Postgraduate students

Members of the HOBAR Research Group supervise a number of postgraduate research students and postdoctoral researchers working actively on book history related topics. Successful PhD theses supervised by members of the group have covered subjects such as the history of Oxford University Press in Africa and the publishing history of Heinemann’s African Writer’s Series. Several former PhD student members have gone on to publish monographs and become recognised experts in their field. Members of the HOBAR Research Group are eager to supervise potential PhD students working on book history topics related to the group’s aims.

Current PhD students affiliated to the HOBAR research group

• Patricia Ferguson is working on a thesis titled 'Two Brothers and their Books: Understanding the Reading Experiences of Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) and Warren Hamilton Lewis (1895-1973)'

• Karen Paine is working on sensation fiction and representations of reading in the period c.1860-1875

• Ruth Startin is working on a thesis titled 'Yellowback fiction and the history of reading on the railways, 1860-70'

Bookshelf from the library of the former Presidential Palace (now the Reunification Palace), Hồ Chí Minh City, Việt Nam

© Shafquat Towheed (2009)

 

Past PhD students affiliated to the HOBAR research group

• Sophie Bankes: ‘My thesis recovers and analyses the reading practices of James Lackington (1746-1815), an autodidact and one of the most famous booksellers of the late 18^th century. By systematically examining his reading and response, I demonstrate how he fashioned his life through reading.’ c_s_bankes@hotmail.com
• Claire Choroba: ‘My thesis deals with an examination of the writing of Rumer Godden, which includes an interest in Godden's publication history through serials, journals and popular magazines in the UK and overseas.  During the course of my research I have visited several public and private archives, including the Macmillan archive, which have thrown new light onto the subject of Godden's publishing history and her relations with her publishers throughout her career.’
  claire.choroba@yahoo.com
• Shane Malhotra: ‘My thesis examines the changing British literary representations of Afghanistan from 1839 to 1939. I use tools and techniques from Book History to examine the ‘communications circuit’ of texts (both fictional and factual) about Afghanistan and map the changing interest in the subject over the course of a century.’
  sgmalhotra@gmail.com
• Pooja Sinha: ‘I'm interested in exploring the recent developments in the publishing industry in India and the subsequent proliferation of popular genre fiction in Indian Writing in English. I use Book History in my research to understand the circuit of production and distribution - how books come into being, how they circulate in the market, and their reception within that market.’
  p.sinha@open.ac.uk
• Vincent Trott: 'My doctoral research is exploring the literary mythologization of the First World War, with particular focus on the publication and reception history of canonical texts across the twentieth century and beyond.'
  vincenttrott@hotmail.co.uk

Postgraduate student members of the HOBAR Research Group are active in giving papers at seminars, conferences, and workshops, developing their publications profiles, and discussing their work with colleagues at the Open University and further afield through a diverse range of social media.