As someone who’s grown up (like many of you, I’m sure) with literature as my ‘found family,’ a way for me to connect with others while staying safely holed up in my room, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this love of literature could be transformed into something more. Kate Hannah’s lecture had me thinking more seriously about the connections between stories that resonate with us, and their impact on our own personal lives. On a surface level, haven’t we all tried to shape ourselves around our favourite characters? But I think it goes beyond that. There’s a point where connecting with literature becomes something more, and it starts to heavily impact your character. I’m not sure where that point begins or ends, but Kate Hannah’s lecture was a thought provoking one, and got me thinking about something that has been in the back of my mind for years.
Whether our emotional connection to characters in literature, both historic figures and fictional characters, improves our understanding or alters our perception of events, I think this connection is a valuable thing to have as a researcher. Our ability to empathise with people, and let ourselves feel rather than absorbing information, makes us great future researchers. That’s one of the main differences that I’ve noticed between the science and arts faculties. Scientists are extremely factual, whereas arts is (obviously) more imaginative and creative. Finding the balance between these two, particularly as someone who is taking a conjoint, can be challenging. However, learning to connect with the past is also helping me to become a better scientist, as I’m learning to balance my personal interest in research, and my dedication to maintaining a high quality of work.
The connection between understanding or learning about historic events, and actually engaging with the content, is a small but integral part of being an arts student. I find myself making comparisons between arts and science constantly, and while scientists can become invested in their research, there’s a certain passion and personal connection to one’s work that I find only arts students appear to have. This is possibly due to science being bound by the scientific method, while art leaves us free to think of endless possibilities. Whatever the reason, I think this is something we should all consider as we continue through our education.
