Olga Akroyd, PhD
Having completed a rather ambidextrous degree in English and Russian (BA Hons) at Queen Mary, University of London in 2009, Olga went on to do a Master’s degree in Russian and East European Studies at St Antony’s College, Oxford, completing an academic thesis on the significance of archetypes in 20th century Russian literature. Although her main passion was literature (with a dash of mythology and psychoanalysis thrown in), she also became acquainted with the broader perspectives on Russian history and culture.
After attaining her MSc, she worked as an EFL tutor for students from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, and briefly considered the perspective of working in the legal field. However, the theoretical and philosophical element to law as a subject was what interested her the most, and so, in 2016 she commenced a PhD degree in American Studies at University of Kent, focusing on the conflict between individuality and justice in the works by Herman Melville and F. Dostoevsky, as seen from a cross-cultural, comparative perspective.
At the moment, she preparing for her viva and carrying out research for a new project – which is going to be a monograph featuring tricksters, the occult and gender issues in the long 19th century. She also have recently created and been managing #DostoevskySaturday – a Twitter flashmob event, which runs on a weekly basis, celebrating Dostovesky’s life and work and discussing various aspects of his texts. In her spare time, she enjoys hatha yoga (a true lifesaver in our stressful age!), learning Scottish Gaelic and browsing quaint little book stores.