Conor Brennan (Ireland)

The Ertegun Scholarship made it possible for me to complete an MSt in Modern Languages at Oxford, with a focus on modern and contemporary German-language literature. Ertegun House was a hugely important part of my MSt experience on both a personal and an intellectual level and led to several long-standing friendships (including with future greats in my field such as Dr Karolina Watroba!) 

After graduating from the MSt, I completed a PhD in Comparative Literature at Trinity College Dublin with funding from the Irish Research Council. My PhD research analysed responses to the climate crisis in contemporary fiction, considering works from a wide range of cultural contexts that included Austria, Germany, Poland, Australia, Ireland, and South Korea. From 2023-2025, I returned to Oxford first as a Lecturer in German, then as a Career Development Research Fellow in German and Comparative Literature at St John’s. In January 2026, I returned to Ireland to take up a permanent job as Lecturer in German at the University of Galway. 

I remain immensely grateful for the many opportunities that my time in Ertegun House opened up for me and will always be glad to hear from current scholars or prospective applicants. (If you’re thinking about applying – do!)