Primary tabs
Attracted by the international reputation of the Cambridge ASNC department, I arrived to begin an MPhil, expecting all of the usual Oxbridge stereotypes: aloof professors, hidebound tradition and crushing pressure. Instead I was welcomed into an academic community that felt like a family, from the sprawling departmental pub nights at the Castle to the supervisor who treated me like a daughter. The academic standard was, of course, of the highest order: I was privileged to learn from teachers who were not only at the very top of their fields, but also infinitely generous with their time, expertise and enthusiasm. From them I acquired the core skills that would later allow me to excel as an editor: the art of advanced research, the ability to organise information and write with precision, and a deep understanding of how languages work. When I decided to pursue a career in publishing (with Thames and Hudson, based in London) after completing my PhD, the department could not have been more supportive. Years later, I am constantly aware of how much my time in ASNC has enriched my life, professionally and otherwise. If an author misuses a Latin epithet, I can quietly correct it, and as I walk through the streets of frantic 21st-century London, I know what's under them.
Flora Spiegel (March 2010)