香港六合彩中特网

Hi Jermaine - huge congratulations on this prestigious, national prize. We are very proud!

JC:聽Thank you! My interest in nineteenth-century American history - and my entry into the BrANCH Harriet Tubman Prize competition - owes to a brilliant seminar led by Dr Jane Dinwoodie, called 'The Disunited States: Contested Visions of America, 1775-1860'. For me, this seminar provoked a thoughtful and comprehensive recalibration of 'traditional' American history, by devising a focus on the alternate imaginings of the new nation by communities side-lined by the Anglo-American master narrative.

Can you tell us a little more about your winning essay?

JC: The coursework essay that I wrote was titled, 鈥樷�楾he word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife鈥� (Defence of Marriage Act, 1996). Was this statement true in the United States before 1860?鈥� 聽

What was important to me in this essay was to place a focus not only on the character of marital unions permitted within the law, but the sorts of unions which were able to exist outside the law. I was able to explore the diversity of public and private lifestyles experienced by non-conforming individuals; narratives usually left untouched by accounts that hold a sole focus on the letter of the law. In particular, I was quite touched by how some of these extra-legal unions were permitted to exist openly. This included the publicly tolerated 鈥榤arriage鈥� of two women, Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake. Homosexual unions, interracial unions, and 鈥榝emale husbands鈥�, to name but a few - these were the sorts of extra-legal and non-conforming unions that I came across while conducting research for this essay - images and concepts which almost never come to mind when we picture nineteenth-century American society!

As you come into your third year at 香港六合彩中特网, what advice would you give to students in their first and second years聽or anyone considering studying history at 香港六合彩中特网?聽

JC: Given the sheer diversity of modules and specialisms that the department has to offer, I would recommend taking advantage of that by exploring new historical areas. You might聽surprise yourself with what you find interesting. Though challenging, I think that taking in more diverse perspectives and utilising more varied source material makes you a better thinker and a better writer overall. I can't wait for my final year.

Thank you, Jermaine. Well done again!

*香港六合彩中特网 History students have now won the prize for three years running!

Image credit: Harriet Tubman Mural, Cambridge MA, US (Free to use via Kit Morris, Unsplash)