- Rhodes University, Classical Civilisations, Alumnusadd
- Psychology, English Literature, Gender, Social Psychology, Gender Studies, English, and 38 moreClassics, Gender and Sexuality, Classical Archaeology, Modernist Literature (Literary Modernism), Anthropology of Gender, History of Sexuality, Sex and Gender, Women's Literature, Religion and Sexuality, Classical Mythology, Medieval English Literature, History of English Literature, African Literature, English Romanticism, Anthropology and Sexuality, English Novel, Narrative Psychology, Genders and Sexualities, Gender Theory, Australian Literature, English History, Masculine Sexuality, Classical Art, South African Literature, Greek and Roman Sexualities, Romantic Literature, The Fantastic, White Settler Diasporic Writing, Queer Studies, Gay And Lesbian Studies, Celtic Studies, LGBT Issues, Martha Nussbaum, Pleasure, Persephone Myths, Underworld mythology, English language, and Sexualityedit
- Working towards a PhD, once I find the topic that inspires me to tackle a few years dedicated to it, and can work out the technical bits, like affording it. After my MA in Classical Civilisation, I'm undertaking an MSc in Information & Library Management part time, to broaden my academic range and develop further skills. Ultimately, I aim to fully return to academia and become a lecturer.edit
This research offers a review of the current state of provision for young LGBTIQ people in Irish public libraries. No previous published research exists within an Irish context, and this thesis seeks to open the discussion for Irish... more
This research offers a review of the current state of provision for young LGBTIQ people in Irish public libraries. No previous published research exists within an Irish context, and this thesis seeks to open the discussion for Irish public libraries. Although progress in Ireland regarding LGBTIQ legal and social recognition is evident, the lack of research into public library provision forestalls attempts to develop LGBTIQ collections, and results in public libraries being overlooked in the development of national strategies to support young LGBTIQ people. This study investigates existing public library policies regarding LGBTIQ collections and patrons, undertakes a catalogue review of recommended LGBTIQ titles by county, considers existing collection practice and provision identified by librarians, and explores librarian experience with dealing with young LGBTIQ people and recognition of their Information Needs is reviewed, with consideration of the challenges present to developing this provision. Respondents were found to be generally positive towards more engagement or training, but report little experience in actually receiving queries and requests. Most respondents broadly recognise the Information Needs of this community, but few report that strategies are currently employed to address these Needs. Engagement with the LGBTIQ community’s needs is characterised as ‘reactive’ rather than proactive, with challenges to developing collections or hosting events posed by conservative communities and a lack of awareness of what young LGBTIQ people actually wish to derive from the service. Recommendations are made for further research and collection and policy development. The potential role of the public library in addressing the current needs of young LGBTIQ people is proposed as a unique opportunity not apparently considered by either the service or the LGBTIQ community yet.
Research Interests:
Persephone’s myth is unique, as it was the central narrative of one of the most prominent ancient mystery religions, and remains one of the few (certainly the most prominent) ancient Greek myths to focus on the relationship of a mother... more
Persephone’s myth is unique, as it was the central narrative of one of the most prominent ancient mystery religions, and remains one of the few (certainly the most prominent) ancient Greek myths to focus on the relationship of a mother and her daughter. This unique focus must have offered her worshippers something important that they perhaps could not find elsewhere, especially as a complex and elaborate cult grew around it, transforming the divine allegory of the changing seasons or the storage of the grain beneath the earth, into a narrative offering hope for a better place in the afterlife. To understand the appeal of this myth, two aspects of her worship and mythic significance require study: the expectations of her worshippers for their own lives, to which the goddess may have been seen as a forerunner; and the mythic frameworks operating which would characterise the goddess for her worshippers. The myth, as described in The Hymn to Demeter, is initially interpreted for its literary meaning, and then set within its cultural milieu to uncover what meaning it may have had for Persephone’s worshippers, particularly in terms of marriage and death, which form the initial motivating action of the myth. From this socio-anthropological study we turn to the mythic patterns and motifs the story offers, particularly the figure of the goddess of the Underworld (primarily in the influential Mesopotamian literature), and the Dying-Rising God figure (similarly derived from the Near East). These figures, when compared to the Greek goddess, may both reveal her unique appeal, and highlight the common attractions that lie in the figures generally. By this two-part investigation, on the particular culture’s expectations and the general mythic framework she exists in, Persephone’s meaning in her native land may be uncovered and understood.