Alumni
American Studies students have gone on to a variety of careers from journalism to the US National Park Service, from business and management to library and archival work, and from film production to teaching and academia. MLitt students have gone on from Glasgow to PhDs at Glasgow, other British universities, and universities in America and Canada including the University of Maryland, Georgetown University, the University of Texas, the University of Hawaii, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Toronto.
Chiara Howe, American Studies PhD (2024)
My coming to Glasgow and to the Hook Centre was a very happy accident. In 2018 I decided, quite last minute, to do a PhD and also to do it in Glasgow. A curious decision in some (if not all) respects: I wasn’t fully cognisant of what a PhD entailed and I had never been to Glasgow. But I came across the Centre when I was looking for funding opportunities –– and, gratefully, found the Gordon Studentships –– for my research on Walt Whitman’s post-transcendentalist poetics of New York and it was then my supervisor, Dr Chris Gair, who really alerted me to just how much was on offer in the form of the seminar series, performances, and various other events.
Chris also encouraged me to volunteer as the Centre’s postgraduate research representative (by simply but persuasively prodding me in the arm when Dr Laura Rattray mentioned she was looking for one) and I’d highly recommend it to anyone else considering doing it. The role entailed starting a blog –– which, incidentally, is in need of new management in case anyone sees this and fancies sprucing it up –– to share students’ reflections on the seminar series. Those talks opened my eyes to how vast the field of American Studies really is and reflecting on them in writing highlighted how crucial networking, exchange, and conversation are to its power. I still think about some of those seminars and the discussions they prompted. At Dr Nicole King’s talk on Toni Cade Bambara and 20th century Black literary childhood, for example, I learned of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade of 1963, a piece of history I’ve thought about many times since and might never have heard of were it not for Dr King’s visit to the Centre. The interdisciplinary lynchpin of American Studies forces you to look at your own work within a much bigger (and more complex) context. The new perspectives I heard at the Centre made for a more well-rounded thesis and also, I’d hope, a more well-rounded person.
Beyond its academic value, though, the Centre gives you a gathering place. I’ve been fortunate to meet many wonderful people there and, though I no longer live in Glasgow, I’ll certainly keep an eye on its goings on in case I can make it to a talk or performance next time I’m passing through.
Dr Valerie MacKenzie, American Studies MLitt (2014-2015) and American Studies PhD (2023)
I was drawn to the MLitt in American Studies because of my long-standing interest in American literature and history. I anticipated having a great experience through the University of Glasgow because of the expertise of the academics involved in the course. However, it far exceeded my expectations. The breadth of available courses and seminars through the Hook Centre proved a watershed moment for me in academic terms. I felt that my knowledge, along with my critical thinking and analysis, developed exponentially.
Since first graduating in 2000, I had a personal goal to return to university to study for my PhD. The positive experience of the MLitt in American Studies increased my confidence and further fuelled my enthusiasm. The interdisciplinary nature of American Studies was an ideal fit for my research interests in history, literature and LGBTQ+ studies. Even with these subjects as my main focus, I was still able to draw on additional disciplines to better analyse and understand my research.
Gaining my PhD was a massive personal achievement and a life-enhancing experience which I have been able to use in other areas of my life. I would warmly recommend both the MLitt and PhD in American Studies at the University of Glasgow without hesitation. Staff involved in the courses are experts in their field, enthusiastic, encouraging and incredibly supportive of their students.
Tilly Dunnachie, American Modern Literature MLitt student, 2020-21
After finishing my undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Glasgow, I knew that I wanted to embark on further study at Glasgow, but I was open to exploring the different postgraduate programmes to find one that I felt drawn towards and really suited my research interests for future study. So, I chose to undertake the American Modern Literature MLitt – I graduated as part of the 2020–21 cohort.
Starting the MLitt was exciting, but also a little daunting. I had some experience studying American texts, but the MLitt was a real change in direction in terms of what I’d focused on in my undergraduate degree, for example, in more extended research, like the dissertation. This is why the PGTaught programme really worked for me, with its blend of core and optional courses. It offered me the structure I needed to build my confidence within the field of American studies, contextualise research, and also allow flexibility to tailor the programme to my own research interests. The teaching staff are incredibly supportive, insightful, and passionate about their field – it was a joy to learn from them. It’s an immersive programme that touches upon a number of disciplines and draws upon a wealth of textual material – novels, journalism, poetry, art, music, film. I really enjoyed this aspect of the programme, and it was one of the elements that initially caught my interest. The dissertation process was an amazing experience: there was time to totally delve into a project that I was passionate about, and I felt so proud (and sad!) when the 12-month programme finished.
I applied for one of the Gordon studentships before starting and through that I became involved with the Andrew Hook Centre for American Studies. During the year, I worked on the blog with a PhD student in American Studies: this was a great experience – we hosted guest writers, and it was wonderful to learn about others’ research. There are lots of events that take place through the Hook Centre that really foster a sense of community. I studied the MLitt virtually during the pandemic, so there was an added element of isolation to my studies, but the teaching staff and Hook Centre events helped me feel connected and part of something – I really value that.
My experience studying the American Modern Literature MLitt was fantastic – I wish I could do it all over again!
Mariane Gallet, American Modern Literature student, 2020-21
While I was completing my undergraduate, I swore the prophetic ‘me? I’ll never do a PhD’. To no one’s great surprise, I would go on to do a PhD in American Literature under the watchful eye of my flatmate who was undoubtedly thinking, ‘I told you so’.
It was only in the final year of my undergraduate degree in Linguistics and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, amid university strikes and a global pandemic, that I confirmed my commitment to research. I was drawn to American Literature as a gateway to understand and contextualise the contemporary political moment and social movement activism in the United States. Looking to deepen my knowledge and education in American Literature, the MLitt programme at the University of Glasgow offered a valuably wide scope of courses, primary and secondary, to tailor the programme to your research interests. The taught programme allows to both extend your education and have the freedom to dive into research, while benefitting from the incredible commitment and support of the teaching staff. I most enjoyed the interdisciplinarity of the courses. Blending literature, journalism, visual art (film, photography) and music, each course reaches beyond the academic canon and is drawn into conversation with its contemporary context, demonstrating only the supervisors’ own commitment to research and sharing.
It was thanks to the Gordon Studentship that I discovered the Andrew Hook Research Centre. The MLitt’s close collaboration with the Andrew Hook Research Centre fosters a rich creative environment for students, organizing a wide range of events celebrating the richness of American studies and research. It also encourages students to be involved in the coordination of the centre, and motivates the organisation and establishment of new creative events. It was a wonderful opportunity to host reading groups, research exchange events, and presentations engaging more advanced students doing research, which teachers were always excited to attend. This was incremental in developing my engagement with research and confidence. We were able to present our budding research to peers, discuss books, dialogue with PhD candidates exposing their latest ideas and findings, write for the Centre’s blog, and much more. Developing my public speaking skills along with research interests and objectives, I was able to present my first academic paper at a conference that year.
Although our 2020-2021 cohort was swept into the Covid-19 pandemic and its lockdowns, the incredible support, availability, and understanding of the teaching staff fostered a community spirit and durably connected us to each other. It was an incredible experience, humane, collaborative, and creative, which had a lasting impact on me. As I continue my research journey, education, and begin a professional career, I keep in regular contact with friends and professors from the course and the research centre. We are always avid to catch up on the latest and fondly remember our times together.
Annmarie Ford, Glasgow schoolteacher, and American Studies MLitt student at Glasgow 2010-12
'The MLitt in American Studies has been an immensely fulfilling experience, not only from a personal point of view but also in terms of my professional development... the broad range of areas covered in the core courses create a wonderful opportunity to explore many different aspects of American history and culture - from the frontier to film. The optional courses are also varied and interesting, yet allow students to narrow their focus in preparation for the final dissertation.
a truly wonderful course that is full of enjoyment as well as education
The MLitt has been beneficial to my career, not least through the new found confidence I have in teaching my own pupils about American Literature, but also though the support I received in applying for, and receiving, a fellowship at Monticello, Virginia to develop material for my school. This is something that without the MLitt I would not have considered.
The staff are extremely helpful and supportive, continually encouraging students to share ideas and explore whatever areas of American Studies they are drawn to. The result is a truly wonderful course that is full of enjoyment as well as education.'
Sandy Campbell, American Studies MLitt student at Glasgow, 2010-2011
In a sense this is what academia should consist of, people using their individual strengths to come together and find solutions to collective problems. Seminars like this are also hugely important to American Studies because it covers an issue that impacts not only America, economically and environmentally, but also the world. Essentially, a discipline that can unite figures from such varied backgrounds and bring them together to discuss solutions probably represents one of the best hopes of reaching a consensus in the foreseeable future.
the interdisciplinary nature of American Studies gave the seminar a range of opinions that it would probably be difficult to hear in any other context
Indeed the interdisciplinary nature of American Studies gave the seminar a range of opinions that it would probably be difficult to hear in any other context. For instance, an economic or political debate on the issue would be quite a different prospect and would be distinctly poorer for not having the varied range of participants.
Dr Mark McLay, American Studies MLitt student at Glasgow, 2009-2010, and currently lecturer at the University of Lancaster
I had never heard of Bruce Molsky before the announcement of the Gordon Lecture, but I was intrigued by the fact he had been nominated for two Grammy’s and that he had played Celtic Connections, an event some of my favourite bands have played before. It was also to be the first time I had seen a live performance involving the banjo – surely a source of excitement for any student studying the United States.
Molsky once again proved to me the power of music in conveying culture
Molsky once again proved to me the power of music in conveying culture. As trite as it may sound, it was easy for me to believe I had been transported to rural south of the United States due to the sheer emotion that went into many of the songs, particularly the slow number which involved Molsky loosening his banjo strings. A search of YouTube has also reminded me of the sing along song, Charmin’ Betsy, where the lyrics play just as important a part as the banjo in transmitting to the listener a sense of the culture the song was born out of. It did not matter that the songs were covers, or that Molsky himself was not from the area of where the songs originate...My recent focus on music during the Vietnam War and American Counterculture modules, has only served to highlight the importance of the medium to the lives of ordinary Americans and also to people attempting to understand any society.
Just as Molsky’s performance took me to the Appalachians, the same could be said of the late 1960s and Buffalo Springfield’s 'For What It’s Worth' or Credence Clearwater Revival’s 'Fortunate Son'. This is something I believe to be unique to music. What other medium can so quickly communicate the region or era it originates from?
Dr. Rachael McLennan, Senior Lecturer in American Studies at the University of East Anglia, and American Studies MLitt student at Glasgow, 2001-02
I undertook postgraduate study in the American Studies M.Litt programme at the University of Glasgow in the academic year 2001/2002. It was a thoroughly exciting, enjoyable and rewarding year. I studied excellent modules on fascinating topics such as the American West and the Vietnam War, and made a number of friends with whom I am still in contact ten years later.
It was a thoroughly exciting, enjoyable and rewarding year
In addition to vastly expanding my knowledge and critical skills in relation to American culture, the course inspired me to continue my studies and complete a Ph.D. I am now a lecturer in a school of American Studies and so this degree has been invaluable in shaping my career.
Dr. Brad Jones, Professor of History at California State University, Fresno, and PhD student at Glasgow, 2003-2006
I am always amused by the confused look I get when I tell someone that I am an American who went to Scotland to study American history. Inevitably they ask why, and my answer is simple. I had the opportunity to work with widely respected historians in the field. I was also able to draw upon the expertise of Americanists working at universities and archives elsewhere in Britain and America, thanks, in large part, to the university’s and the Hook Centre’s distinguished reputation.
I also benefited enormously from studying American history from outside of the United States. We live in an increasingly global society, yet Americans, and to some degree even academics trained at American universities, continue to embrace a rather parochial view of their nation’s founding. Studying in Glasgow allowed me the physical and intellectual distance to see America’s founding in broader geographic and ideological terms. Such a perspective, I believe, would have been difficult to imagine had I attended an American university.
I am also proof that it is possible to study American history abroad and find work in the United Sates afterwards, even in an increasingly competitive job market. In fact, I attained my current position as an Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Fresno largely because of the faculty’s interest in my broader Atlantic perspective of American history. For this, I am indebted to Glasgow University and the Hook Centre for American Studies.
Dr. David Doolin, American Studies MLitt student at Glasgow, 2001-2002
As I always had a strong desire to pursue a graduate degree, and as my personal experiences then seeped into my desires and ideas for academic study, the master’s in American Studies at Glasgow seemed to me to be a perfect fit... On a personal level, Glasgow of course was closer to my home and family, just across the water in Dublin. Moreover, the programme offered me a chance to pursue my passion for history, literature, and film alongside a growing fascination to understand America in the world, and begin to turn that into an academic career...It was the master’s degree at Glasgow that gave me an avenue to turn my interests into a serious academic pursuit. The American Studies programme opened my eyes and gave me the interdisciplinary tools to dissect, analyze, and comment on several fascinating insights regarding American culture, identity, and history framed in an international context. It opened the door for me to turn my interests onto a career path.
It was during my time on the programme that I matured and grew in confidence and foresaw the chance at going further with my studies. As I have stated in my PhD dissertation acknowledgements, without the academic challenge, the guidance, and the encouragement I gained from the master’s degree in American Studies at Glasgow, I would never have found the confidence to pursue my doctorate in the United States. Subsequently with the continued advice and encouragement from Prof. Simon Newman, Prof. Nick Selby, and Prof. Marina Moskowitz I would not have had the wherewithal to apply and be accepted into the American Studies PhD programme at the University of Hawai`i, Mānoa.
Having completed the Masters in Glasgow before entering UH, gave me the advantage of a reduced course load (12 instead of 15), and the offer of graduate student waivers for the first two semesters of my doctorate journey. This subsequently allowed me the time to teach and then earn a graduate assistant’s position for the remainder of my course work, until the completion of my PhD. I am happy to say that I have finally reached my goal and achieved my doctorate, which was both academically and personally an amazing, unparalleled journey. Without doubt, having taken the first steps with the master’s degree in American Studies at the University of Glasgow was the foundation that finds me writing to you from the beautiful shores of Hawai`i in the week of my graduation, with the title of Dr. David Doolin, PhD, American Studies.
Dr. Gillian Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of St. Andrew's, and American Studies MLitt student at Glasgow, 1998-1999.
After completing my M.A. Joint Honours in English Literature and History at Glasgow in 1998, I decided to proceed to the new taught MLitt in American Studies.
I found the course very enjoyable; its interdisciplinary focus allowed me to continue to study both English and History
I found the course very enjoyable; its interdisciplinary focus allowed me to continue to study both English and History, and the modules enriched my understanding of key themes within U.S. history and culture. The dissertation element of the course also enabled me to enhance further my research and writing skills, as well as my knowledge of a particular subject-area (namely, the culture of the Southern States during the 1930s). The course served as a very useful preparation for further study, and members of staff provided me with helpful advice regarding the North American doctoral application progress; after the MPhil I proceeded to the University of Toronto, where I gained my PhD in History.