Doctoral Candidate • Reader • English Teacher
Current Positions:
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- AHRC funded Doctoral Candidate and Teaching Assistant at Durham University
- Co-convener of postgraduate-led seminar series
- Private English Tutor
Paid Employment
10.2020-p.
Teaching Assistant, Department of English Studies, Durham University
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Leading two groups of undergraduate tutorials on ‘Introduction to Poetry’
10.2019-20
Senior Bookseller, Waterstones, Liverpool One
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Responsible for maintaining and developing the commerciality of the fiction department in response to our customer while fostering discoverability
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Tailored hand selling of titles based on industry knowledge
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Co-convener of general fiction book club and title-targeted book clubs
10.2017-19 Bookseller, Waterstones, Liverpool One
12.2015-p.
Tutor, tutorful.co.uk and paulcockburn.com
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Over 250 hours of one-on-one experience tutoring A-Level English Language and English Literature; GCSE English Language and English Literature; and KS3 English
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Testimonies discoverable at paulcockburn.com/tuition
02-09.2016
Food and Beverage Assistant, Mercure Liverpool Atlantic Tower Hotel
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Practiced soliciting and resolving potential problems before they are realised
Education
2019-p.
Durham University, Ph.D. (proposed completion: 30 September 2023)
English Literature
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Thesis: ‘Concrete Jungle: Imagining Nature in the Literature of New York City’
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Supervisors: Prof. Timothy Clark and Dr Marc Botha
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Awarded fully funded studentship by Northern Bridge Consortium (AHRC)
2020-21 Co-convener of postgraduate-led seminar series: Inventions of the Text
2016-17
Durham University, M.A. Distinction (awarded distinction in every assessment)
Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literary Studies
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Dissertation: ‘The Scepticism of T. S. Eliot and James Joyce: Formal and Thematic Functions of Uncertainty’
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Developed analytical skills and the ability to synthesise texts and data into well-presented and critical arguments
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Audited French Reading Skills for Research
2011-15
Bangor University, B.A. 1st Class Honours
English Literature with Creative Writing with International Experience
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Researched and authored a one-hour play
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Prose and poetry published in university creative writing journal:
2013-14 Studied at Pace University, New York City
2013 Awarded ‘Best Onstage Performance’ by university drama society: Rostra
2004-11
Chesterfield High School and Sixth Form College
2011 A Level [A*AAB] English Language, Literature, Geography, Music Technology
2009 AS Level [C] PE; 7 GCSEs [A*-A] including Maths, Science, and English
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Volunteer Employment
10.2020-p.
Tutor, Coronavirus Initiative Tutoring
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Providing free tutoring in GCSE English Language and Literature