In 2021, SFU alumnus Emma Henderson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (double major in English and history and a certificate in Hellenic studies). She also received the Jennifer Prosser Wade and Family Annual Award in Scottish Studies, having completed a directed studies course with Scottish Studies Director Leith Davis on the cultural memory of Mary, Queen of Scots in 18th-century literature.

Professor Davis recently reconnected with Henderson on her return to Canada from Canterbury, Kent, England, where she just completed her Masters in Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS) at the University of Kent. Henderson shared her experience studying overseas, writing a thesis, and planning for the future.

1. What was it like studying overseas? Any especially interesting stories about adjusting to life in the United Kingdom?

I could tell you a lot of tales about my time in the UK, in particular ones that made me remember that I was in another country with its own sets of ways that I was unprepared for. I had been so excited for the academic experience that the everyday aspects of UK life were mind-boggling and their own challenge to face. For example, I got weird looks when I first ordered a coffee with cream and almost received whipping cream—coffee cream isn't a thing in the UK.

There were also the late-night visits to Canterbury Cathedral that I had with friends, and multiple instances where I forgot which side was the right side of the road when crossing the street, which made me very confused whenever I returned home and faced a similar issue. One very particular adjustment was learning and understanding the UK grading scheme. It was a real shocker as I remember getting my first paper back and freaking out at my grade. Then, I heard my classmates' excitement over their lower percentage grade, which made my panic turn to confusion. I kept a grade conversion chart for postgraduate studies in Canada and the UK on hand.

The landscape was a shock as well. Coming from North Vancouver, I am used to mountains and large bodies of water in my general vicinity. The lack of both in the beautiful but very landlocked and flat countryside of Kent and the occasional sounds of cows near my residence were a constant reminder that I was so far away from home and in a new space entirely.

Thankfully, I met and made a lot of amazing friends who helped me adjust to my new environment and were patient with all my questions about UK life. I was able to find a good pace of life in Canterbury and it slowly felt like home, though I still occasionally got lost.

2. Why did you choose to study at the University of Kent?

I chose to study at the University of Kent specifically for the Masters in Medieval and Early Modern Studies. SFU let me explore the fundamentals of what I enjoyed about academia, and I knew while I was doing a double major in English and history that I wanted to continue my studies after my undergraduate degree for the simple reason that I felt my academic journey was not over yet.

While exploring what I wanted to major in at SFU, I came to appreciate how literature and history could interact with one another. I saw how overlapping them could expand my understanding of each subject and provide another academic subject with a different perspective on a shared topic.

In pursuing my Hellenic studies certificate, I saw the diverse and varied interdisciplinary courses and subjects that were offered and touched on areas, such as the humanities, literature, history, archaeology, politics, and more. I also saw how diverse one area of research could be for the first time, being able to overlap fact and fiction—history and literature. This is something I attempted to do with my Research Centre for Scottish Studies directed studies project, for which I received the Jennifer Prosser Wade Award.

Because I saw how areas of study could be intertwined, I wanted to find an MA program where I could utilize both history and literature evenly into a program and dissertation. I was struggling to find something like that and was beginning to believe that I would have to choose one subject area to pursue over the other. That is until I came across the University of Kent’s Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies. I found something that meant I didn't have to choose one of my passions, but could actually engage with my areas of interest, and have the opportunity to learn and gain skills in other areas, such as Medieval Latin, paleography, reconstruction, archive work, and manuscript examination.

3. What was the focus of your dissertation?

My dissertation was titled, “Queer Virgins: The Imposed Perceptions of Female Virginity in Jacobean England and Drama.” I researched how female virginity was conveyed in the areas of society, medicine, and religion by male authorities in each area and how it was portrayed theatrically in a selection of dramatic works from William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. I argued using early modern medical, religious, and societal texts, that for a woman to be a virgin beyond a certain age in adolescence was unnatural—to be beyond a male deemed age of maturity was challenging God, nature, and reason. I argued that the male opinion controlled the narrative of the female body and its physical capabilities to restrict female independence and narrative over their health, desires, and adult lives.

I presented this imposed unnaturalness as queer, for the negative connotations attached to virginity that could be viewed as challenging gender norms, and therefore something to villainize and subsume into the “right and natural narrative” of male control sexually in matrimony and supported through multiple areas using different words to the same argument.

4. What are your future plans?

I would like to pursue a PhD. I was honestly quite tempted to jump into something immediately after my MA but had to stop myself. I realized that I needed to shift my priorities, so that when I did decide to pursue a PhD, I wasn’t chugging monster energy drinks daily and forgetting life outside of the library or my computer. So, I’m letting myself take some time to focus on my health and well-being, that way I can effectively pursue everything I want to do in my future.

5. Do you have any advice for students who would like to study overseas?

I would give this advice to anyone considering not only studying abroad, but also to those moving a substantial distance from home. No matter the location or distance you are going, it is a big step outside your familiar periphery. It will be hard, it will be scary, and you may doubt yourself, and that is okay because an experience like this will challenge you in so many ways. It is a challenge that will also have moments of excitement, opportunities for new discoveries and experiences that may not have existed previously to you. The fears are there, but the rewards for getting the courage to take that step away from your familiar path and outside everything you know are astronomical.

I became inspired when I had the opportunity to attend the 2019 Hellenic Studies Field School. The experience had me learning far beyond SFU Burnaby and led me to further engage my passions of history and literature together. There's no one right way to begin any opportunity to study away from home, whether abroad or out of your city or province. All you need is the courage to let yourself see beyond your current scope. To seek out what you want and engage in such an experience and face the joy and the moments of fear in doing so.