{"id":760,"date":"2017-11-06T08:55:42","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T07:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?p=760"},"modified":"2017-11-06T08:55:42","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T07:55:42","slug":"pgr-profile-edward-mills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/","title":{"rendered":"PGR Profile- Edward Mills"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Name:<\/strong> Edward Mills<\/p>\n

Discipline:<\/strong> Modern Languages \/ Medieval Studies (I kind of vacillate between the two, but it is of course perfectly possible to belong to both!)<\/p>\n

Location:<\/strong> Mostly in the shared PGR office in Queen\u2019s (not the same one as Imogene<\/a>, sadly!), although I do spend quite a bit of time on the Exeter Ship Canal working with the University\u2019s rowers.<\/p>\n

What is the working title for your research project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Funnily enough, the current title is \u2018Imagining and enacting education in the French texts of medieval England, c. 1120 \u2013 c. 1420\u2019.<\/p>\n

Can you describe your research project in more detail? <\/strong><\/p>\n

My research falls broadly into the domain of \u2018Anglo-Norman\u2019 studies: that is, the distinctive dialect of French that was used in England during the centuries after the Norman Conquest. I\u2019m looking at literature, specifically didactic literature, and investigating how Anglo-Norman texts conceptualise and then carry out the process of education. As the incredible Ken Robinson points out, we all have an interest in education, one built on our own experiences in school; my research gives me the opportunity to marry that interest with my love for all things French and medieval.<\/p>\n

… and can explain it in a single sentence? <\/strong><\/p>\n

How was education imagined and enacted through the French texts of medieval England?<\/p>\n

What is a typical day like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I tend to get into the office at some point between 9am and 10am. Those morning hours are usually the most productive part of my day, so I try to get the bulk of my writing done before lunchtime, which I\u2019ll often eat in the Senior Common Room (SCR) with other PGRs. The afternoons tend to be when I do my non-writing work, whether it\u2019s replying to emails, doing \u2018gradmin\u2019 (I\u2019m the PGR Representative for Modern Languages, so I have a lot of meetings to attend!), or teaching. I\u2019m often involved in some sort of event in the evenings, too, from chess to playing trumpet in a couple of student and local bands.<\/p>\n

What would you say is your proudest moment during your research journey so far? <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s a tricky one \u2026 it\u2019s a toss-up between finding out that I\u2019d received funding from the University, meeting the people behind my scholarship fund, and presenting at the International Medieval Congress<\/a> in Leeds last summer.<\/p>\n

What do you like to do when you are not researching? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of Organised Fun\u2122, so I tend to get involved in a lot of student groups and societies (they\u2019re not just for undergraduates, after all!). I\u2019m currently Secretary of the Chess Society, where I occupy the exalted position of being the worst player on the Committee, as well as a cox and trainee coach for the University rowing club. Societies played a big part in helping me to settle in at Exeter, and have given me opportunities that I would never have got elsewhere. One particular highlight was coxing at Henley Royal Regatta<\/a> last year: even though we were drawn against very strong opposition, I really enjoyed the chance to race on perhaps the most famous stretch of water in the world.<\/p>\n

If you could start again, what would be your advice to yourself as a new postgraduate researcher?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stay geeky! Seriously, though, your enthusiasm as a researcher is one of your most valuable assets, and it\u2019s worth taking a moment from time to time just to remind yourself of why you\u2019re doing a PhD. In my case, it\u2019s because I believe that Anglo-Norman is really, really cool, but whatever your particular interest, don\u2019t forget that it will sustain you for three years of research. During that time, you\u2019re allowed \u2013 nay, encouraged! \u2013 to be as unforgivingly, unremittingly nerdy as you want to be. Take that opportunity.<\/p>\n

And finally- can you explain your research project in 5 emojis?<\/strong><\/p>\n

💭- The \u2018thought bubble\u2019 emoji reflects the \u2018thinking\u2019 element of my research: how was \u2018education\u2019 as a concept actually understood during this period? What did it mean to \u2018educate\u2019 in a period where the French term \u00e9ducation<\/em> did not yet exist?
\n\u270d\ufe0f- The \u2018writing hand\u2019 is perhaps more obvious: how did these Anglo-Norman texts construct themselves in order to achieve these aims of \u2026
\n🏫- \u2026 education?
\n📜- The \u2018parchment\u2019 emoji here isn\u2019t just shorthand for \u2018medieval\u2019: it\u2019s actually a reminder of the fact that the texts that I\u2019m studying existed in a manuscript and oral culture, meaning that ideas of authorship and originality were radically different to our own.
\n\u2753- Why the question-mark? Well, I was going to put a French flag here, but that of course creates more problems: should I define my corpus of texts by language or by location? Will eagle-eyed readers spot the anachronism of a medievalist using a flag first adopted in the 1790s? Instead, I wanted my final emoji to be a reminder of the centrality of questions to the process of teaching, as well as of the exploratory nature of my research. Many of these texts are almost criminally under-studied, so I\u2019m sure that my project will raise many more questions than it answers!<\/p>\n

Edward Mills<\/a> is a postgraduate research student working towards a PhD in French. He writes a semi-regular blog, Anglo-Normantics<\/em><\/a>, and Tweets (somewhat more frequently) at @edward_mills<\/a>. For more information on postgraduate Modern Languages study and research at Exeter, medieval or otherwise, check out @ExeModLangsPGs<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Name: Edward Mills Discipline: Modern Languages \/ Medieval Studies (I kind of vacillate between the two, but it is of course perfectly possible to belong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,29,31,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPGR Profile- Edward Mills - Doctoral College<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PGR Profile- Edward Mills - Doctoral College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Name: Edward Mills Discipline: Modern Languages \/ Medieval Studies (I kind of vacillate between the two, but it is of course perfectly possible to belong […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doctoral College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-06T07:55:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills-169x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/\",\"name\":\"PGR Profile- Edward Mills - Doctoral College\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills-169x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-06T07:55:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-06T07:55:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills.jpg\",\"width\":1152,\"height\":2048},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PGR Profile- Edward Mills\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/\",\"name\":\"Doctoral College\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2\",\"name\":\"Mark\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/university-of-exeter-new.onyx-sites.io\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/author\/rxizfitwrt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PGR Profile- Edward Mills - Doctoral College","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PGR Profile- Edward Mills - Doctoral College","og_description":"Name: Edward Mills Discipline: Modern Languages \/ Medieval Studies (I kind of vacillate between the two, but it is of course perfectly possible to belong […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/","og_site_name":"Doctoral College","article_published_time":"2017-11-06T07:55:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills-169x300.jpg"}],"author":"Mark","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/","name":"PGR Profile- Edward Mills - Doctoral College","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills-169x300.jpg","datePublished":"2017-11-06T07:55:42+00:00","dateModified":"2017-11-06T07:55:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2017\/10\/Ed-Mills.jpg","width":1152,"height":2048},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2017\/11\/06\/pgr-profile-edward-mills\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PGR Profile- Edward Mills"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/","name":"Doctoral College","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/f55c794873afd5892e3c96ddf775f5b2","name":"Mark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c8bc2e4b4cd54966c634a0cda0b58382?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/university-of-exeter-new.onyx-sites.io"],"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/author\/rxizfitwrt\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}