Email us to speak to someone: sed-web@qmul.ac.uk
A scouser in London, with impeccable music taste and fashion sense.
Presenting and creating social media content for QM’s radio station, Quest. Making lots of lovely friends.
I hope to have a career in broadcast journalism, particularly radio.
My friends.
I work in the Wetherspoons on Mile End Road and I have an internship with the BBC.
Improved information on what we should be reading over the summer for the next semester.
Main picture from a performance by Francis Dubem Udemezue
Scroll down for the recording and our collaborative reading/watch lists.
Please remember these are just informal suggestions and any preparation for your modules will be communicated later on.
This list is not exhaustive by any means there’s also a great list by London Drama here of good resources so do check it out!
Whether you are sharing an environment with flatmates or living at home, finding space to study can be difficult. I personally work best in an environment that is free from distractions, so I had to get creative with my study solutions. I was lucky enough to have a small walk-in closet that I repurposed as a study space: I used my clothes drawers and a dining table chair as a makeshift desk, added some fairy lights and a cactus et voila!
For those who don’t have the privilege of a walk-in wardrobe or some other space, you might wish to create something more temporary; this could be a comfy corner in a bedroom, or somewhere outdoors. Whatever you choose to do, I found using personal objects to customise the space made it comfortable and gave the area a purpose.
I found it beneficial to manage my time into slots of 1 hour with dedicated breaks. It is worth noting that some tasks may take longer than others for example, listening to audio recordings of poetry did not take as long as reading a text and making notes. In these instances, I used my initiative and sometimes worked through my break times if I felt I was on a roll.
I worried that without the structure of day-to-day life (lectures, seminars, work) I would struggle to organise my day but after a week of recalibrating myself, I decided to take action. I created daily plans that I stuck on my fridge, for example:
While simple, these steps helped me to stay on top of my workload and I feel that when this is all over, I will have a new skill under my belt.It’s also important to mention that that worry, stress and anxiety are to be expected when adapting to something new. Rather than shutting these emotions out, when organising my daily tasks, I would also schedule in an hour or two where I allowed myself to deal with those anxious thoughts.
Since my worries came from deadlines, I was able to plan my time in a way that it eased these feelings and resulted in a better peace of mind.
Reach out – don’t suffer in silence. The mistake I made early on was forgetting that my professors and peers were still there to help me. After a period of quiet panic, I spoke in confidence to a couple of friends about my situation and they advised me to speak to my professor, and I am glad I did. I emailed my Professor and within 24 hours they had emailed me pdf copies of reading materials and one even offered to post me a book.
On a second note, this also applies if you are struggling to cope mentally. The university’s Mental Health and Wellbeing team and the School’s Student Support team (Suzi pictured above) are available for support and you should contact them if you feel the need to.
Scroll down for the recording and our collaborative reading/watch lists.
Our links are to publisher websites not stores and many books will be cheaper as e-books or could even be free via Project Gutenberg so please do search online or use your local library’s e-books too. Consider buying second hand or via sources other than Amazon such as Abe Books which Christian mentioned.
Please remember these are just informal suggestions and any required reading will be communicated later on.
We asked our offer holders in the session what they’re reading and watching and they didn’t disappoint…
Dear Offer Holders in English and Drama
You should have received recently an email from Queen Mary explaining some of our plans for September. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that we have been thinking carefully about how best to support you and your education.
Your safety is our first concern. With safety in mind, from September to January we will be offering an inclusive blended learning approach, drawing on insights and feedback from our current students.
If travel restrictions mean that you can’t be here with us in London this September, you will be able to start your course online. If you are able to join us, we will ensure that our premises and activities follow government guidance and that we are Covid-19 secure.
What a blended approach to learning and teaching in English and Drama means for you:
Teaching & Student Support: In the School of English and Drama, a blended approach means that you’ll be able to access online your Semester 1 lectures, seminars and, for those studying Drama, practice-based workshops, as well as meetings with your teachers, advisor, and our student support staff. Our online teaching and student support will be supplemented with one-to-one meetings and small-group campus-based activities if it’s safe and possible to do so for staff and students. These opportunities will also be available online so that everyone can participate wherever you’re based.
Learning Resources: To support your learning, you’ll have access to online learning resources (e.g. presentations, e-books, journal articles, videos). The School has strong connections with writers, artists, and other arts professionals and we aim to programme guests as part of your online teaching and in extracurricular activities.
Assessment: You’ll be supported to complete a range of assessments that will be submitted online, including essays, presentations, creative writing portfolios and practice-based assessments, depending on your course. Practical assessments in Drama are also supported by our dedicated Technical Team. The work our students have submitted online this year has been inspiring!
Meeting Staff & Students, Study Skills & Careers Support: To help you settle in to studying in the School, we’ll be running a programme of online welcome events so you can meet other students and members of staff. Our courses build in opportunities for you to meet and work with other students and we also facilitate the Peer Assisted Study Support and Buddy schemes. We embed study skills in all our courses to help you with the transition to university-level study with its increased levels of independent work, and you’ll also have a timetable of activities for each week of the semester to help you plan your time. We also offer dedicated careers support in the School in collaboration with our colleagues in Careers and Enterprise. To help you prepare for your course, we’ll send you further guidance and advice over the summer.
Clubs & Societies: Beyond your studies, you’ll have opportunities to join sports clubs and societies through Queen Mary Students’ Union. The School is proud to support the dynamic Queen Mary Theatre Society, the English Society and Wonderer, an undergraduate literary journal, and to publish our students on our blog, All Things SED, and read their work in the arts and culture magazines, Cub, Peach and the new publication Diaspora Speaks, which gives space to work from students of colour.
We’ll confirm the School’s arrangements for Semester 2 as soon as we’re able, but our working assumption is that if the situation allows for it, we will return to teaching on campus.
We look forward to welcoming you to Queen Mary in September.
Speak to us: If you have any questions, please complete this form, join our ‘Ask an Academic’ webinars on 10 June or book a call with an admissions tutor for English or Drama.
Kind regards,
Catherine
Dr Catherine Silverstone
Head of the School of English and Drama
School of English and Drama
Queen Mary University of London
sed-web@qmul.ac.uk
Always got her head in a book, a pen in her hand and her eye behind a camera.
My hightlights of QMUL has certainly been running CUB magazine on campus as editor-in-chief. I have learnt so many amazing skills through my position as well as having so many amazing opportunities, meeting the brilliant writers behind CUB and the students I would have have come across in my own degree. I found a little family in CUB and it will be so upsetting yo say goodbye in May.
My course reinforced my love of writing, I was not an avid poet until second year and now I am published on Amazon as well as online publications. I also found my love of article writing through CUB which led me to my two summer internships with the Daily Telegraph Newspaper. My course showed me how diverse literature can be and I know how silly that sounds but A-levels and GCSE only gives you a small scope of literature and after university I know I will continue to explore the different pathways within literature and continue my studies.
I cannot give CUB anymore of a shout out but without joining it in my second year as a writer, I would not be this confident or have this many amazing friends around me. I also would not have run for VP Welfare in the 2020 elections or be able to be this confident at public speaking, it gave me skills I could never have learnt without it. I also discovered how diverse peoples values and viewed can be, I met people from so many amazing backgrounds and faiths that it opened my eyes to new experiences and beliefs of my own!
I’ve had several part time jobs throughout university such as bar work or retail. Bar work gave me a boost of confidence which allowed me to stand up for myself in difficult situations and to respect myself ad a woman in a male oriented environment.
Bridging the gap between SU and the students, making a less corporate relationship and more student led.
To give more opportunities to students who (like myself) travel to campus daily meaning we miss out on nights out or parties etc.
Dear students studying in the School of English and Drama,
I’m writing to you in response to the recent police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the USA and the assault on Belly Mujinga in London, and the feelings of anger, sadness, fear, and distress, among many others, across the USA, and here in the UK, including in our student and staff bodies.
On behalf of the School of English and Drama, I condemn these acts of violence and the structural and institutional racism that underpins them. I fully support the Black Lives Matter movement in challenging all forms of racism and committing to ensuring dignity, safety, liberty, and self-determination for Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic and global majority communities.
Structural and institutional racism is not confined to the USA but is very much present in the UK, and globally, and is a powerful force in preventing equal life opportunities for people of colour. The Covid-19 pandemic, for example, has both exposed and exacerbated the structural inequalities faced by many minorities, most significantly Black, Asian, and disabled people.
Universities have a key role to play in combatting racism and all forms of discrimination. I am committed to this work in the School of English and Drama. This involves continued acknowledgment and work to redress disadvantages experienced variously by our students and colleagues of colour. These manifest, for example, in differences in degree outcomes between our Black, Asian, and minority ethnic/global-majority students and white students, and significantly fewer colleagues of colour in senior leadership roles than white colleagues. It’s important, here, to acknowledge that we also have a majority white staff base in the School, and that many of us, myself included, have benefited from advantages and privileges accorded structurally, socially and culturally to white people, especially with respect to our educational and career development opportunities.
Affirming a commitment to equalities and anti-racist work is vital and action is more crucial still. We have been working to address inequalities in the School, especially in relation to race and ethnicity, through our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, co-chaired by Zara Dinnen and myself; revisions to our curriculum; more extensive student support; a dedicated EDI student representative on our Staff Student Liaison Committees; and a commitment to equality in our research, for example. This is not the time, though, to be individually or collectively self-congratulatory or complacent. Through our work we know there is much more to be done, especially as we address the impact of Covid-19 and the decisions that we’re making for 2020-21 (and beyond) on staff and students.
We stand in solidarity with our students of colour. With my colleagues in the School Management Group, I affirm the School’s ongoing commitment to listening to students and working together across our School community, to address structural racism. This work is carried out though our department, School, Faculty and University governance structures, alongside informal conversations with, and between, staff and students. It is not the responsibility of our Black, Asian, and minority ethnic/global majority colleagues and students to bear the burden of this work. It is, rather, a collective endeavour, led by those of us entrusted with leadership positions.
For links to a wide range of excellent resources and donation funds, please visit QMSU’s Black Lives Matter webpage.
I welcome your comments and suggestions. Please be in touch at sed-information@qmul.ac.uk, or if you’d prefer to write to me directly, please email sed-hos@qmul.ac.uk.
In solidarity,
Catherine
Catherine Silverstone
Head of the School of English and Drama
Abi would like to recognise the following people who have helped with the creation of the posters, protests and spoken word pieces:
Good afternoon,
I am writing to you as the Vice president of Queen Mary Theatre Society and as a black student within your university.
As I am sure you are aware of the countless protests, wide-spread media coverage, and news headlines around the subject of institutional, systematic, and general racism around the world, there has been a nationwide call for the end of injustice towards black people in all capacities. The murder – through means of suffocation – of George Floyd in the United States by the hands of the Minneapolis police was not only barbaric it was symbolic of how black people are stifled in every aspect of our lives due to continued active and passive racism. George Floyd’s name is now on the ever-growing list (that were caught on camera and so are aware of) of black people mercilessly killed for committing the crime of nothing more than simply being black in this month alone. We have called for Justice for Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man shot while he was jogging around his neighborhood, we have called for justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT who was shot up to six times by police officers who had broken into her home without knocking or announcing themselves under the claim that they were executing a search warrant for a suspected drug dealer, who not only had already been arrested but in fact, did not live at that address – Breonna lost her life and instead of charging the police officers for manslaughter, her boyfriend who was sleeping next to her fired back a single shot at what he thought were intruders, and so was charged and arrested despite the fact none of the police officers were harmed, as well as the fact he legally was allowed to put up arms of his registered gun in the state they were situated in. Black people are constantly being killed due to pre-consisting racist and prejudice bias without their murders being reprimanded further than (at most) a slap on the wrist and paid leave.
The UK is far from innocent and although shootings are less common, the mistreatment of black people from police officers to the general public is as prevalent as ever today, as it was before. Black people being harassed, beaten, and killed for their existence did not stop or even slow down in pace after the horrific murder of Stephen Lawrence, it has continued and, in some ways, even manifested in more covert ways. Rashad Charles, Mark Duggan, Darren Cumberbatch, Edson da Costa, Adrian McDonald, Sarah Reed, Mark Duggan and more recently Belly Mujinga – who was spat at on duty by a member of the public claiming to have COVID-19 and later fell ill and died herself from the contracted virus – are just a few of the documented black people within the United kingdom that have failed to be protected by the government and society in a whole, due to the colour of their skin. We as a people are tired, we are angry, we are devastated, and we are scared.
What kept me hopeful in this time, is seeing how much as a black community we have gathered together and how our Non-Black allies have stood with us. As the committee of Queen Mary theatre society, we have dedicated all of our social media accounts to #BlackLivesMatter initiatives and in using our platform to show our unwavering support as well as educating posts surrounding institutional, systematic, and general racism for our members. SED alumni such as Ndumiso Peter Ndlovu has taken the time to gather both past and current students of QMUL (like myself) to organise a peaceful protest in LONDON, BRISTOL and MANCHESTER both physically and through Zoom to honour George Floyd and Belly Mujinga, and demand for the further investigation, arrest, and charge of their killers. Efe Uwadiae is another alumnus of QMUL who has dedicated her platform to establishing the right discourse around the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
I was not only shocked, disheartened, and concerned to see how silent not only the Queen Mary student union has been about the racial injustice that not only affects the black members of their faculty but the black student body within QMUL. It seems as if we have no support from the university, which I find particularly interesting considering the statement made by Colin bailey and the SU surrounding the university being reprimanded for racism, to the point where students felt compelled to spray-paint their views on campus – they felt they weren’t being listened to, and it seems evidently we still aren’t being listened to. I am appalled at the lack of support given to students during this time, especially as QMUL claims to care profusely about our mental health and wellbeing. I am appalled at how despite being sent newsletters on various other subjects, none of them have been addressing the current global pandemic of racism. I have been waiting for QMSU and QMUL to use their platform to not only show solidarity instead of complacency, and still, I have yet to hear a single thing which has in turn led me to write this email.
If the university claims to be proud of how diverse their student body is, why is it that when we need you to use your platform to not only help us but protect and encourage us to stand for what is right the voice of Queen Mary University of London is nowhere to be found? The slight change of flag creates the idea that QMUL is happy to passively support their students along as they don’t have to make a physical, undeniable stance.
Until our voices, influence and platforms as those against racism are as active as the killing and constant injustice of black people within society, we will never see change.
In no way do I want to endorse the #alllivesmatter stance and advise the university to stay away from this rhetoric as not only does it demean and belittle the experience of black people globally it also stems as a retaliation of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. It is no secret that all lives matter, the point is there have been too many situations that reinforce the idea that black lives are discounted in the “All”.
To conclude, I expect from both QMSU, QMUL, and Colin Bailey to not only educate their students and faculty on the #BlackLivesMatter – why it is important and what it represents. To email all students and/or release a statement on the current climate that both comforts and reassures black students that the university is a safe space for them, and their voices are heard. To boost and encourage students to stand for what is right and carefully sculpt a message that re-lays sensitively the situation of George Floyd and Belly Mujinga in unity with the #saytheirnames movement.
I expect the university and the Student union to use their LARGE platform to show their solidarity with us as black students within the university. Here is the link to the protest led by your students and alumni as well as posts I feel could be reposted by the university and student union.
I hope to hear from you within the next few days before the protest on the 5th JUNE, with a retort, questions and further information on what can be done, what you plan to do and why the university has been silent thus far. As a university you have a duty of care, as QMTC a society within QMUL we are happy to keep the lines of communication open to ensure that duty is fulfilled.
Kind regards,
Entry closes on 3 July 2020 at 5pm. Our team will pick the winners on or shortly after 3 July so please get your entry in before then! There will be 2 winners one for selfie and one for meme. We will contact winners via email so keep an eye out on your inbox after 15 June.
“I have had the most amazing time at QM over the last three years. I’ve met some soulmates. Had a few breakdowns. Hit my limit of daily replacement library cards. Spent £49000 on coffee. And had most of the happiest moments of my life. I know that this dissertation doesn’t sum up everything I’ve learnt and everything that I can do now (notably, go to the shop without having a panic attack). But it was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. And I’m proud of myself for doing it. A huge thank you to every lecturer, advisor, member of staff, and student for helping me through. From helping me choose a dissertation topic to making me a coffee with a smile. Also- to everyone who is still working on their dissertations- you can do this and you will do this. Remember not to compare your own academic achievements to other people’s because yours are just as brilliant and just as important. Okay I’m done now. Gonna go drink, eat, and watch Netflix… Until I have to start the next one.”
“1 word down 9,999 to go”
“Standing in the North Sea was not the original dissertation hand in photo I had in mind. Although I am currently some 300 miles from the bustling city of London, my time at Queen Mary has enhanced my passion for literature and developed my personal and academic confidence. The supportive SED staff have even inspired me to continue my studies at the University of Cambridge in a genre, Romanticism, I initially loathed when I arrived in London three years ago.”
I am a PhD student and poet.
It’s fantastic! I love the people, the natural beauty and the adademic events in QMUL. I am so excited to learn from many excellent scholars, which makes me feel so good.
I am so grateful to my supervisor Matthew Ingleby who invited me to study here and brought to meet many excellent scholars in 19th century studies seminar held by IES.
I am so lucky to listen to Mark Currie’s lectures in person, whose book I have read before in China. I am so grateful to Professor Scott McCracken and Professor Julia Boffey, whose classes inspire me a lot.
Thanks also to Howard and Hari in the research teamwho helped me a lot during my study. Because of the excellect scholars in English department, my mind was open and my academic net was enlarged. Hopefully I can contribute my academic studies in future and I am willing to be a good bridge between UK and China.
I think the academic atmosphere attracts me deeply and the independent thinking spirit and the friendly classmates all make me feel so encouraging and enjoyable.
Usually, I take part in some lectures held by Senate House or KCL. And also I join some poetry recital events or watch a drama performance or visit a cultural site. I hope I can travel all the literary sites related my study project in the next 6 months.
Hopefully, there will be more PhD communities, which can encourage exchange and build more social relationships.
The main purpose of Diaspora Speaks Magazine is to highlight the journeys, opinions and experiences of students of colour. The idea started forming in my head around November last year, and at the time I was very involved with student media as I was working with Cub Magazine, The Print News, Quest Radio, as well as QMTV. I started to become more aware of the lack of diversity in journalism as a whole and I wanted to fill that gap by creating something that ethnic minority students at the university could get involved with whether they have experience with writing or not. As 69% of Queen Mary students are BAME it seemed right to create a platform where they can be heard.
I voiced my opinions to a fellow CUB writer, Sara Omar who loved the idea from the start. We watched it grow from an idea to a real outlet and we’re excited to see how far it will go in the next year. The team is currently just Sara and myself, but we are looking to expand and we have open applications to become a part of our 2020/2021 team.
My inspirations for working in journalism are probably Stacey Dooley, Iman Amrani, Liv Little and Anila Dhami. I think real journalism is about being open-minded, exploring different perspectives, and telling the stories that matter. I’ve always been quite an inquisitive and curious person and I enjoy telling stories so I found myself gravitating towards journalism because I feel as if I can have a real impact with it.
Furthermore, a publication that I really admire is gal-dem as they carved a space for ethnic minority women and non-binary people of colour, and really established themselves as serious contenders in a journalistic landscape that can often be hostile to POC.
Diaspora Speaks Magazine is modelled after gal-dem, and we really do hope that ethnic minority students get to tell the stories that matter to them.
We are looking for regular writers, artists, photographers, section editors, graphic designers, and a treasurer. Submissions can include articles, interviews, poetry, artwork, photography, etc. We have various different sections that can be found on our social media and we will be opening submissions soon so to keep updated follow our social media:
I studied Postcolonial and Global Literature as a module this year and it has really enlightened me to the extent of the discrimination faced by POC. I was very unaware of the impact of colonialism before I studied it in English this year, but I am now aware that even though colonialism has ended, its impact is still felt today.
I understand and support the efforts of students and teachers who are working towards decolonising the curriculum, the university and more. Diaspora Speaks Magazine I hope will play a part in that effort.
For ages I’ve been jealous of my mum’s ‘real life’ book club, and with everything going on at the moment I’ve seen lots of literary events move online so I thought, why not create an online book club?
I’ve been posting my own book reviews on my personal instagram for a while and got a few messages from friends and random followers saying that they liked my book recommendations and wanted more. I decided I wanted to create a little community on the internet that people can just discuss their favourite books and most recent reads.
I’m going to be posting recommendations a lot and plan to have a weekly post of a favourite book from childhood. The main point of it is, of course, the ‘club’ element of it! A book is picked every two weeks, it’s announced on the Saturday evening, and two weeks later there will be a post on the feed with some questions which (I hope!) will create some discussion in the comments! The first book is Everything I know about love by Dolly Alderton and we’ll be discussing it Sunday 26th April at 8pm.
It’s an incredibly new venture for me but I’ve had some great responses so far so I’m excited to grow it further!
Yes that is a very hard question! I definitely can’t pick favourites but I’ll pick three that I love.
My time at QMUL was great, I split my time doing my English degree, being in the cheerleading club and working at drapers so I definitely had the full university experience. I am quite set in my ways when it comes to what to read and university definitely pushed me out of my boundaries and opened up so much great literature for me that it’s hard to pick specific books. Some of the modules I loved were the Arthurian module, Dickens and Jane Austen modules. My favourite module was definitely Reading Childhood/ Writing Children as we analysed so many books from my childhood in a literary sense and I I found it really interesting and thought-provoking!
Well, my first piece of advice would be to travel! I travelled solo to Australia the January following my graduation. I travelled and worked there for a year and just had the best year of my life. I met so many people, experienced so much and although now some of my friends are ‘ahead’ in their careers compared to me, I don’t regret it at all as I had lots of great life experiences!
However, I realise in the current state of things travel may not be an option and the job market (or lack of) seems even scarier – and I get that, trust me I do! I started looking for a job in publishing when I returned from Australia, and then Corona happened and companies stopped hiring. It’s hard, it’s really hard but you have to try and make the most of it. I’ve been doing some online courses – FutureLearn and Google Digital Garage, which are both really good, and I’ve started up my book club! I’m trying to improve my employability skills so that when companies do start hiring again, I can show them what I’ve been doing with my time and try to be the best candidate possible!
I won’t lie to you, life after University is tough but it’s exciting as well. There is so much out there. Whether that’s career, travelling or your personal life – just try to look for the positives in everything and work as hard as you can!
