Help Lucy Afford Her Masters At KCL
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hi, i'm lucy! i am currently studying for my undergrad at warwick and have an offer to study my masters in international political economy at kings college london. i am struggling to be able to afford the fees- as they are more than the student finance loan- and then london living expenses on top! i have worked really hard throughout my entire degree- i was awarded research funding for my project nowt as queer as folk- about queer women and rural space which i have presented at numerous conferences! i also will be doing an internship with the civil service this summer!
i need the funds mostly for the cost of living in london and for a shortfall of 2000 between the maximum student loan (11,000) and my degree costs (13,000) the postgrad funding system is a classist and unfair system and i feel particuarly anxious and disadvantaged being autistic knowing how hard it will be to adjust to london anyway- and balance working long hours alongside studying!
the itemised costs are as such
2,000= cover the shortfall for my fees
the rest of the money= towards my living costs in london- to support me to be as financially independent as possible and avoid autistic burnout from overwork so towards things such as rent, food, and study costs!
i hope to eventually work in social research, policy and then eventually do a phd- so this masters is really important. and i am soon to be graduating with a first in my undergrad and a lot of extra work outside my degree! i have done everything i am supposed to do- but i can't magic money out of a failing system!
Research interests
I have a firmly established desire to understand, represent, and research the realities and perspectives of marginalised people. My desire to study this has been realised through an introduction to my scholarship of the framework and legacy of feminist feminist political economy- and by extension queer political economy within this. In my first year of undergraduate at Warwick- I secured funding for my project on queer women and rural space- through the undergraduate research support scheme. Under the supervision of Dr Cath Lambert my project sought to represent the qualitative data and reality of over 100 queer women from/in/ with experiences of rural space. My research was connected to a historical and archival relationship to Glasgow Women’s Library and theoretical exploration of literature on the topic. From my research- I have presented it at international conferences, ranging from ICUR, to national forums (BCUR-2021). Within this- my research has also been written and submitted to a peer reviewed undergraduate journal- and my work has been accepted as part of queer/disrupt- a postgraduate forum for queer research- alongside inclusion in the Irish gender and sexualities symposium. All of this experience- has strengthened not only my research which has evolved throughout interrogation from my academic peers but also encouraged my determinism to continue within research. I am interested broadly in queer and feminist theory, its thinkers and legacy. I have always indebted my research- from undertaking an EPQ- to undergraduate research, and culminating in a forthcoming dissertation to feminist and queer research. Ranging from perspectives of queer and feminism theory and research in literature, to pop culture, to analysing policy, feminist perspective of economics and the market, and undertaking my own qualitative research- I am passionate about studying and representing the lives, histories, and nuances of women and particularly queer women.
Awards and funding
Undergraduate Research Support Scheme Recipient (2019)
Undergraduate Research Support Scheme Bursary £1000 (2019)
Research experience
Undergraduate research support scheme, University of Warwick, on ‘understanding the relationship between queer women and rural space’ (2019)
This research seeks to re-examine and contest normative discourses of queer women and rural spaces. It understands queerness, and lesbianism as historically contested and situated, and therefore all space as that of being culturally imagined. Much of existing literature has sought to further metronormative narratives that propose rurality as a space of solely homophobia and isolation. In doing so, they locate the urban as a trajectory towards freedom and community. I seek to negate that urban space is a necessary to invoke and perform queerness. My research is based on the culmination of one hundred surveys undertaken by queer women, an in-depth analysis of an example of ‘queer rural space’ (Hebden bridge) and archival research completed at Glasgow Women’s Library. In undertaking a broad, varied research my paper therefore demonstrates the diverse realities of queer women’s lives in rural spaces. I also uncover how queer, rural women have historically found themselves and one another. This is with lesbian newspapers, phone-banks, zine culture, separatist communes, and the contemporary relationship between queer women and the internet.
What my research has taught me
Undertook qualitative research understanding the historic and continued experiences of queer women in rural space with over 100 survey responses
Worked in ‘Glasgow Women’s Library’ archive- documenting material, and gathering evidence to understand how queer women communicated with each other, and subcultural evidence (e.g. feminism, riot grrl) and found important phenomena (e.g. use/rise of independent publishing, and use of queer phone lines).
Used case study of ‘Hebden Bridge’ and interview with artist Debbie Sharp on queer women’s relationship to Hebden Bridge (known as lesbian capital of the U.K) to link to greater ideas of queer spatiality, and gentrification.
Initiated a literature review of relevant work in field, and began theoretical inquiry to support framework.
Co-researcher on ‘We love bread and we love butter, but most of all we love each other: exploring food-as-care as a queer world-making endeavour’ with Ellie Walton, an undergraduate dissertation at University of Goldsmiths (2020)
• My work contributed to a broader theoretical framework of food, queerness and care. This work is situated as a chapter and focus of the dissertation. Ellie discusses her co-researcher’s generous offerings, drawing out three vital, and inherently interrelated, thematic areas of concern. Chapter 4 of her work makes conclusive moves to synthesise the argument maintained throughout this dissertation. The thesis ends with a final response to the questions posed, considering the enumerate possibilities for framing the queer kitchen as a site of solace, a site of comfort, respite, resilience and care.
What being a co-researcher taught me
Wrote 1500 words on my own experience of my relationship to queerness and food, using the thought of Judith Butler and tracing history to popular culture such as the film ‘moonlight’ and ‘gods own country’.
Taught me the importance of collaborative research with other academics
My work was used as central framework for one of Ellie’s chapter. For example, “‘Queerness is a legacy inherited’, Lucy says. Like a recipe book handed down from generation to generation, spattered and soiled where sauces overspill from their stovetop homes; fingers, dough-coated, mark page corners with floury residue; olive oil comes alive with heat, breathing, jumping sideways with spring in its step, singing its spitting sizzling song, leaping from pan to page, leaving in its wake oleaginous stains. This section takes Lucy’s assertions as its primary focus; I am aware that it is unconventional for an analysis of research findings to first tend to the specificities of one co- researcher’s responses, but in this instance I feel it necessary. I was always aware of the possibility of being taken on queer The richness of her response warrants a section of its own. Her words—incisive, open and revelatory—provide a locus from which the queer trajectories of others’ responses can be mapped, their articulations more readily merged. Through alimentary encounters with queer heritage and history, possibilities for the sustenance of Lucy’s own queer life emerge.” Ellie Walton, 2020.
Undergraduate dissertation (provisional title) ‘Too poor to be gay’ Understanding the political economy of queerness. The university of Warwick (forthcoming 2021)
• My forthcoming dissertation seeks to bridge the disciplines of queer theory, and political economy to not only queer political economy- but in some way assert a queer political economy. My work follows on from previous research on queer women and rural space- inspired by my URSS research and seeks to understand how our understanding of queerness has been assimilated into neoliberal identity building- which situates queerness through capitalist accumulation- and results in gentrification, and a consumerist- un-radial assimilation of queerness. My work seeks to resist the conceptualisation of queerness through spatial, and often urban identity building- and follows a marxist framework of political economy in asserting the necessity of building towards a gay communism.
What my research will teach me
I seek to conduct a throughout literature review of gay radical texts, political economy, and of classic queer theory texts such as a history of sexuality by Foucault. In doing this, I aim to represent the varied nature and bridge together the discipline of queer theory and political economy.
My methodology will use qualitative data research and subsequent data analysis.
My aim in this dissertation is to engage with more participatory methods of research and its collection- aiming to conduct in-depth interviews
Other relevant experience
Warwick editor for earthrise
I am the editor for setting up a Warwick branch of earthrise- which is the first student ran environmental journal. Within this role it means liaising with established environmental activism on campus to encourage submissions into the journal. I have also written work for the journal myself- such as fiction and for an interview with Dr Jason Moore. This role has established key communication skills for me and enables me to commit to key interests of mine such as eco-socialism and environmentalism. I am passionate about the intersection between politics and the climate crisis and in encouraging forms of art, writing, and interviews to address this.
Decolonise advocate for Warwick SU
Working as an advocate for the decolonise project within Warwick student union. I was placed in the Warwick medical department and liaised with existing structures, as well as undertook my own research to look at how the medical school can decolonise their curriculum, and improve patient outcomes for people of colour.
Publicity officer for friend of Palestine
My role within this organisation is to be the public face of our organising and campaigning. A huge part of my job is responding to emails and queries- making me proficient at communicating and abiding by our constitution. I also dedicate a lot of time to controlling and producing social media content. I write posts, make leaflets, posters and send emails for our events and encourage discourse around Palestinian rights. For example, recently I have done an informative thread on our Twitter account addressing the use of apartheid comparisons in Israel and looking at the relationship between Palestinians and south Africans. To do this, it takes a lot of research and so- I feel very confident in my ability to research and accurately inform others- and be able to write about something I feel incredibly passionate about. This role is hugely linked to broader activism and concerns I have. Within this role- I have also been a part of organising an event with Ilan Pappe who visited Warwick and gave a talk about settler-colonialism and Israel.
Regional delegate for Yorkshire at momentum conference
I was elected as regional delegate for Yorkshire and the Humber for Momentum- this meant that I travelled to the executive conference held in Birmingham and represented and voted on issues affecting people who had voted for me- as well as wider issues. It gave me a lot of confidence to be in left spaces and I had to read a lot of briefings- and contribute to motions and deal with legislation and in bringing together a constitution. It gave me a lot of insight into how policy is implemented in real life and the powerful relationship that activists can hold.
Production assistant at Castaway Theatre
I volunteered at Castaway theatre- which is a community-based organisation that specialises in making the arts and theatre in particular more accessible and centred around disabled people. This job was incredibly important because it enabled me to work with people often marginalised from art and culture. I think it was also important because a huge interest of mine is disability rights and I think it was important to see the impact of austerity on places such as this and make a difference in real life and in tangible terms to the outcome and lives of disabled people. I got to help produce the play- as well as supporting the needs and access of the participants.
here is a youtube link of some of my research! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfBNQEYCU78&t=2103s
i need the funds mostly for the cost of living in london and for a shortfall of 2000 between the maximum student loan (11,000) and my degree costs (13,000) the postgrad funding system is a classist and unfair system and i feel particuarly anxious and disadvantaged being autistic knowing how hard it will be to adjust to london anyway- and balance working long hours alongside studying!
the itemised costs are as such
2,000= cover the shortfall for my fees
the rest of the money= towards my living costs in london- to support me to be as financially independent as possible and avoid autistic burnout from overwork so towards things such as rent, food, and study costs!
i hope to eventually work in social research, policy and then eventually do a phd- so this masters is really important. and i am soon to be graduating with a first in my undergrad and a lot of extra work outside my degree! i have done everything i am supposed to do- but i can't magic money out of a failing system!
Research interests
I have a firmly established desire to understand, represent, and research the realities and perspectives of marginalised people. My desire to study this has been realised through an introduction to my scholarship of the framework and legacy of feminist feminist political economy- and by extension queer political economy within this. In my first year of undergraduate at Warwick- I secured funding for my project on queer women and rural space- through the undergraduate research support scheme. Under the supervision of Dr Cath Lambert my project sought to represent the qualitative data and reality of over 100 queer women from/in/ with experiences of rural space. My research was connected to a historical and archival relationship to Glasgow Women’s Library and theoretical exploration of literature on the topic. From my research- I have presented it at international conferences, ranging from ICUR, to national forums (BCUR-2021). Within this- my research has also been written and submitted to a peer reviewed undergraduate journal- and my work has been accepted as part of queer/disrupt- a postgraduate forum for queer research- alongside inclusion in the Irish gender and sexualities symposium. All of this experience- has strengthened not only my research which has evolved throughout interrogation from my academic peers but also encouraged my determinism to continue within research. I am interested broadly in queer and feminist theory, its thinkers and legacy. I have always indebted my research- from undertaking an EPQ- to undergraduate research, and culminating in a forthcoming dissertation to feminist and queer research. Ranging from perspectives of queer and feminism theory and research in literature, to pop culture, to analysing policy, feminist perspective of economics and the market, and undertaking my own qualitative research- I am passionate about studying and representing the lives, histories, and nuances of women and particularly queer women.
Awards and funding
Undergraduate Research Support Scheme Recipient (2019)
Undergraduate Research Support Scheme Bursary £1000 (2019)
Research experience
Undergraduate research support scheme, University of Warwick, on ‘understanding the relationship between queer women and rural space’ (2019)
This research seeks to re-examine and contest normative discourses of queer women and rural spaces. It understands queerness, and lesbianism as historically contested and situated, and therefore all space as that of being culturally imagined. Much of existing literature has sought to further metronormative narratives that propose rurality as a space of solely homophobia and isolation. In doing so, they locate the urban as a trajectory towards freedom and community. I seek to negate that urban space is a necessary to invoke and perform queerness. My research is based on the culmination of one hundred surveys undertaken by queer women, an in-depth analysis of an example of ‘queer rural space’ (Hebden bridge) and archival research completed at Glasgow Women’s Library. In undertaking a broad, varied research my paper therefore demonstrates the diverse realities of queer women’s lives in rural spaces. I also uncover how queer, rural women have historically found themselves and one another. This is with lesbian newspapers, phone-banks, zine culture, separatist communes, and the contemporary relationship between queer women and the internet.
What my research has taught me
Undertook qualitative research understanding the historic and continued experiences of queer women in rural space with over 100 survey responses
Worked in ‘Glasgow Women’s Library’ archive- documenting material, and gathering evidence to understand how queer women communicated with each other, and subcultural evidence (e.g. feminism, riot grrl) and found important phenomena (e.g. use/rise of independent publishing, and use of queer phone lines).
Used case study of ‘Hebden Bridge’ and interview with artist Debbie Sharp on queer women’s relationship to Hebden Bridge (known as lesbian capital of the U.K) to link to greater ideas of queer spatiality, and gentrification.
Initiated a literature review of relevant work in field, and began theoretical inquiry to support framework.
Co-researcher on ‘We love bread and we love butter, but most of all we love each other: exploring food-as-care as a queer world-making endeavour’ with Ellie Walton, an undergraduate dissertation at University of Goldsmiths (2020)
• My work contributed to a broader theoretical framework of food, queerness and care. This work is situated as a chapter and focus of the dissertation. Ellie discusses her co-researcher’s generous offerings, drawing out three vital, and inherently interrelated, thematic areas of concern. Chapter 4 of her work makes conclusive moves to synthesise the argument maintained throughout this dissertation. The thesis ends with a final response to the questions posed, considering the enumerate possibilities for framing the queer kitchen as a site of solace, a site of comfort, respite, resilience and care.
What being a co-researcher taught me
Wrote 1500 words on my own experience of my relationship to queerness and food, using the thought of Judith Butler and tracing history to popular culture such as the film ‘moonlight’ and ‘gods own country’.
Taught me the importance of collaborative research with other academics
My work was used as central framework for one of Ellie’s chapter. For example, “‘Queerness is a legacy inherited’, Lucy says. Like a recipe book handed down from generation to generation, spattered and soiled where sauces overspill from their stovetop homes; fingers, dough-coated, mark page corners with floury residue; olive oil comes alive with heat, breathing, jumping sideways with spring in its step, singing its spitting sizzling song, leaping from pan to page, leaving in its wake oleaginous stains. This section takes Lucy’s assertions as its primary focus; I am aware that it is unconventional for an analysis of research findings to first tend to the specificities of one co- researcher’s responses, but in this instance I feel it necessary. I was always aware of the possibility of being taken on queer The richness of her response warrants a section of its own. Her words—incisive, open and revelatory—provide a locus from which the queer trajectories of others’ responses can be mapped, their articulations more readily merged. Through alimentary encounters with queer heritage and history, possibilities for the sustenance of Lucy’s own queer life emerge.” Ellie Walton, 2020.
Undergraduate dissertation (provisional title) ‘Too poor to be gay’ Understanding the political economy of queerness. The university of Warwick (forthcoming 2021)
• My forthcoming dissertation seeks to bridge the disciplines of queer theory, and political economy to not only queer political economy- but in some way assert a queer political economy. My work follows on from previous research on queer women and rural space- inspired by my URSS research and seeks to understand how our understanding of queerness has been assimilated into neoliberal identity building- which situates queerness through capitalist accumulation- and results in gentrification, and a consumerist- un-radial assimilation of queerness. My work seeks to resist the conceptualisation of queerness through spatial, and often urban identity building- and follows a marxist framework of political economy in asserting the necessity of building towards a gay communism.
What my research will teach me
I seek to conduct a throughout literature review of gay radical texts, political economy, and of classic queer theory texts such as a history of sexuality by Foucault. In doing this, I aim to represent the varied nature and bridge together the discipline of queer theory and political economy.
My methodology will use qualitative data research and subsequent data analysis.
My aim in this dissertation is to engage with more participatory methods of research and its collection- aiming to conduct in-depth interviews
Other relevant experience
Warwick editor for earthrise
I am the editor for setting up a Warwick branch of earthrise- which is the first student ran environmental journal. Within this role it means liaising with established environmental activism on campus to encourage submissions into the journal. I have also written work for the journal myself- such as fiction and for an interview with Dr Jason Moore. This role has established key communication skills for me and enables me to commit to key interests of mine such as eco-socialism and environmentalism. I am passionate about the intersection between politics and the climate crisis and in encouraging forms of art, writing, and interviews to address this.
Decolonise advocate for Warwick SU
Working as an advocate for the decolonise project within Warwick student union. I was placed in the Warwick medical department and liaised with existing structures, as well as undertook my own research to look at how the medical school can decolonise their curriculum, and improve patient outcomes for people of colour.
Publicity officer for friend of Palestine
My role within this organisation is to be the public face of our organising and campaigning. A huge part of my job is responding to emails and queries- making me proficient at communicating and abiding by our constitution. I also dedicate a lot of time to controlling and producing social media content. I write posts, make leaflets, posters and send emails for our events and encourage discourse around Palestinian rights. For example, recently I have done an informative thread on our Twitter account addressing the use of apartheid comparisons in Israel and looking at the relationship between Palestinians and south Africans. To do this, it takes a lot of research and so- I feel very confident in my ability to research and accurately inform others- and be able to write about something I feel incredibly passionate about. This role is hugely linked to broader activism and concerns I have. Within this role- I have also been a part of organising an event with Ilan Pappe who visited Warwick and gave a talk about settler-colonialism and Israel.
Regional delegate for Yorkshire at momentum conference
I was elected as regional delegate for Yorkshire and the Humber for Momentum- this meant that I travelled to the executive conference held in Birmingham and represented and voted on issues affecting people who had voted for me- as well as wider issues. It gave me a lot of confidence to be in left spaces and I had to read a lot of briefings- and contribute to motions and deal with legislation and in bringing together a constitution. It gave me a lot of insight into how policy is implemented in real life and the powerful relationship that activists can hold.
Production assistant at Castaway Theatre
I volunteered at Castaway theatre- which is a community-based organisation that specialises in making the arts and theatre in particular more accessible and centred around disabled people. This job was incredibly important because it enabled me to work with people often marginalised from art and culture. I think it was also important because a huge interest of mine is disability rights and I think it was important to see the impact of austerity on places such as this and make a difference in real life and in tangible terms to the outcome and lives of disabled people. I got to help produce the play- as well as supporting the needs and access of the participants.
here is a youtube link of some of my research! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfBNQEYCU78&t=2103s
Organizer
Lucy Mooring
Organizer
England