Accessibility statement

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Anna Mercer

I applied to do my PhD at York as a newcomer to the city and the university (previously I had studied in Cambridge and Liverpool). I was nervous about a change of scene, but after initial meetings with my supervisors, and when I arrived for my first semester, I felt incredibly welcomed and supported by the community of staff and students at CECS.

CECS is not only a world-renowned research centre but a network of inspiring academics. There are regular events such as seminars, postgraduate forums, and conferences. You are actively encouraged to do more than just study for your degree - it was during my time at CECS that I began using social media and other online platforms to promote my research and the centre itself. This was invaluable as I now work as the Director of Communications for the Keats-Shelley Association of America, where I am designing and delivering an enhanced social media output, and I manage the social media as part of my current full-time role at Keats House Museum at Hampstead. I'm also the Blog Editor for the British Association for Romantic Studies, and I've written several online articles. CECS has always recognised the changing academic climate and noted the worth of this kind of scholarly activity alongside more traditional print publications.

CECS also assisted me when I wanted to organise my own events, including supporting two conferences ('Difficult Women 1780-1830' and'The Shelley Conference 2017') and a public event celebrating 200 years since the composition of Frankenstein. These projects were collaborations with my fellow postgraduates.’

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Anna Mercer completed her PhD on the collaborative literary relationship of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley in 2017. Her first monograph will be published by Routledge in 2019. A list of publications can be found here: http://york.academia.edu/AnnaMercer

She is on Twitter (@annamercer_) and you can visit her blog here: https://percyandmaryshelley.wordpress.com/