PhD student strives to inspire authors

Rita Bates, International PhD student at the University of Gloucestershire.

“I thought being an international student who resides in Toronto, Canada, attending school at the University of Gloucestershire online would have its obstacles, but the administrative teams, IT and Library Services, and my instructors have made realising my dream extremely manageable.

The university has provided the flexibility in both attendance online and arts-based research methods to continue my education. I graduated with a Master of Arts in Creative and Critical Writing in 2019, at age 50. I enjoyed my experience so much and felt I still had more to contribute. I applied to the PhD Literary and Critical Studies program starting February 2020. I am currently in my second year performing my research using Practice-led methodology, otherwise known as research through art.

My goal is to report a new instrument to investigate and explore a character’s emotions and motivations while crafting the revisions for my manuscript. By understanding a character’s personality from a psychological standpoint, we can transform characters from the page to resonate with readers psychologically. My research, if successful, will be used by creative writers, students and educators of creative writing to understand how to build better characters.

The comradery I feel among my instructors, colleagues and fellow students, whether online or at the university has given me the support and confidence to present my research at conferences as an attendee and presenter, and to lecture undergrads about Practice-led methodology.

The University of Gloucestershire has proven to me that age and location are not factors that contribute to whether you will succeed at achieving your goal to pursue higher education. Support and tools are provided to ensure that you can realize your goals. The future is limitless.”