More PhD Scholarships
“I could not thank Eleanor and David enough for their legacy to Aberystwyth University. Without their generosity there would have been no way I could have funded my research. Despite there being a great deal of uncertainty in the future of Higher Education and research, the support of people such as Eleanor and David has a significant impact in ensuring that students like me can have a chance to pursue our aspirations.”
Keziah is in her second year of her PhD within the History department.
Having studied for her BA and MA at Aberystwyth, Keziah knew she wanted to continue her academic research further and embark upon a PhD.
Due to high competition, and limited options for funding, Keziah, as she puts it, “started to give up on the PhD dream.”
Keziah reached the end of her MA, uncertain of her future career options, hoping that funding would become available for her to continue her PhD at Aberystwyth University.
At the final hour, thanks to the Eleanor and David James Bequest, Keziah secured a PhD scholarshipat the University.
In their legacy, David and Eleanor James bestowed the university with PhD Scholarships, to allow more promising, committed students to have further access to postgraduate PhD study.
Keziah’s PhD explores the social history of Cardiganshire through sixteenth- and seventeenth-century legal documents, to build a larger contextualised picture of Cardiganshire through its criminal and domestic Great Session legal documents.
There has been analysis and research of other counties in Wales, but not yet Cardiganshire: “I hope to add to the wider scale of academic research that has been largely overlooked and has not yet been digitised for future generations”, Keziah explains.
“It would be great to reach a point where these findings can be mapped across Wales to notice trends and patterns of how we lived, and are living, in our communities and societies”.
Eventually, Keziah's research will be more accessible to students, and communities, who have an interest in the heritage of Wales.Keziah liaises with the National Library of Wales to ensure that her research is used more widely.
Keziah is only too aware that all this is possible thanks to the generosity of Eleanor and David James:
“I could not thank Eleanor and David enough for their legacy to Aberystwyth University. Without their generosity there would have been no way I could have funded my research.
Despite there being a great deal of uncertainty in the future of Higher Education and research, the support of people such as Eleanor and David has a significant impact in ensuring that students like me can have a chance to pursue our aspirations.”
Keziah hopes to continue her career in academia, in both teaching and research once her PhD is complete.