Vicky Backhouse, a former student at St. Martin’s College, reports that ‘As third years, my friends and I felt that St Martin’s students would benefit from an ‘English Society.’ We thought that the society would be a great way to encourage students to take their passion for English literature away from lecture halls and seminar groups. We hoped that by running trips to places of interest such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Brontë Country and inviting guest speakers to workshop with the students, that it would enhance grades, and help them make the most of their university experience. To get started we needed funding, which is where the English Subject Centre helped us enormously. We were awarded £500 to help us to get our Society up and running.
I am happy to say that our first trip to Chatsworth House in Derbyshire was a great success. It was amazing to see first hand, the inspiration behind Mr Darcy’s Pemberley, in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. It was a wonderful experience and one which our members thoroughly enjoyed.’
English Subject Centre Funding
The English Subject Centre is offering one-off, ‘seedcorn’ payments of £500 to help departments encourage literary/cultural activities that do not directly support course modules. Some of these activities might involve collaboration with (and attract part-funding from) local arts organisations. Projects the money might be used for include the following:
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the development of student groups and literary societies
• talks by visiting speakers
• reading parties
• creative writing activities
• theatre trips
• a website
• a magazine
• film screenings
• play-reading groups
What’s the Catch?
It is a condition of the funding that, within one year after receiving the grant, a case study of c.2,000 words be produced, describing the project and giving an account of what has been learnt from it and what the benefits to students have been. The case study will be posted on the Subject Centre website and may be written by either a student or a member of staff (or both).
It is expected that, in all cases, students will be closely involved with the planning and organisation of the funded activities. A full-time permanent member of staff must, however, be named as contact for the Subject Centre and will be responsible for approving expenditure. Please note, applications from existing societies will only be considered if they involve new activities.
Applying for Funding
If you would like to apply for this funding, please send a proposal of about 250 words describing the activities you would like us to fund to Jonathan Gibson (jonathan.gibson@rhul.ac.uk) at the Subject Centre. The proposal should contain the following information:
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Contact details (name, email address, postal address, phone number).
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Summary of the activities for which you require funding and the reasons why you think they will benefit students.
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Details about the activities (type, number).
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The number and level of students you expect to be involved.
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How the money will be spent.
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How you propose to continue the activity beyond the funded period.
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Any other supporting information that you feel to be appropriate.
