Meet a selection of our postgraduate alumni and discover how they have excelled in their respective careers after graduating from the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film.
Dr John Goodyear (German Language and Literature PhD, 2012) 7 December 2021
Embarking on new research terrain and exploring new cutting-edge ideas was always a thrill, as was sharing such knowledge to peers and undergraduate students. These “Eureka” moments, particularly in the target language, are among my most cherished experiences during my PhD at Queen Mary.
Heidi Cheng (Applied Linguistics for English Language Teaching MA, 2018) 9 March 2021
I grew up in a city that puts a lot of emphasis on English and where there is a great demand for English teachers. When I visited London for the first time as a tourist at 16, I was hosted by a local British family. Being able to be understood by native English speakers was such a cool feeling and it really fueled my interest in English learning and teaching further.
Zoe Adams (Linguistics MA, 2013) 17 February 2021
As a Teaching Fellow, I prepare and deliver content for Language & Health Communication, as well as supervise the students’ final research projects. This was a module that I designed as a PhD candidate in 2016, so it’s great to return and be the course convenor!
Laila El azhary (Documentary Practice MA, 2020) 9 February 2021
There are a lot of things I learned while making this film. I got to understand some of the struggles that Kurdish people face. I got to learn about their history which is not something we are taught in schools. I also learnt about the frequent misrepresentation of them as a community.
Dr Victoria Grace Walden (Film Studies PhD, 2017) 25 January 2021
The thing I most enjoyed about my PhD was the ever-expanding community it exposed me to, from colleagues and peers at Queen Mary, many of whom I have retained friendships with, to wider academic and professional networks. It gave me the confidence to reach out to institutions working in Holocaust and genocide memory and education to form partnerships that we hope will push forward socio-cultural change.
Eleanor Krawczyk (Film Studies MA, 2020) 20 January 2021
Filmmaking was completely new to me, but the Documentary Practice module was a revelation, and I was not prepared for how much I loved it. We were taught both the theory of documentary as well as weekly workshops teaching us the vocation itself; learning to use the equipment was something I took to a lot more than I expected!