Introduction
My name’s Christina and I’m studying
for a PhD in English and American literature at the University of Manchester.
Although I’m an English student, I didn’t arrive here through studying the
subject as an undergraduate. Whilst studying for A-Levels, I signed up for a creative
writing course at a Leeds FE college – which only confirmed I had no talent for
creative writing. I’m still very glad I took the class because I met another
student who spoke about the Cultural Studies degree she was enrolled on at Leeds
University.
Cultural Studies taught me the
importance of analysing popular culture and that television, popular music and
cinema, as well as literature, are valid subjects for sustained academic
enquiry. It was at university that I first began to enjoy academic work. I went
on to complete an MA in Cultural and Critical Theory in the same department. By
2015, my research interests took me to contemporary American literature and I
began a PhD on the post-apocalypse (or ‘the end of the world’ through war and
other horrors) in contemporary American fiction. Fiction about ‘end-times’ interests
me because it confirms our worst nightmares. Representations of
post-apocalyptic survival tell us about our hopes for the future – an idea which
is particularly important following contemporary upheavals in American politics
and the beginning of the ‘Trump era’.
In-depth
In my thesis, currently titled,
‘The Post-Apocalypse in Contemporary North American after the 2008 Global
Financial Crisis’, I look at how the post-apocalypse – as an imagined world
existing after a destructive catastrophe or event – has become a popular
literary landscape for mainstream American authors. The post-apocalypse
categorises a growing number of novels, including Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006), Colson Whitehead’s Zone One (2011) and Emily St John
Mandel’s Station Eleven (2014). I
argue that, through this post-apocalyptic trend which includes zombie films
like Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later
(2002) as well as literary novels, authors are grappling with changing ideas of
‘risk’ and ‘danger’, especially after the twenty-first-century events like
September 11th 2001 and the financial crisis. Contemporary scholars
are speculating on how these events, and similar crises, are changing our
perceptions of ‘risk’ and danger after the millennium. Companies and
governments are allocating and spending increased budgets on security. Defence
is increasingly about the web and cyber-security as it is about national
defence and borders. The prospect of terror attacks permeates the modern life
of British and American cities. A famous sociologist called Ulrich Beck argues
that risk is becoming an increasingly prominent feature of everyday life – so
much so that, in the twenty-first-century, he claims that we are living in a
‘risk society’, where risk is near-permanent feature of most of public, whether
at school or at work, and private life.
My thesis argues that the
post-apocalyptic trend in contemporary fiction represents a literary and cultural
effort to envisage a future whether the continual prospect of risk has been
suddenly – and without warning – cut off by disaster. Uniquely, in the
twenty-first-century, the post-apocalypse becomes a disaster-filled and yet
still risk-free landscape. According to scholars like Beck, risk is a threat
which is managed by our complex democracies, technology and media. After the
apocalypse, these institutions have been removed or obliterated. Survivors
which are the focus of novels like The
Road are reduced to scavenging, and yet they live in a world in which the
almost mundane sense of constant risk is replaced by immediate danger. I argue
that these post-apocalyptic novels are crucial for interrogating public
perceptions of risk in the twenty-first-century, and unease with the
risk-management culture which has followed 9/11. The contemporary post-apocalyptic
genre, therefore, is more than an outlet for releasing the effects of global
climate change and other contemporary fears. The post-apocalypse places
responsibility for safety and security back in the hands of survivors, and ultimately
registers public anxieties about how the abstract prospect of ‘risk’ is
changing how people live and act in the twenty-first-century.
Going Further
’31 Essential Science Fiction
Terms and Where They Came From’, iO9, https://io9.gizmodo.com/31-essential-science-fiction-terms-and-where-they-came-1594794250
A debate about the popularity of contemporary
post-apocalyptic novels between two literature scholars in the literary
magazine Public Books: Ursula Heise, ‘What’s the Matter with
Dystopia?’ http://www.publicbooks.org/whats-the-matter-with-dystopia/ &
Andrew Hoberek, ‘The Post-Apocalyptic Present’,
http://www.publicbooks.org/the-post-apocalyptic-present/
‘Will 2017 be 1984?’, Alluvium Journal, https://www.alluvium-journal.org/2017/05/31/will-2017-be-1984/
. Caroline Edwards and Ben Worthy revisit George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) in light of political events of 2017.
‘Zombie Preparedness: Graphic
Novel’. Zombie graphic novel released by the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention educating readers about ‘emergency preparedness’ https://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombie/novel.htm
Science-fiction authors Ursula Le
Guin and Margaret Atwood discuss the category of ‘speculative fiction’ https://literary-arts.org/archive/ursula-le-guin-margaret-atwood/
Introduction
Hi! My name is Zara Smith and I’m a 2nd year PhD
student at the University of Manchester. I’m funded by EPSRC (Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council) and am currently based on the North Campus
of the university. I am part of the Biomaterials research group headed by Prof.
Julie Gough.
I finished high school in 2011, with A levels in Biology,
Chemistry and English Literature. Though
my decision to study Biology was a quick one and rather rushed, I REALLY
enjoyed studying for my undergraduate degree at the University of Hull, and
loved it enough to continue onto a Master’s degree in Nanotechnology and
Regenerative Medicine at UCL. I took a year out following this and worked as a
Trainee Assistant Analytical Chemist for TATA Steel in their environmental
monitoring department, before deciding on my PhD project. My work at Manchester
focuses on repairing tissues in the body that naturally would not heal by
themselves. I work specifically with the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), a major
knee ligament, which accounts for the majority of sports injuries and has a
high rate of reintervention post-surgery.
So far my PhD has been great! I’ve travelled to a European
conference in Switzerland to present my work and been to another here in
Manchester, where I have met academics from all over the world. Hopefully there
will be many more opportunities to share my research with the academic
community!
In Depth...
I first became interested in the field of Biomaterials when
I was doing my undergraduate degree, specifically the tiny biological
interactions that happen at a surface and how we can use those interactions to
guide a desired biological response. I have always been interested in creating
biomedical devices and helping to create something which would improve the life
of an individual and the medical field in that area, seemed almost like a
calling! After graduating from my Biology degree, I immediately began my
Masters. I completed a research project on the nano-delivery of growth factors
to a model central nervous system, which only served to fuel my interest in the
bio-responses of cells to materials on the micro and nano scale.
After the completion of my Master’s degree, though knowing I
wanted to do a PhD, I decided it was time to take a year out, gather some
industrial experience and take the time to find a project that aligned with my
interests. During this year, I was selected for an assistant position at TATA Steel
where I performed both regular sampling analysis and novel research in
analytical chemistry. I chose the ACL project at Manchester as it sounded
fascinating and combined all the areas I find interesting; fast forward a year
and I still absolutely love it! The project itself focuses on producing
materials that will encourage cells taken from the ACL to produce a protein
scaffold that matches as closely as possible the protein scaffold present in
the native ACL. This means that the cells will start laying down the protein
building blocks that are integral to building a native ACL, replacing the one
that has already been irreparably damaged. We are aiming to achieve this
through manipulating the cells at the surface of the materials with both
physical cues and proteins.
(A picture of ACL cells from a light microscope!)
For the most part, my days usually consist of lab work,
planning experiments, data analysis and reading and writing.
Due to the nature of the field, our group is highly
interdisciplinary. We have members from all kinds of disciplinary backgrounds spanning
biological sciences, chemistry and all types of engineering. This in itself
makes for a very interesting working environment where minds from very
different backgrounds can come together and work to build materials/technologies.
Going Further...
If you are interested in perusing Materials sciences, the University
of Manchester School of Materials webpage is here > http://www.materials.manchester.ac.uk/
Interested in the Biomaterials work in my group? Find out
more here > http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/j.gough/ and here > http://www.materials.manchester.ac.uk/our-research/research-groupings/biomaterials/
We also have a school blog which details life as a materials
student and interviews a range of students and lecturers > http://www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk/uommaterialsblog/
If you are interested in the societies associated with
biomaterials research, take a look here > https://www.uksb.org.uk/
Introduction
My name is Erin Beeston and I’m a part-time PhD Student at
the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM) at the
University of Manchester and the Science Museum Group. I’m working on a
collaborative doctoral award, which means I work across two institutions: the
University of Manchester and Museum of Science and Industry (MSI), Manchester.
I began my academic career at the University of Manchester
in 2004, when I started a History undergraduate degree. During this time, I
realised I’d like to work in heritage. The University Careers Service suggested
I gain experience by volunteering and I began a placement at the Manchester
Museum’s Herbarium making digital records of historic botany specimens. Then I
studied for a master’s degree in Art Gallery and Museum Studies whilst working
part-time in museums. I used my academic knowledge, skills from my university course
such as organisation, time management, accurate record keeping and presentation
skills along with what I learnt though working and volunteering to start a
career in museums. I worked at Salford and then Bolton Museum, mostly with
social and industrial history collections. Although I enjoyed my work, I was
interested in studying for PhD as I am passionate about research. I saw an
advertisement by the Science Museum Group for a PhD student to work on the
history of uses and perceptions of Liverpool Road Station (the site of the Museum
of Science and Industry). As I had previously worked at MSI as an assistant
presenter (doing fun things like children’s activities and helping with science
shows), I was keen to research the museum’s rich history and applied for the
project.
In Depth
The focus of my research is Liverpool Road Station, which
dates form 1830 and is the oldest railway station in the world. Whilst the
early history of the station is well known, for many decades after the
passenger service (1830-1844) it was a freight station – which has been
overlooked by historians. I am working on both the history of the site and
exploring how it was transformed into the museum during the 1970s and 1980s. I
often visit archives to view primary sources about the site, these can be
documents, maps or other visual sources. I have been to London to visit National
Archives, to the National Railway Museum in York, viewed archives in Liverpool,
Chester, Manchester and Preston. I have also recorded interviews called oral
histories with people who either worked at the railway station or played a part
in rescuing it and making the museum. This research is important to the museum,
who are using findings to present the history of their buildings to the public,
particularly the lesser known freight story. The results of my thesis are
informing work on new galleries at MSI. I enjoy finding out new stories and
ways of looking at the history of the site and discussing this with staff at
the museum and the public. During my PhD, I have shared my research with other
postgraduates, academics and the public through conferences and talks. I’ve
even attended a summer school in Budapest! It’s a brilliant journey, finding
out new things and developing ideas and arguments along the way.
Going Further
I undertook an undergraduate degree in History at the
University: <http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/brochures/salc/2018/ug/history.pdf>
My master’s was at the Centre for Museology: <http://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/01100/ma-art-gallery-and-museum-studies/>
<https://culturalpractice.wordpress.com/category/centre-for-museology/>
My first experience working in a museum was at the
Manchester Museum’s Herbarium where I learnt about record keeping, digitisation
and collections care: <https://herbologymanchester.wordpress.com/about/>
<http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/collection/plants/>
Here you can find out more about the Science Museum Group’s
research programme:
<https://group.sciencemuseum.org.uk/our-work/research-public-history/>
And the focus of my research - the Museum of Science and
Industry, Manchester: <https://www.msimanchester.org.uk/>
At CHSTM we write about our work for this blog: <https://chstmphdblog.wordpress.com/>
For example, I wrote a blog about my summer school
experience at the CEU in Budapest! <https://chstmphdblog.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/cities-and-science-summer-school/>
Here you can find more about CHSTM and the modules available
to undergraduates: <http://www.chstm.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/>
Introduction
Hi I’m Liz, a second year BBSRC funded cognitive
neuroscience PhD student. Since A-level I have always wanted to be able to
combine my interests in psychology with my interests in physics but was always
told they were too different and I would never be able to study both…. LIES!
Cognitive neuroscience lets me explore psychology, in my case the effects of
stress on memory, while also using neuroimaging techniques (YAY Physics!) to
examine the under-lying brain mechanisms involved. Before coming to Manchester to start my PhD,
I completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology with Neuropsychology and my
Master’s degree in Neuroimaging at Bangor University in North Wales.
In depth…
How does stress affect
memory?
Do you ever notice that some people can just handle stress
really well while other people really struggle to cope and forget everything
they were doing? This is known as a person’s stress reactivity. Highly stress
reactive people experience much greater hormone responses when stressed than
low stress reactive people, meaning that in comparison, they suffer more
‘mental blocks’ when trying to compete tasks.
More seriously, however, continual high levels of stress have been
linked to serious social and health problems such as job loss, divorce, heart
disease and stroke.
Similarly, have you ever sat down in an exam that you
thought you were prepared for and suddenly had a complete mind blank? During
stressful situations memory can sometimes become impaired leading to these
sudden ‘mind blank’ moments where we are unable to remember information we
previously knew. These can happen to anyone but do more commonly happen to
highly stress reactive individuals who struggle to cope under pressure.
In contrast however, it has been shown that sometimes,
learning under stress or intense pressure can increase memory ability. This is
because stress hormones help slow the rate of forgetting which can be shown
using neuroimaging the highlights brain activity in certain regions.
What is Neuroimaging?
Neuroimaging covers a range of techniques that allow us to
examine the brain and measure specific activation associated with certain
tasks. The imaging techniques I use require magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
scanners. With these scanners we are able to explore different features of the
brain including the size and structure of certain regions, the connectivity
between these regions and the levels of neurotransmitters (chemicals) within
different areas of the brain. MRI scans can also be used to explore the
function (known as fMRI) of brain regions by examining levels of activation
within these specific regions while completing a range of tasks. fMRI is one of
the most common methods of imaging shown on medical TV shows- often they show
areas of the brain ‘light up’ in response to sounds or images when people in
the scanner- this isn’t exactly how fMRI works but the gist of it is about
right.
(Image 2: This is an MRI scan of my brain)
Using Neuroimaging to
Explore Stress & Memory
So, using MRI we are able to compare the brain differences
between high and low stress reactive people. This allows us to attempt to
understand why some people can and some people cannot cope during stressful
situations. We are also able to examine the activation in the brain during
memory to attempt to compare brain activity to behavioural memory task
outcomes. Finding any differences in brain structure or activity between stress
reactive groups will help us to better understand what causes this detrimental
response to stress that may then allow us to control negative outcomes as bets
as possible
Going further…
To read more about neuroimaging work, check out this website
(https://www.humanbrainmapping.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1)
that explores current work using neuroimaging to discover more about the human brain.
There are lots of cool blog posts and YouTube videos that go
into more detail about stress. Here are just a few to get you started:
·
TedBlog- Stress as a positive (https://blog.ted.com/could-stress-be-good-for-you-recent-research-that-suggests-it-has-benefits/)
·
TedEd- Stress in the Brain
·
TedEd- How memories form (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOgAbKJGrTA)
·
Science Central- Stress & Memory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHl7BewJ0yU)
Finally, The Signal (https://thesignalmag.wordpress.com) is
a student magazine founded by students at The University of Manchester and has
some brilliant articles for young scientists interested neuroscience,
behaviour, psychology and mental health. Issue 1 (https://issuu.com/thesignalmagazine/docs/issue_1_-_stress_oct17)
was all about stress and is well worth a read for anyone interested.
Introduction
My name is Gillian and I am an AHRC funded
first year PhD candidate at the University of Manchester. The focus of my
research is the medieval religious dramas (known as the mystery plays) that
originated from areas of the north of England, specifically those associated
with the cities of York and Chester, along with those contained in the Towneley
manuscript that appear to have some connection with the Wakefield area. I did
my undergraduate degree in English Literature at Manchester where my passion
for medieval literature soon became apparent. Having achieved a First Class
B.A., I went on to study my M.A. in Medieval Studies also at the University of
Manchester. Hard work is rewarded at Manchester – I got a scholarship which
enabled me to study for a Master’s with all fees waived!
In Depth…
Medieval literature may seem rather
irrelevant to a modern society, but I believe that there are important challenges
that we face today on global levels that have precedent in medieval society.
Negotiating borders and boundaries, tensions inherent in religious beliefs and
differences, the global economic and environmental challenges we face today –
all of these, I contend, were of concern to medieval people who imagined the
consequences of these challenges in ways which could appeal to an everyday,
non-academic audience. The texts of the religious dramas are, on a very basic
level, re-workings of Christian biblical narratives that depict the story of
the bible from Creation to Doomsday. But they are also much more than that.
People wrote how they spoke well into the seventeenth century (and in some
cases well beyond this) and so what you can also tell from these stories is
where these plays could have been best understood, in the region in which they
were written. They are regional texts written with a preferred audience in
mind. Part of the humour which, perhaps surprisingly, runs through these plays,
depends upon local dialects – they promote regionalism as a mode of belonging
just as much as any religious persuasion. My research is currently
investigating the plays’ depiction of Noah and the flood from the three
different regional perspectives of York, Chester, and the West Riding of
Yorkshire (Wakefield). The questions I am posing are whether the differences
between the plays’ dramatization of similar material is influenced by the
environment of their production – do they display an acknowledgement of the
very real threat of global environmental disaster caused by flooding that is of
concern to everyone today? Do they promote inclusive community reaction and
therefore action? Or do they display more individual responses that reveal
exclusions and self-interest? During the summer months I will be visiting both
York and Chester where the plays are being staged again. I want to ask the
people who go to see these plays today what they get out of them, why do they
still go? Why do the cities still produce these plays? What relevance do they
have in today’s society? Can they be produced to appeal to a multi-faith
international community, or do the choices taken by the producers of these
modern versions maintain notions of civic imperialism and Christian elitism? My
research will investigate these plays as transtemporal texts to suggest that
each rendering of familiar material has specific differences in order to offer
a very regional mode of both belonging and questioning as the following
medieval images reveal. The first image is from a manuscript housed in the John
Rylands library – look at all the fantastical beasts, and then see how the
raven pecks at the eye of the corpse not among the chosen few on Noah’s ark.
Were Noah and his family the first boat 
people, early refugees?
There are twelve people in the
image below, but only eight made it onto the ark – go figure!
How do the texts
respond to/replicate/question these contemporary images?
Going Further…
(www.inthemedievalmiddle.com) A really useful website
detailing the lastest research areas of key medieval scholars and the relevance
of medieval literature to modern society.
(www.alc.manchester.ac.uk) A key contact point for all
current information regarding entry requirements, course components, etc. in
the School of Arts, Languages, and Cultures at the University of Manchester.
(www.luminaruim.org) A veritable treasure trove
of free to access information/essays/texts on all things medieval.
(www.medievalsociety.blogspot.co.uk) Blog from the
Manchester Medieval Society which is run by current academics who are all at
the cutting edge of research in their fields. All are welcome to join and join
in!