Firstly, it's been great getting started on my project recently! I've been reading some challenging but very insightful literary theory, and also had a trip to the Yorkshire Dales alongside my fellow Leeds 2021 cohort - an experience I enjoyed immeasurably. 

The Laidlaw Scholars Network is a great place to platform and present the skills and leadership development being undertaken as a scholar. For my specific research - investigating how nature is used to both positively and negatively reflect characters' psychological states - I have begun a blog to document the ins and outs of the material I am learning and digesting. I'm hoping that, in the second summer of the project, I will be able to develop some more literature-based social outreach tools and this blog also feeds into that. 

Please feel free to take a look here:  

outdoorfiction.blogspot.com

So far I have covered some introductions, included pages with general ideas about literary engagement with nature, and written a piece about how pastoralism in literature may constitute a gloss for class inequality. 

Don't worry though - I still intend to reflect on the broader skill set I'm developing through the scholarship and make other posts here as well :)