Current student Izzy speaks to a range of School of History alumni about the what they took from their time at Queen Mary, what they do now, and what advice they would give to anybody looking to study history with us.
Isabel Overton studied History at Queen Mary and now works as a Midweight writer for Artful Dog. Her responsibilities include producing articles and features for clients’ print and digital channels and writing and sub-editing content. “The town I grew up in and the school I went to really lacked diversity, so coming to Queen Mary and experiencing real multiculturalism and inclusivity was such a positive experience for me. Exposure to different ethnicities and religions helped me build my awareness and become a better person. At Queen Mary, you develop strong support networks, while feeling like London is your playground to explore.— Isabel Overton, BA History, 2016
Queen Mary felt like the natural fit for me. I was very fortunate to have visited the campus several times on school trips as well as attending the taster days. This connection continued during my studies in regards to fellow students; even though everyone had come from different backgrounds, I felt like we were all on the same wavelength. I built really great relationships with my lecturers and the office staff. On my undergraduate hand in day, I remember staff and students mingling until after hours at a champagne reception, it was brilliant! Overall, I found Queen Mary really down to earth. I now work for Almshouse Association— Jack Baldan, BA History, 2015, MA History, 2016
I studied History at Queen Mary. I chose to study at QM because they had a range of modules that weren’t the cliché History topics you learned at school (e.g. Britain, Germany, Russia). Even though they’re fine topics to learn, I was more interested in branching out from these. I went down a socio-cultural history path. Some examples of the modules I studied were: art history (contemporary and modern), film history (American, British and Japanese), terrorism, medicine and psychiatry in the 19th to 20th century, modern Caribbean, and even the history of video games, something I never thought I’d be studying. My tutors and lecturers for each module were engaging and supportive, and most importantly, passionate about their subject.— Vikka Santillan, BA History, 2019