Elysia Stent (UK)

Originally from Devon, I began my journey to Oxford at Newton Abbot College, studying Art, Philosophy and Literature. After becoming the first successful Oxbridge applicant from my secondary school, I found at Oxford a love for interdisciplinary study that I am excited to pursue. 

From creating life size portraits of my friends at A-level to designing the fresher’s supplies at my college, art has always been an important way for me to connect with the society around me. Art has shaped my undergraduate work at Oxford, as evidenced in my dissertation on images and shapes of procession in Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, as well as in my research into the influence of Tarot imagery on 20th century fiction. 

During my time as an undergraduate, I began teaching English as a second language. In this work I found not only a passion for sharing language, but discovered a new dimension to how people perceive language—their reasons for learning and understanding. At the same time, I found a love for 18th century literature, in particular the increasing importance of objects in and around texts.  

In my master’s thesis I hope to marry these diverse interests to explore how that which people see and touch interacts with how they consume literature. Starting from the work of 17th and 18th century philosophers on perception, I hope to re-evaluate the significance of textual objects and paratextual material in shaping people’s approaches to texts in the 18th and early 19th century. 

I'm always multitasking, so even when I'm reading you'll find me keeping my hands busy making something: knitting, crochet, painting, printing, drawing, embroidery—I do it all!