Alison Butler

Rothermere Fellow to study magical traditions

Already armed with four degrees, Alison Butler will continue her academic explorations for the next three years at the University of Bristol, England, with the help of two fellowships. She has been awarded a Rothermere Fellowship worth £7,800 plus tuition and airfare home for three years; she also holds a SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) Fellowship for 48 months at $16,620 per year.

Ms. Butler started off with a bachelor’s degree in classical studies from Memorial and then set her sights on a career in journalism, earning a journalism degree at the University of Western Ontario.

"Unfortunately at the time I graduated the job prospects were not that good," she said. "Though I did get some casual and contractual work with CBC over the past six years, I found myself being drawn back to academia."

Studying Latin and Greek on a part-time basis, Ms. Butler went on to complete a master’s in humanities and then a master’s in religious studies at Memorial. She became fascinated with the study of Western magical tradition in England but couldn’t find anywhere in Canada to pursue that interest.

She was about to go to Western Michigan University in the United States when she heard about winning the Rothermere Fellowship, so she quickly applied to the University of Bristol.

The immediate future will be three years of research in England.

And after that? Ms. Butler knows that there is no one in Canada right now who can teach what she will know after her doctoral studies, so she hopes to be able to return to this country to teach.