Sarah (She/Her) is a PhD candidate at Brandeis University specializing in loyalty, community violence, and the repression of political dissent during the era of the American Revolution. ​ Her dissertation, “Policing the Revolution: Massachusetts Communities and The Committees of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety, 1773-1783” explores the Committees through the lens of early American carcerality. Exploring extra-legal reprisals, intimidation, incarceration, and property confiscation, this dissertation argues that the Committees employed an ever-expanding definition of loyalty as a method of social control, ensuring community compliance with the Revolutionary effort by repressing political dissent. Her work has been supported by the Massachusetts Historical Society / Society of the Cincinnati Fellowship, the Gilder Lehrman Short Term Fellowship, the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, and the Wellesley Mary McEwen Schimke Fellowship. She holds a Masters Degree in History from the University of Edinburgh and a BA from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. In 2021 she received the MHS Society of the Cincinnati and Gilder Lehrman Short Term Fellowships. You can follow Beth on Twitter: @phdinprogress17

Office 216

Discover how a graduate student’s temporary office space serves as a metaphor for their sense of unbelonging throughout their academic journey, and how they find solace in making the most of the temporary joys that come their way.

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How to Handle the Jump Straight from Undergrad to PhD 

Are you considering going straight from an undergraduate degree to a PhD, skipping the master’s? At 22 years old, Tess shares her experience of this and provides some valuable insights about how she prepared and applied for her PhD in Computing without doing a master’s degree.

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The Journey to Authenticity in Academia

‘If a PhD is to be an ordeal – and indeed, it is – then let it be an ordeal wherein you find meaning in something that is true to yourself’. This article explores the feelings of imposter syndrome and the pressures to follow academic trends at the start of your PhD journey, disconnecting you from your true interests. A translation project helped the author realise the value of embracing his authentic self and focusing on what truly resonates with him. By shifting to linguistics and translation studies, the author found fulfilment and meaning in his research.

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