This summer, I’ve been taking part in an Undergraduate Research Scholarship project called ‘Art for English’. My task was to catalogue the art and object facilities we have on campus and around Birmingham that could enhance studies of English Literature at the University. I compiled my findings in a website, which can be found at www.artforenglish.wordpress.com.
My first challenge was thinking about how to narrow down such a broad project brief into a task which was feasible in the five weeks I had been allocated. After meeting with my supervisors Deborah Longworth and John Fagg, we decided that it would be best to adopt a module-specific approach, so I sat down with the descriptions of all the second and final year modules and highlighted any words or phrases that seemed to offer scope for supplementary studies of art. Things that caught my eye at this stage were broad artistic movements or ideas, such as ‘Romanticism’ or ‘Colonialism’ and individual authors who I knew to have an interest in the arts.
I then followed this up in the next couple of weeks with meetings with staff in the Cadbury Research Library, the Barber Institute and the University’s Research and Cultural Collections. They helped me to get to know their collections and provided me with the knowledge I needed to take the project forward. I also contacted module convenors to see if they had any insights as to how object-based research could function within their research areas. In general, I was greeted by much enthusiasm and lecturers seemed to recognise that the task I had undertaken was worthwhile. As I found out more about the collections, I understood why: we have both fascinating and culturally significant items on campus and it’s important that the students who could benefit from using them know that they exist!
In the third week of my project I began to consolidate my findings with collections further afield, looking at works in the Library of Birmingham, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and Ikon Gallery. I also started to collect images of the items I identified, which presented the unexpected challenge of making sure I had cleared copyright requirements and that I had the appropriate permission to reproduce the images. I had it in my mind at this stage that I was working towards producing an online resource of some kind, and after experimenting with various WordPress templates, I found one which seemed to work for the kind of information I intended to present.
I worked pretty much exclusively on the website for the latter half of my scholarship. I knew that I wanted to make it as useful and as informative as possible, so I worked hard to include links, class marks and information as to how to access the material instead of just a list of objects. I also worked on improving the visual appearance of the site to make it more engaging by including as many images of the resources as possible. I’m still waiting on a couple of images to come through, but I’m quite pleased with the overall appearance of the site now that I’ve finished the project.
I’m really hoping my project will have a positive impact on English Literature studies at Birmingham. Even if just one student makes the effort to go and look at a painting in the Barber that they might not otherwise have seen, I’ll feel that my work has been a success! I know for a fact that as I go into final year and start my dissertation, I’ll be making the most of Art for English…
Mary McGowan, BA English Literature and Hispanic Studies