I am from California in the United States. I obtained my Bachelors in History from the University of California, concentrating in medieval history. Currently, I am undertaking the Master of Studies in Medieval History at Oxford. My interests are, broadly speaking, on identities, communities, urban society, language, and minority groups. My dissertation will focus on examining ethnic identities and perceptions in thirteenth century France, using the university of Paris as a case study. The university nationes and the large international community at Paris offer an excellent medium by which to study transnational interactions. By utilising several types of sources I hope to try to construct a clearer picture of what we mean by ethnicity in the medieval period. I also hope to analyse what the relationship was between ethnic identity and political identity. I chose to study medieval history because it is a fascinating period and the limited surviving sources makes the task comparable to a detective assembling a puzzle.

I believe that Mansfield is a particularly great place to be as an international student because of its small, inviting post-graduate community. Meeting other students is not a self-conscious choice, but something that transpires without effort.

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