Year Four

I just did one semester (fall) in fourth year, as I had credits from doing summer school over the years of my undergrad. It was a bit strange graduating a whole semester before most of my friends and classmates, but I don’t regret it. It made financial sense, and it also gave me an opportunity to take a rest and academic break before I planned to start graduate school the following September.

Much of my fourth year, in fact, was consumed with thinking of my next steps. I had decided to apply for grad schools in the UK, as the programs there were more specialized to conflict studies. Over the summer prior I put work into getting reference letters, and deciding on the specific schools and programs (Queens Belfast, LSE, and Cambridge). I then spent months writing my personal statements and research proposals for each of the schools.

Throughout my undergrad I developed a passion for the concept of nationalism, and how this connects to public history education in schools. For my further education I hope to study how children are taught history in schools in post-conflict societies, and how these teaching affect their understandings of their own nation as well as prospects for peace. I plan on specializing first on Northern Ireland (in relation to The Troubles) and then hopefully in a PhD branching out to complete a comparative research project on how different countries tackle public history in education.

I hope that in the future I am able to help improve education systems so that they reflect dreams for peace, and provide children with a diverse perspective on history. I felt that within my undergraduate studies I was able to develop this perspective, and I hope that I am able to improve systems for the future so that these ways of knowing are accessible to all.