Two exceptional English Literature doctoral students will conduct onsite research in original sources in the United Kingdom with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Aimee Wilson and Kate Lechler were awarded the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) Mellon Pre-Dissertation Fellowship to conduct their dissertation research in English Literature.

Aimee Wilson's doctoral research will provide a new approach to the relationship of modernist literary aesthetics and the transatlantic birth control movement. "I am honored and thrilled to receive an IHR Mellon Fellowship for my project. FSU's Graduate School also contributed funding for my research, for which I am sincerely grateful. These generous awards allow me to spend time in London studying the papers of British author and birth control advocate Marie Stopes," said Wilson. She is being advised by Dr. Robin Goodman, professor in the English department's Modern Studies Faculty.

Kate Lechler's innovative work provides insight on Thomas Middleton, a Jacobean playwright coined "the other Shakespeare." Her research focuses on contemporary performance history of his works. "I am thrilled to have received the IHR Junior Mellon, with which I will conduct research in London. I will visit the archives of three theaters, Shakespeare's Globe, the National Theatre, and the Royal Shakespeare Company, to examine archival material from major productions of Middleton's plays from 1960-present," said Lechler. She anticipates her research will shed light on Middleton's work for future scholars. "This study should prove invaluable to theater scholars and literary critics who seek to place Middleton's work in both early modern and modern historical contexts." Lechler is being advised by Dr. Celia Daileader, professor in the English department's Renaissance Faculty.

The IHR Mellon Pre-Dissertation Fellowship supports archival research in the United Kingdom in the Humanities and provides a stipend of approximately $5,000. Karlyn Griffith, a doctoral student in the Art History department, was a recipient of the IHR Mellon Fellowship last year.

To learn more about Wilson and Lechler, click here.