Lucy Rogers, Hughes Hall

Degree: PhD
Course: English
Supervisor: Dr Ruth Abbott
Dissertation Title: Women and the Early Development of Cambridge English

Biographical Information

I completed a BA in English at University College London in 2018, then moved to Girton College, Cambridge for an MPhil in Modern and Contemporary Literature (Distinction), with a focus on Victorian literature. My MPhil dissertation was entitled: ‘Let’s Talk Business: Literary Depictions of Mid-Nineteenth-Century Businesswomen.’ Following this I spent two years working as the Schools Liaison and Outreach Officer at Newnham College, Cambridge, a role which involved organising and running a wide range of both online and in-person widening participation events.

I returned to academic study in October 2021, starting a PhD at Hughes Hall. My doctoral research is funded by a Jebb Studentship and Sarah Squire scholarship. Alongside my studies I am still involved with various different university outreach projects, which I am always happy to discuss. I have also been the Secretary for Hughes Hall Boat Club and was a co-convener of the Women and Worlds of Learning Conference, which took place in Oxford in April 2024.

Research Interests

In my doctoral research, I examine the involvement of women in the institutionalisation of English as an academic discipline at the University of Cambridge. The project tackles questions of professionalisation and disciplinarity, using a wide range of archival materials to analyse changes taking place in the first decades of the twentieth century.

My broader research interests include: nineteenth-century literature, especially New Woman fiction; textual scholarship; depictions of work and professionalisation; life writing/autobiography; history of education; museum studies; intellectual history; feminist theory; history of the book; history of information.

Selected Publications

Conference Papers

  • 'Thersites: An Early Twentieth Century Student Magazine', Women and Worlds of Learning Conference, University of Oxford (2024)
  • '(Im)Practical Criticism: Women and the early teaching of English Literature at the University of Cambridge', The Functions of Criticism Conference, University of Cambridge (2023)
  • ‘Eileen Power and the Idea of an Academic’, History of Education Society Annual Conference (2022)
  • ‘Paper Boats and Research Notes: Re-evaluating the autobiography of E.M.Butler’, Bearing Untold Stories Conference, Lancaster University (2022)
  • ‘Let’s Talk Business: Literary Representations of Businesswomen in mid-Nineteenth Century Britain’, Breaking Bounds Postgraduate Conference, University of Portsmouth (2019)

Publications