Ms HollyGale Millette
Nationality: Usa
Year: 2003
Subject Area: Arts and Humanities
My award was given to assist me in my Doctoral endeavours, and over the course of the award my field of interest altered, refocused and finally settled. Initially, the committee were told of my general interest in social geography and comparative cultural studies in the local nineteenth century popular culture networks of London’s East End and Manhattan’s Bowery district. My more refined and academic centred writing focuses on the use of national identity as a brokerage tool in the exchange of popular culture in four instances of late nineteenth century exchanged cultural material and the playing out of perceived and performed national identities in this exchange. It is within these distinctions that I have and continue to propose a new dialogue of cultural history in which performances and performed histories might be re-considered. This dialogue, in turn, has much to say regarding both turn-of-the-century transatlantic history and transatlantic economics and socio-political power formations.
Since my tenure as a Wingate Scholar, I have completed a draft of my PhD document and my immediate future plans are to set out and stick to a rigorous writing schedule during this, my write up year. Conferences and paper writing figure prominently in my work now as I am jockeying for a permanent position in the academe. My field of research and interest encompasses Trans-Atlantic popular culture and entertainments between 1850 and 1950 and the performance of national culture for profit and performed national identity. Equally, I have expertise and experience in American & British Theatre, History and Cultural Studies; 19th – 20th century Transatlantic History and Relations; Performance & Cultural Theory, and all aspects of Practical Performance Study. I have lectured and taught on these subjects, most recently as a visiting lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, and expect more work to follow at similar academies.
Currently, I am looking to work for a year in industry to fill lacunae in my curriculum vitae after which I will move steadily and as quickly as opportunity will allow into the cultural policy making sector with an especial interest on think-tanks and centres immediately attached to and integrated in the academe and interested in developing and integrating cultural policies. As ever, I believe the future for Cultural Historians lies in practice and in the practical application of their expertise and research. To this end I have several practice based projects in the works: one significant URL projection involving cultural mapping that is planned and seeking funding, a long-term and large scale performance project integrating local East End schools with London Research Centres and a prominent Youth Theatre is also planned, and I am looking forward to developing some of my research into performance practice.