Hello, my name is Alexander. This summer I graduated from my BA honours in History. Since then, I have made a successful application to Kingston University to continue my studies and embark on a Masters. The Kingston History MA is a unique opportunity for combining an academic study of the past with a practical focus on public history. It explores in more depth areas of modern history theory that I found the most interesting during my undergraduate degree.
Why I need help
There is not any conventional funding offered for postgraduate studies. Students must raise the funds needed for their maintenance and fees privately. The sum I had to raise was much higher than most, as I have two young children. Despite this, through a dogged determination I managed to raise the sum needed for living costs for the coming year. However, after narrowly missing out on an Annual Fund Scholarship, and with the start date looming, I now have to raise funds to pay my fees as well. After exhausting every possible resource through raising funds for my maintenance, I decided to start this crowd funding page in the hope that the generosity of others may provide me the helping hand that I need to achieve my ambitions.
The fees for the full-time History MA at Kingston are £4,800. However, as I graduated from Kingston in June 2015 I'm entitled to a Progression Scholarship and will receive a 25 per cent discount. This means I will have £3,600 in fees to pay. To this, I would like to add £200 that I shall use towards books and I must also include PayPal fees (3.5% is applied to successful Hubbub projects).
Therefore, the total I hope to raise is £3,933.
I gratefully thank you in advance for anything you are able to give, any donation, however small, is hugely appreciated.
About Me
I'm a father of two, with all that entails. Time which I have away from my studies and fatherhood I divide amongst the following: I enjoy learning/reading about The Classics, Ancient Mythology, Philosophy, Religion (Ancient and Modern) and Folklore. As a consequence I have a special interest in indigenous cultures both ancient and modern. A passion for The Arts, Film (especially oriental cinema), illustrating and painting, as well as being an avid reader of factual literature and current opinion. I enjoy the outdoors and associated pursuits such as hiking and camping. I set myself endurance challenges at least 2-3 times a year (I recently completed 30 miles in 24 hours in the Peak District and accents on National Peaks are in the planning stages.) Attendance to museums and galleries for exhibitions and visits to heritage sites are also a regularity. Health and fitness is an important aspect of my life, both weight training and MMA.
I personally very much hold with Lord Acton’s observation, ‘History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.’ I believe it is something everyone should have the opportunity to revel in. I very much desire to play a part in safe guarding our shared historical heritage as well as work to inspire an interest of it in future generations. This MA would not only set me on the path which would lead to such a career, but also prove to be the foot in the door of academia and increase my chances of securing funding for a future PhD.
British History
At the start of my degree course I began a history blog on the social net-working site Facebook to see how history could be presented through the use of visual images such as photographs, illustration and paintings to increase public interest. This has proved a great success and at the time of writing I currently have 28,000+ members, with around 200 'likes' per week. It is where I publish some of my own writing, but it is also a general outlet to my passion for history. Posts include history related news, interesting articles and publications from around the inter-web, coming museum exhibitions, as well as curiosities such as vintage photographs and classic artworks, all served alongside daily 'On This Day' posts of historical events all to do with, or in connection to, the collective heritage of these northerly Isles. If you would like to contact me personally with a question about this appeal, you are welcome to send me a message there: British History.
