Guest blogger Charlotte Orr provides a brief insight into her MLitt dissertation on the links between the 1831-1832 British cholera pandemic and the professionalisation of medicine and its relevance today. Doctors rightly have a serious amount of cultural cachet: COVID-19 ‘clap for our carers’ has given us all a chance, for a short time on … Continue reading From Contempt to Clapping: British Doctors during Cholera and Coronavirus
Guest Blogger Jessica Reid talks about her experience in lockdown so far. Coronavirus hasn’t affected everyone equally, but it has affected everyone. Even if you’re used to working from home, have all the materials you need, are in your native country, have no caring responsibilities, are free of pre-existing (mental and physical) health conditions, and … Continue reading PhDs, Coronavirus and Emotional Stress
Guest Blogger Lauren Beatty writes about adapting her research on Women’s Golf in Scotland (1945-1995) to lockdown life. January 13th 2020 marked the start of my PhD journey, and my first day based at the British Golf Museum in St Andrews, Scotland. Instantly I was taken under the wing of the Museum team. I could … Continue reading Continuing Collaboration during Covid-19
Our latest Guest Blogger discusses their PhD experience while dealing with OCD and the COVID-19 outbreak. Pandemic, Contagion, Outbreak. I ardently read these books by Robin Cook when I was about twelve years old, dreamt about becoming a virologist studying deadly viruses. This was before I developed OCD. I have been living with OCD for some years now … Continue reading PhD and OCD in the Time of Coronavirus
Guest Blogger Lauren Baker shares her research and internship experience during COVID. There are any number of unexpected encounters when you are part of a PhD programme, but a global pandemic was not something that I had factored into my third year timeline. However, if there is one thing I have taken away from my … Continue reading Craft in the time of COVID
In the nineteenth century, the most frequent form of quarantine was rather different to the lockdown Scotland is experiencing now. Guest Blogger Lindsay Middleton explains: Rather than being confined to their homes and stopping travel, nineteenth-century quarantine largely affected those who engaged in commercial and leisure travel all over the globe. Namely, ships that were … Continue reading Garlic, Potatoes and Swords: Nineteenth-Century Quarantine at Sea
PhD researchers share how they’re making progress with their work despite restrictions posed by the lockdown. For some, being forced to stay indoors and get some work done has worked out to be advantageous. But for others – with caring and/or childcare responsibilities, anxiety, disrupted research trips and halted field research – it’s difficult to … Continue reading PhDs During Lockdown
Guest Blogger Janine Mitchell provides an insight from the University of Stirling's Coronavirus Project. Two months ago, I glossed over this entry, dated 29 March, in Peter Mackay’s journals: March 29, 2020 That week, Mackay had been bedridden with what today might be described as ‘man-flu’. In comparison with his usual prolific writing style, the … Continue reading Documenting Coronavirus for Future Researchers
Don’t worry – this isn’t one of those ‘rise and grind’ type posts, encouraging you to make the most of self-isolation by completing your PhD in record time whilst establishing a new side hustle… For some of us, PhD work will go on almost as normal during this stage of pandemic-related disruption. Disrupted field research, … Continue reading PhDs, Pandemics, Productivity.
Although at times it feels like I’ve been doing my PhD for years (usually in the days just before a deadline…) I recently realised it hasn’t even been six months! The first few months of a PhD have been a whirlwind of new experiences, so I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned … Continue reading Reflections On PhD Life So Far
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