Student profile: Carinya

PhD candidate at the School of Arts, Media and Communication, funded by a University BAME Graduate Teaching Assistantship

Please tell us about your journey to doing a PhD

I returned to studying after a long gap, during which time I worked first as a freelance journalist and, later, as a creative-writing facilitator/lead artist on various community projects. Doing a Masters in Creative Writing & Education at Goldsmiths was a very different experience to my undergraduate degree, and I really enjoyed being able to pursue my own areas of interest and have a more collaborative relationship with my peers and tutors. By this point I had a few friends who had completed a PhD and for the first time I started considering this as a viable next step.

Tell us about your PhD project

In my research, I examine representations of mixed-race identity in Guyanese literature, looking not only at how mixed characters are presented, but the multiple ways in which racial stereotypes and categories are challenged by the authors under focus. By reading selected works through a mixed lens, I explore how mixedness is articulated and asserted through form, language, and intersections with other fluid identities, such as gender, sexuality and class. In focusing on Guyana, with its diverse, multi-generationally mixed population, I aim to demonstrate the richness and complexities of mixedness, and to both highlight and contribute to Caribbean scholarship within the growing field of Critical Mixed Race Studies. The image of Guyana’s iconic Kaieteur Falls represents this fluidity and the rich, complex confluences of race and ethnicity in Guyana, which is known as ‘the land of many waters’.

What advice would you give to people thinking about applying for a PhD?

Be realistic about what you can manage. If you cannot afford to fund yourself, look for funded opportunities. If you want to continue working, look into doing a part-time PhD. Take your time to find suitable PhD supervisors who are excited by your ideas, will help you strengthen your research proposal, and understand your goals. It took me about three applications, plus several months of writing and editing my proposal, to secure a PhD scholarship, so allow plenty of time.