Well, after about two months of not blogging for Holy Cross, I’m back with some pretty big and exciting news. Next year, I had planned on taking a year off from academics and working in England, which would give me some time and money to prepare for commencing my PhD next year in 2014.
Well, I found out last week that I was successful in my application for a fully funded PhD scholarship at King’s College London, which was my dream school due to my ideal advisor being there. The scholarship application just opened in June, and I was lucky enough to find out during my family vacation on Cape Cod. The scholarship is the first that King’s has given out, and it’s good for all three years of my PhD (yeah, getting a project done in three years. Welcome to higher education in the UK!). My project will focus on 10th century Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, specifically how the construction and layout of the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts works within the matrix of manuscripts imported from the Continent. In reality, the project emerged from the research that I started for Professor Perry’s seminar paper on the Libri Carolini (nearly four years ago now), and some of those questions that I encountered with that research just still keep on popping up even in my research now.
I’m extremely shocked (yet grateful) that I won the scholarship. Had you told me when I first arrived at Holy Cross nearly six years ago next month (uhm…what?) that I’d be pursuing a PhD in medieval manuscripts, I would have laughed. Yes, I came to Holy Cross with an interest in literature, but it was really at Holy Cross that I was able to discover this passion and then meet so many people along the way who continue to inspire and encourage me.
So, if you need to find me in the next three years, odds are that I’m in some library looking at 10th century manuscripts. After that, you’ll be able to find me as Dr. Curran…which is a really scary thought.