Heather Brown is a current postgraduate student in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University. Heather will be a regular contributor to the Contemporary Histories Research Group website, providing news, updates and anecdotes about her PhD candidature:

“As 2015 draws to a close, I am getting towards the end of the first year of a full-time PhD. I am amazed at how quickly the time has gone, and how much I have learnt in such a short period of time. After months of reading, note-taking, and gradually pulling my argument together, I am beginning the exciting task of constructing my thesis outline and drafting my first chapter for the colloquium in March 2016.

This week I received a provisional acceptance (pending revisions) from the Journal of Gender Studies for my first article: ‘Fictional Power and Control and the Reality of Abusive Behaviour’. Being only nine months into my candidature, this is particularly heartening. It confirms the gap in existing research, and shows me that some of the ideas that I will be using in my thesis are worthy of further scholarly discussion. Having the support of a peer-reviewed journal even at this provisional stage will also be a help going into the Colloquium, where I will have to make a case for applying slightly unconventional theories to my literary analysis. I am ready to tackle this next stage with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and belief in my research!”