Elspeth's Reflections on Lancaster
Elspeth Rushbrook, teacher, campaigner, writer, musician and artist
"The structure of part 1 allowed me to delay choosing the subject of my full degree, and that appealed – for who at 18 really wants to set an immutable path? – we are like the boy in the Isaac Newton quote. My subsequent degrees were in different subjects. I wanted somewhere that I could celebrate and explore my multilateral thinking and many interests, something most other courses and universities didn’t offer - including at research level.
Religious Studies hasn’t directly related to my career, but I didn’t always expect it to – but I do preach and teach. What I’ve learned is most important is the springboard and stimulus for future enquiry and growth, and that is not all things that come from a syllabus. Lancaster made me query my own beliefs, but that was as much about societies as my courses. It sowed a seed more recently reaped from Andrew Shanks about politics. I found encouragement and interest from Linda Woodhead, which is invaluable. It was this era that I began the first version of my novel. I learned that I can fill my own timetable and work mostly autonomously – great not only for research but my writing and artistic careers.
A course led me to my love of architecture and history, both which inspired later writing projects; my songwriting matured; my love of film began (I now write them) and I learned to be both more accepting and questioning. Despite or because of tumultuous times, Lancaster was perhaps more than happy, it was truly seminal."
Elspeth’s first novel will be published later this year www.elspethrushbrook.webs.com