Scholarly pursuit - pathway to professorial ambition

Study Group is proud to see so many international students graduating from their pathway programmes and university degrees, and fulfil their academic dreams. Here's just one of their stories. 

Bruce Xiao had a dream of becoming a professor in English language and literature, and later developed a more specific ambition – to be a professor in Old English and Medieval Literature. And where better to start that journey than at the Durham University International Study Centre.

“It hardly needs saying that Durham University is the right place to pursue one’s interests in English language and literature,” Bruce told us. “Durham’s internationally renowned English department has long been taking the lead in terms of teaching and research. Specifically, since I am passionate about medieval studies, Durham’s English department is ideal because it is one of the few English departments in the UK capable of offering quality teaching covering the literary and intellectual sphere of the entire Middle Ages.”

In coming to study in the UK, Bruce knew that he would be moving outside his comfort zone – and rose to meet the challenges this presented. “Of course, for a Chinese student studying English literature in the UK, there were challenges,” he says. “But Durham University International Study Centre offers students a friendly and academically rigorous environment to start their journeys. Prior to the beginning of foundational year, I decided to narrow down my academic interests to medieval language and literature. Luckily, the flexible curriculum and professional staff at ISC were supportive in ensuring that I received sufficient training in medieval history and culture. For example, Caroline Cooke at the ISC assisted me with completing my independent research essay on kingship and lordship in early Plantagenet dynasty; she also patiently answered all my questions about Chaucer’s language and style. This exerted a profound impact upon my future studies of Chaucer at Durham University.”

Over the second and third year of his undergraduate studies, Bruce was a volunteer in Durham’s Centre for Foreign Language Studies, assisting students learning the Chinese language to enhance their oral ability and reading comprehension. “This engagement in the community enabled me to build relationships with people from different cultural and ethical backgrounds, and to exchange ideas about a wide array of social issues,” Bruce told us.

Having completed his degree in English Literature at Durham with First Class Honours, Bruce is now fully embracing his postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge's Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, enabling him to further his academic interests in Old English and Germanic philology.