Daisy Saxelby

During my final year of a BSc in Physics at the University of Warwick, I enrolled on a module with the CSR. At the time I thought this would be my last chance to learn something new before graduating and beginning my career. Instead, I found a new passion in learning about Renaissance Europe, and after a term studying under Professor David Lines and Professor Ingrid de Smet, I felt inspired to pursue the MA in the Culture of the European Renaissance.

Having no prior experience in related fields, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to study the Renaissance from different perspectives, such as art history, and to learn about the different methodologies which can be applied to historical research. Over the course of the MA I developed a range of new skills, including palaeography, which allowed me to succeed in my dissertation focusing on traveller reception and social exchange in Italian rural osterie in the long seventeenth century, supervised by Professor Beat Kümin. I greatly valued the opportunity to work with and learn from Beat.

Since completing my MA, I have worked for a software company, and am now working as an Assistant Project Manager for Nuclear Waste Services. I believe my combination of diverse degrees has equipped me for a career in project management, due to the varied skills required. I would encourage anyone who has an interest in the Renaissance, regardless of subject background, to complete further study with the CSR.