Welcome from the editors.
In an academic setting, we’re encouraged to have independent ideas. Some of those ideas go into module essays, or go further into dissertations of some kind. Some even make their way into publications.
However, we’re left with this awkward space between idea and materialisation: you can’t possibly write essay after essay after essay as a container for your ideas. Where can they go? Can there be a holding space, a shared space, where we can feel encouraged, proud, and satisfied that an idea is somehow out there, without the pressure of turning it into something publishable? To not turn it into something sparkling and perfect? Perfectionism and poor self esteem is rife within academia, let alone the normalisation of it for those still students, or those who are unaffiliated with an institution.
These issues are fuelled by the pressure to use your academic skills and knowledge to make something specifically academic in nature: journal article, chapter, university blog-post. All too often, university suggests to students that there are a limited number of viable ways to present historical thoughts and theses. In an attempt to conform to these structures, many students find it difficult to locate their own voice in their work. For example, maybe your mind supplied a perfectly legitimate parallel between a historical phenomenon and a scene in an animated Disney film, but the pressures and seriousness of academia scared you out of expanding on your observations.
Our site is here to be a safe space where you can explore your ideas; where passion, excitement, and innovation are virtues, and not something to be tamped down on in favour of academic fervour.
Academic ideas and opinions are still valid without having to be sculpted into tutor-markable, reviewer-scrutable pieces. Sometimes, there’s a bursting need to write about presentation of Viking-Age death rituals in films, or the shape of women’s headdresses in 13th century France, without the expectation that it has to go beyond the initial idea or comment. There can be self-satisfaction at the materialisation of an idea, pride even. Some ideas can just be as they are.
First and foremost, we are here for you! We hope this site will grow into a community where people can make it what they need it to be, whether that's a training ground for research, a space to vent about how much you love Bede, or a place to learn something new everyday and make new friends. We want to create a supportive space where people can produce their ideas in whatever format or style suits them best, a space where people can talk about interests without pressure of academic scrutiny, or pressure that the idea can be turned into something academic in format.
On that note, welcome to our pages. We hope to hear from you soon!
September 13, 2019