By Krysten Blackstone |
2017 was quite the year for Pubs and Publications! We exceeded our viewership from previous years, and added new readers and contributors. As always, thank you to our new and old readers and contributors for your support! We hope you have found us as useful and entertaining as we like to think we are.
By far, the most popular post of 2017 was our own special PhD version of the tried and tested, What Hogwarts House do You Belong in? by Laura Harrison. Can’t say I’m surprised about that one.
To my own eternal dismay, I learned that after years of solving riddles to enter doors and countless tests proving my merit as a Ravenclaw, my tendency to bring baked goods to seminars and the ease at which I get distracted from my research, probably means that in relation to the PhD I am not a Ravenclaw.
2017 was also a year of goodbyes. We have said “see you later” to some of our oldest committee members, including some who have been with Pubs and Publications since day one. All those who have left over the year will be sorely missed, but have no fear, we will be sure we pull them in for guest posts at every possible opportunity! The new experiences that will come with having the three little letters ‘PhD’ after their names will make for excellent material.
Fittingly, with all the changes over 2017, we thought the best way to ring in 2018 would be to introduce our newest committee members!
Julie Leiper – Contributions Editor
I am a first year PhD student studying Mental Health part time by distance learning at Lancaster University. I am interested in Mental Capacity and the positive risk-taking behaviours of patients with severe and enduring mental health problems. My research is at an embryonic stage which, I imagine seems strange for a PhD student. This is due to the mode of delivery of my course (…and my indecision). The other side of life for me is parenting a couple of smalls, which is pretty time consuming. I do enjoy reading cheery dystopian novels, experimenting with strange food combinations and wistfully looking at the grass, which always seems to be greener…
Vanessa Tautter – Contributions Editor
I have always been fascinated by the impact of the past on contemporary society and this is why I have just begun my PhD research on right-wing memory at the University of Graz, Austria. Previously to that, I worked as a History and English teacher and studied English and History in Graz, with stints abroad – I love travelling! – at Queen’s University Belfast, at Maynooth University and at West Virginia University. I also enjoy hiking, frequently spend time proof-reading all my friends’ papers and am currently organizing the legendary international and interdisciplinary student conference “Transcending Borders – Redrawing Perspectives” – apply!
Ian MacNeil – Publicity Editor
Hi! I am a second year PhD student at The University of Glasgow. My research explores how sport and sporting settings might be used to support the resettlement and desistance of young people after they are released from prison. I completed my undergraduate degree in Community Education at The University of Edinburgh, and have a Masters of Social Research from University College London’s Institute of Education. At various times in my life, I have worked as a wine merchant, a youth worker, and spent several years living in China. I also once had a job sticking price stickers onto CDs. When not fretting about my thesis, I am kept busy by my young son, lifting heavy objects in the gym, and obsessing about various sports involving balls (#GoBills). You can find me on Twitter under @IanAlexanderMac
Krysten Blackstone is the Deputy Chair of Pubs and Publications who uses this position to avoid writing the chapter she has due in the imminent future. You can also find her baking copious amount of pumpkin cookies for her students and tweeting about said students in a further effort to avoid work.
Image 1 & 2: Krysten Blackstone, Image 3: Julie Leiper, Image 4: Vanessa Tautter, Image 5: Ian MacNeil
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