhD in November [2023] – there were some interruptions to my studies, especially because of the pandemic, so my journey was a bit more protracted.

Would you be able to give a brief explanation of your PhD research?

I will try! My broad area is Mexican Studies; in my thesis, “Frida Kahlo and Astrid Hadad: Performing Woman and Nation in 20^th Century Mexico”, I look at artist Frida Kahlo, and cabaret político [political cabaret] performer Astrid Hadad. I examine how they perform, resist and contest the hegemonic constructs of Mexican womanhood. So, I look at Kahlo’s self-portraits against the background of cultural nationalism in post-revolutionary Mexico (the period following the Mexican revolution of 1910-1920). I contextualise her work against the art history and discourse of the period. In relation to Astrid Hadad, I examine her work against the backdrop of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was signed towards the end of the 20th century. I look at how she uses her cabaret performances as political commentary and how she performs womanhood in that context.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Isabel Buckley (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2023-2024.

What has your university journey been like so far?

During my A-level studies I au-paired in Spain and I really enjoyed using the language there. I did History and Spanish for my undergraduate degree [at Queen’s] because I didn’t want to lose my Spanish and I found the Spanish side more interesting for me and that’s how I have come to do an MRes [Master of Research] now.

So, tell me about your current research project: ‘Genre and gender in female authored narco-novelas’.

It looks at female narco-novelas which are women-authored books about drug trafficking. I’m looking at Perra Brava by Orfa Alarcón, who is a Mexican author, El Leopardo al Sol by Laura Restrepo, who is a Colombian author, and Pistoleros by Paula Castiglioni, who is an Argentinian author. So, my scope is across Latin America. From what I have seen, most of the productions on drug trafficking, like TV series, focus on male figures so I thought it would be interesting to look at a female-narrated point of view and the portrayal of women and see how that is different.

Where did your interest in this topic come from?

I enjoyed Sarah Bowskill’s module on US/Mexican border issues during second year and then in final year I did Sarah’s other module, on Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, which touched on the issue of drug trafficking. I really enjoyed the further readings that were set within these two modules and believe the good grades I achieved were down to how much I enjoyed the content. Then when I heard about the MRes and how flexible it was, I decided to do that, and I also got funding which has helped.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Lauren McShane (PhD, French)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2022-2023.

What has your academic trajectory been so far?

I really enjoyed languages at school. I studied Spanish at GCSE and took French just before GCSE, and I decided to continue them. I did an undergraduate degree in French and Spanish, and decided that I hadn’t had enough of French. I really wanted to keep going so I decided to continue on to MRes because I wanted to work in a research-led, more heavily dissertation-weighted kind of course, and I didn’t think the taught programs, like the MAs, were as good a fit. I did an MRes on medical humanities and French culture, even though I had never studied medical humanities before. The MRes is a good space to discover something completely new. I really wanted to keep this going, so I decided to apply for a PhD (which you absolutely do not have to do if you get an MRes!). The MRes sets you up well for it; you get the chance to explore other areas of the School and get a chance to experiment with some more independent work.

What are you currently working on, and why did you choose the topic?

I’m still within the medical humanities, I really enjoy it. While I was doing my MRes, I got really interested in broader networks of people. So, for example, I was looking at one person suffering with alcoholism, but I became interested in what the experience for other people around them might be like and what their lived experience of care is like. I decided to put together a PhD project with my supervisor on narratives of family alcoholism. I’m looking at people who have grown up with an alcoholic mum or dad and how they write about their lived experience and have come to understand health care and their parent’s experience. For me, it really grew out of my MRes project. I will say that that the project did change post-proposal, so there’s nothing wrong with you or the project if it has to change. The research evolves and grows with you.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Rochelle Marsh (MRes)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2021-2022.

Hi Rochelle, what has your university journey been like?

Its’s been a very long one! I studied French and Spanish at A-Level and carried on with those two languages here at Queen’s [in my undergraduate degree]. In my third year, I went to Asturias and took the risky decision to stay there during the Covid pandemic to complete my year abroad. I later returned to Queen’s to complete my final year and started thinking about my next steps. Initially, I wanted to do a PGCE [Postgraduate Certificate in Education] but after speaking to my lecturers I learned about the Master of Research [MRes]. Intrigued, I submitted a proposal, then I was awarded a scholarship to help with funding, and now I am at the end of my Masters with a dissertation deadline this September.

Your dissertation is entitled ‘Female Voices and Testimonies From the España vacía/vaciada’, can you tell me more about this?

The female voices refer to these texts written by contemporary female Spanish authors: Tierra de mujeres, by Maria Sánchez, Feria by Ana Iris Simón and Un amor by Sara Mesa. They each focus on a unique aspect of the countryside, a motif that has long been discussed in Spanish literature but was recently brought into conversation after Sergio del Molino’s book La España vacía. The title means ‘empty Spain’ but critics challenged that La España ‘vaciada’, meaning ‘Spain emptied’, would have been a more accurate title to describe the changing countryside. His book explored the portrayal of the Spanish countryside and rural to urban migration trends in literature, film and press articles. My dissertation therefore analyses how these three texts dialogue with the concept of ‘España vacía’ and how these texts challenge the mistreatment of the countryside and rural women. I also look at the extent to which these texts can be a form of provocation or activism and if there is a correlation between the success of these texts and the fact there is a wide female readership in Spain.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Aislin Kearney (PhD, Spanish)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

On the 20^th of April I interviewed recent Queen’s PhD graduate Aislin Kearney to discuss her research. In February 2021, Aislin successfully passed her viva for a PhD in Spanish with a thesis entitled ‘’The Ambition of Melancholy: The Aesthetics of Heroism in the Lyric poetry of Juan Boscán and Fernando de Herrera’.

Aislin began her studies at Queen’s as a drama student, where she started a beginner’s course in Spanish. She enjoyed the course so much that she decided to change pathways, majoring in Spanish with a minor in Drama. In her final year she described how she was (begrudgingly) enrolled on a Renaissance module. Unexpectedly, however, the module caught her interest, and when she went on to an MA in Spanish at Queen’s, she devoted her Master’s dissertation, and later PhD, to further examining the poetry of the period.

Portada de *Las obras de Boscán y algunas de Garcilaso de la Vega repartidas en cuatro libros*, Barcelona, Carlos Amorós, 1543.

Her Master’s dissertation focused on the work of Spanish poet Juan Boscán, a lesser-known contemporary of Garcilaso de la Vega. Central to her study of Boscán’s poetry was the emerging idea of melancholic heroism, which Aislin explained was particularly interesting when considering the historical context in which the poetry was being written. During a period in which the country was rising to become somewhat of a superpower, much of its most prominent literature was characterized by lovesick, introspective, and melancholic figures.

Aislin described her PhD as a natural progression from her Master’s research, in which she further explored this melancholic aesthetic, and Spain’s attachment to it, by examining not only the work of Boscán but also his successor, Fernando de Herrera. Aislin explained that her choice in poets was influenced by a number of factors. First, the consecutive periods in which these poets were writing allowed for a better understanding of the historical trajectory of Spanish literature during this time. Second, these two lesser-known poets’ peripheral positions in relation to the extensively studied Garcilaso de le Vega allowed for a more expansive understanding of Spanish poetry of the period. Finally, the fact that both of these poets produced theoretical works alongside poetry, where they discussed their methods and approaches, made them interesting subjects on which to focus research.

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Postgraduate student interviews: Jordan McCullough (PhD, French)

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This post is part of our Research Initiation Scheme for 2020-2021.

Interview with Jordan McCullough, second year PhD student at QUB.

So, Jordan, what has been your university trajectory so far?

I studied French and Spanish at Queen’s, then continued on to do an MRes, with a dissertation examining end of life care in France, from the perspective of the patient and their family. While completing this, I felt like I would like to take things further and see where it might take me. I applied for PhD funding whilst I was still doing my MRes, got funded by Northern Bridge and here I am now, in the second year of my PhD!

What is the topic of your current research project?

My project looks at parental grief narratives, that is, writing by parents who have lost children for a variety of different causes, such as terminal illness, suicide, violent death, terrorist attacks or even accidental death. There are a wide range of causes of death but what I’m trying to do with that is to find out, first of all, what makes the parents write; what do they get out of it themselves, and what do they give to their children through this idea of continuing bonds and ongoing legacy, and secondly, what drives these parents to go beyond writing for themselves and their child and publish their text, and what changes when there’s a readership and an audience involved.

What has been the most interesting part of your research so far?

By far, the most interesting aspect of my research journey has been the short placement I undertook with the regional paediatric palliative care team in Brittany. It was wonderful to see how my research might have some sort of positive impact in the everyday lives of parents grieving the loss of their child. I learnt a lot from the staff at the unit and I think I was able to give something back in return. All being well, I hope to get back across to France next year to spend some more time with the team.

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