My name is Catherine and I’m entering my third year as an English student. I worked as a Collaborative Research Intern on Dr Toria Johnson’s Project “The Local/Global Birnam Oak” where I focused on the historical, cultural and literary impact of Birnam Oak and the wider impact it has within the study of Shakespeare. The project looked into the impression of Scotland as presented by Shakespeare and his sources and how this influences later views and adaptations throughout time. I worked alongside three other interns on the project however each of our paths were different, following our own leads in the research.
As I was able to stay in Birmingham during my project, I was able to make the most of the local resources available to me and visited two different archives throughout the period. I hadn’t done any previous archival work, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The impression I had gotten from archives was that there was a superiority surrounding them. A part of me felt that it was a world I was not allowed to enter, above my place as an undergraduate student. However, my experience using them the past few months has destroyed that perception and replaced it with confidence in my ability as well as my place in the academic world.
For my first visit I went to the Library of Birmingham archives. During the trip I had the support of my internship leader, who came with me and another member of the team, in order to help us understand how to interpret the information we had been given. At this point in the project, we were focusing a lot more on the significance of Birnam Wood in the context of Shakespeare, looking at both the sources he used as inspiration to its inclusion in the play and the way it’s been used by different adaptors. The archives offered us a lot of information on this aspect of the project. I appreciated the repetition of the archival research, slowly looking at difference texts and noting down relevant aspects. As someone who struggles with time management and finding motivation for independent tasks, the opportunity to go to a focused location, having dedicated time for my work and keeping a repetitive structure made me more able to keep up with completing my hours. I was later able to visit the library a second time independently and finish the research we hadn’t been able to as a team.
This gave me the foundation I needed for my second trip to the university’s own Shakespeare Institute Library. I was allowed to organise my trip completely independently. I went through they’re online catalogue prior to the trip and sent my list of items to the team in advance. I spent the day travelling to Stratford and working in the library. Looking at the pieces I chose and deciding on their relevance. This pushed me to gain confidence in myself and trust my academic instincts.
Overall, my collaborative research Internship has helped me push myself out of my comfort zone, encouraging me to have confidence in my abilities trust my decisions. I feel much more comfortable in my own capabilities going into my third year. I know that the skills I have learnt, not only in archival work but my time management and self-belief, will be invaluable when it comes time to write my dissertation next year.
Catherine Crewe, BA English