Seminars 'sowed a seed in my mind' for PhD research

My thesis – Mannequins, Androids and Cyborgs: Ambivalent Corporeality in Modern Art and Literature – is an analysis of fictional depictions of humanoid bodies in French literature and German, French and Belgian art between the 1880s and 1930s. It asks what these constructed bodies can tell us about our understanding of the human species. My supervisors were Professor Johanna Malt and Dr Emma Bielecki.

I wanted to do a PhD at King’s because I had done a Master’s in French Literature and Culture at King’s, which I thoroughly enjoyed. While I’d always been interested in literature, it was really the MA which opened up visual art for me as an area of study. Professor Malt’s seminar on art and human touch sowed a seed in my mind about visual cultures and human bodies, which led me to a dissertation on mannequins in art (supervised by Dr Bielecki), and from there to the PhD.

I came back to study in my thirties after a career in the law, and I found studying in London quite a different experience from my undergrad days in North Wales.

Postgraduate research students are really made to feel like part of the department from the outset, being involved in research seminars and other events with academic staff. I regularly used space in the department to work, which was important to my experience – it meant having a dedicated space to use every day so I could treat the PhD like a job, and it allowed me to build a network of fellow students, who are now my peers (and friends!).

My most recent publication – The Human and the Machine in Literature and Culture: Cultures of Automation (Routledge, 2025) – was co-edited with fellow student Molly Crozier. The book came out of us working in the same office every day, talking about our research and discovering all the links between our work.

Having a PhD has allowed me to pursue a career in academia. I am now a Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Reading, and Conference Officer at the Society for French Studies. The mentoring and advice I received during my PhD and since graduation has allowed me to build a solid foundation of teaching experience, conference presentations, and academic publications.