At the beginning of the MA our class was given a list of the staff members of the UCC School of English which included each of their individual research areas and interests. As someone who was an undergraduate at this very university last year I was familiar with most of the lecturers and have taken many of their classes. Thus I did not hesitate to get in contact with them early to discuss possible thesis topics, though I admit I had very few real ideas at this early stage.

Dr Miranda Corcoran, with whom I had studied American Literature and a special studies seminar on science fiction written in the era post-World War 2, and Dr Joanna Robinson who lectures on Victorian Literature were both extremely helpful. I got a sense of what the thesis writing process would be like and began to appreciate that while 15000 words may seem long, focusing on a single topic in such depth will make use of every single word. Seeking advice from lecturers with such a broad range of interests brings to light the main issue for me in choosing a thesis topic; after studying such a wide variety of works in undergraduate, it is more difficult now to narrow my focus.

With the advice they gave me, along with reading recommendations that could prove useful to the interests I spoke to them about I feel more confident that eventually I will settle on a topic I wish to write on. I would advise all of my classmates and fellow graduate students to take the time to speak to your lecturers outside of class.

As part of my Masters in Modern Literature and Film I will be using this blog to chronicle the development of my research for my final thesis and other items of interest, such as the various research seminars held on campus throughout the two semesters. The areas of Literature and Film that most interest me are 20th Century American Literature, Modernism (particularly the works of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and Samuel Beckett) Science Fiction, graphic novels and other forms of contemporary fiction. Through my lecturers who have similar interests I hope to have a research topic chosen sometime in 2nd semester.

During Halloween week there was a series of events held on campus at UCC to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The text has been studied by English Literature undergraduates at the university for many years, I myself read it while studying a module entitled “Romance and Realism” in my 2nd year, lectured by Professor Graham Allen. For one of the events Professor Allen read out an essay on the text, examining what the novel has meant for each different generation, the impact of Mary Shelley and even connecting it to ideas in modern Artificial Intelligence. As someone with a keen interest in the science fiction genre I found this fascinating, to think ideas in such a famous novel published 200 years ago could touch on contemporary science. Of course, as was mentioned on the day,  Frankenstein has had a huge impact on the world of popular culture as well as academic study, thanks to the countless adaptations for stage and film. Fittingly the week of events also included such screenings and performances.

For me the most interesting lecture of the week was a collaborative seminar on Tuesday evening given by staff members from multiple departments of the university, each looking at how the content of the novel applies to their own fields of research. For example; a lecturer in medicine explored the real life science that would have influenced Shelley in her time and spoke about how far the field of neurology is progressing. Others included lecturers in the social sciences and philosophy who examined the psychology of the character of Victor Frankenstein and what he strives for in the novel, as well as applying theories of the Philosophy of mind and modern science (Artificial Intelligence was again mentioned) to his creature.

All in all it was fascinating to hear  so many scholars outside of the department of English applying their fields to a work of literature, particularly one that has been the subject of academic study and an icon of popular culture for so long now. It reminded me that you can read a famous book and study it intensely for an exam but there is always more to be uncovered once it has been put back on the shelf. Given the fact that fiction and adaptation is currently my area of interest when it comes to choosing a potential research topic for my thesis, I may revisit The Modern Prometheus at some point in the future. Its alive and continues to inspire.