Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies
MA in Eighteenth Century Studies student...Olivia Jones
I applied to the University of York’s MA in Eighteenth Century Studies whilst living in the depths of rural France. Having completed my BA in English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford the previous year, I thought – as many students do – that I never wanted to read a book again. So, I applied to teach English in France for a year and ended up in a small town in Normandy come September. Much as I enjoyed this new challenge, just a fewmonths into my time in Normandy I realised that I was not ready to give up on academia yet! I still had a passion for learning, for reading and for discovering new things.
I decided to apply for the Eighteenth Century Studies course run by York’s Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies (or CECS) as it seemed to offer more flexibility than many other courses focused on the long eighteenth century. Though I had a literature background, my undergraduate dissertation was centred around the material objects – particularly dresses – found in novels as well as the illustrations that accompanied these texts. Therefore, I was excited about the opportunity this course gave me to engage in interdisciplinary studies, bringing art history, architecture, social history, and more together.
Arriving at York was very exciting, I knew I had chosen the right place when, during my first meeting with my new course mates, we had a long discussion about how much we all loved Lucy Worsely! I have particularly enjoyed attending the CECS Research Seminars run fortnightly where visiting academics deliver papers on a vast range of topics and there is the opportunity to engage with them on their area of expertise.
To give an idea of the variety of modules on offer, here is what I have studied during my course: Literature, Medicine, and Metropolis, 1785-1850; The Architecture of the Home: Familial, Emotional and Material Expressions of Domesticity in Georgian Britain; Representing Women in Eighteenth century Britain: Ideas, Images, and Texts along with the core module which covers topics such as luxury, space, politeness, empire, science, novels, and war. When completing an MA at CECS you’re encouraged not to confine yourself to one set of interests, but instead to explore a variety of areas of study with an open mind.