Beyond the Books

An LLC podcast that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at research and the people who make it happen. Researched, curated, edited and presented by PhD students Emma Aviet (2021) and Ellen Davis-Walker (2020).

Series 2 - 2021

Host - Emma Aviet

"During my time as an undergraduate, I often found myself really fascinated by and yet really afraid of academics. Although I had many questions for them, I was often too scared to speak up, thinking I’d be out of my depth. When I came to the University of Edinburgh, I realised how much these sorts of conversations can and should be encouraged.

I finally felt comfortable having real discussions not only about research, but about academia. I want this podcast to be a place where people can see what some of these conversations look like so that they feel encouraged to go out and have their own."

Emma is a PhD candidate in English Literature

Meet your host

Meet Emma Aviet, the host of Beyond the Books - Series 2. In this minisode, Emma tells us how she left Silicon Valley for student life in Edinburgh (firstly to do an MSc, latterly a PhD in literature), why she applied to be our host, and what she hopes you'll take away from Beyond the Books. 

Episode 1

In this first episode of Beyond the Books - Series 2, Emma Aviet talks to Wilson McLeod, Professor of Gaelic in our department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, and recent recipient of a Saltire Society Fletcher of Saltoun Award, about diversity, technology and more.

Read our interview with Wilson about his Fletcher of Saltoun Award

Episode 2

In this episode, Emma Aviet talks to Anna Kemball, a fourth year PhD candidate in English Literature. Positioned within the Medical Humanities, Anna’s research focuses on a range of indigenous writers across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.

Episode 3

In this episode, Emma talks to Dr Youngmi Kim, Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies and Director of the Centre for Korean Studies. They discuss Youngmi's personal journey to becoming an academic and her research on the rise of polarization, inequality and political contention in South Korea. 

Episode 4

In this episode, Emma talks to talks to Dr Isabel Seguí, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies. Together they discuss the fascinating research Isabel is conducting on Women’s Nonfiction Filmmaking in Peru, as well as her journey into academia and to securing a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship for 2020-2023.

Series 1 - 2020

Host - Ellen Davis-Walker

"I never thought I’d end up studying in Edinburgh, let alone doing a PhD. When I started, it struck me that a lot of people had a similar story. We all come to research for different reasons, and in a myriad of different ways.

Every episode we sit down with a new guest to find out more about their academic journey, and how their research has changed their view of the world. When we move beyond the books, what do we have in common, and what can we learn in the process?"

Ellen is a PhD candidate in French and Francophone Studies

Trailer

Listen to our trailer for Beyond the Books, where host Ellen Davis-Walker introduces the podcast and explains what it's about, who she talks to in the first series (2020), and why she got involved.

Episode 1

In this first episode of Beyond the Books, Ellen sits down with Rachel Chung, a third year PhD candidate in English Literature, to talk about Rachel's journey from Applied Maths graduate with a masters in narrative medicine, to her current research on gender, violence, and Shakespeare (especially as performed by all-women casts).

Read the transcript of Beyond the Books Episode 1 (595.09 KB Word)

Find out more about Rachel's research

Episode 2

In this second episode of Beyond the Books, recorded remotely during lockdown, Ellen talks to David Farrier, a researcher in Environmental Humanities (and Senior Lecturer in English Literature) whose latest book Footprints: in Search of Future Fossils explores what traces of present societies will persist in the deep future. David’s episode is subtitled.

Read our interview with David about Footprints: in Search of Future Fossils

Episode 3

Also recorded remotely during lockdown, this third episode of Beyond the Books features Ellen in conversation with Katie Hawthorne, a final year PhD student in European Theatre and German at LLC and freelance writer and reviewer for The Guardian, The Skinny, and The Stage among others. Katie’s thesis is a Comparative Study of Scottish and German Theatres and their Audiences in a Digital Age and is rapidly evolving to take into account changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The episode is subtitled.

Episode 4

Ellen's fourth and final episode of Beyond the Books, recorded remotely during lockdown, features Peter Dayan, Professor of Word and Music Studies and Head of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Ahead of the launch of our new MSc in Intermediality: Literature, Film and the Arts in Dialogue, the conversation centres on Peter's book 'The Music of Dada: A Lesson in Intermediality for our Times', which won the 2020 R. Gapper Book Prize. The episode is subtitled.

Acknowledgements

With special thanks to John Glendinning (LLC) for additional technical support and En-Chi Liu (Development and Alumni) for advice. Our logo was designed by Ann Harrison (Digital Innovation Team, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences). The theme music is taken from the track ‘ThunderBird’ by ‘Oyy’, hosted by Epidemic Sound.

Related links

Read our interview with Ellen Davis-Walker

Find out more about PhD study in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC)