Alumni Profiles: Robyn Wilson

What made you decide to do a degree in American studies?

At school I was studying Sociology, History and English Language, and I was really interested in all of these areas. I’d done a bit of film studies and then a little bit of politics. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to focus on when I went to university and then I found American studies as a multidisciplinary course – which is a word you’ll hear a lot if you’re going to take the subject – which combines all different aspects of politics, literature, history, and a bit of film. All just with a focus on the United States.  I never considered myself an Americanophile, but it just so happened that this subject combined a lot of areas that I was interested in. You realise that in so much of so many of the ideas that have made our modern world what it is, the United States has been so influential. And even if you don’t consider yourself someone who is particularly interested in it as a country, as I did not to begin with, you’ll end up learning so much more about other countries that are kind of linked to American history like Canada, Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba. It has a very broad scope and allows you to learn an awful lot in an awful lot of different areas. And that was why I found it so interesting.

How did a degree in American Studies equip you for your future career?

The multidisciplinary aspect of it taught me how to think laterally and consider a subject or an issue from lots of different angles and lots of different perspectives. That has been really useful – for example in my job – when you’re planning a marketing campaign. It’s useful to think about how it works in different channels and how it works with different audiences. Because so much of American studies is discussion and opinion, and it explores so many different points of view across so many different subject areas, that is coming in really useful. And the independent study aspect of the course has really made me good at managing my own time and priorities. You won’t generally have a lot people on your course, you’ll get to know everyone and you’ll be in quite small seminar groups. It will make you more confident, it made me more confident, to speak up when I know I’m right. Because you feel comfortable and supported in that environment and it’s a subject which is very conducive to discussion and debate.

So what has been your career trajectory so far?

I was hired in the role of Catalyst Project Assistant. Which is a really complicated job title, it’s simpler than it sounds. That was at Derby Theatre in May 2018, which is the year I graduated. And then I was made permanent Development Officer at Derby Theatre, which basically means that I was responsible for raising money for the theatre. Derby Theatre is a great regional producing theatre in the city of Derby, and it is a charity, so it relies on non-government funding. So places like the Arts Council and other big arts funders. Part of my job was applying for funding from these bodies to allow Derby theatre to do its great producing and education and outreach work. And then I came to work at Mouse Trap Theatre projects here in London in May 2019 as Marketing and Development Officer. So I am still on the fundraising side, but I also do marketing and communications for the charity as well. And Mouse Trap Theatre Projects is a theatre education charity. So we basically worked with disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in London who maybe can’t afford to go to the theatre, or who don’t think the theatre is for them, and we make it possible from them to come and see really great theatre.

So what has been your proudest career moment to date?

My proudest career moment would be a campaign that we ran during the first lockdown last year in summer 2020. It was a campaign for the Mouse Trap Awards, which is a theatre award show that we host at Mouse Trap Theatre Projects every year. It’s the only theatre awards that is voted for exclusively by young people, aged 15-30, and all of the nominees are also chosen by young people. So it’s the only theatre awards event that has that youth voice, and usually we host it as a live in-person event at Charing Cross Theatre. Last year of course this wasn’t possible so we did it online for the first ever time. I was in charge of that campaign and it was just really fun. I got to speak to a lot of people who are big in theatre – one of the awards was won by the musical Dear Evan Hanson, which was written by the same people who wrote The Greatest Showman, so I got to talk to them. Which was really, really fun and exciting. And the event, for first ever online trial this event, it was really big success. Like almost 1000 people watched the event online which is an increase of around 900% on our usual audience if we would do it in person. It was a great fun campaign to work on, and it was a really big success.  

Did you have a study abroad?

Yes, I studied at University of Southern Maine in the state of Maine for a year. Maine is on the East Coast of the United States. And it was completely amazing. I loved every second of it and I would 100% recommend doing it if you can afford to, because it was such a transformative experience for me. I was kind of on my own. I didn’t know anybody there super well when I arrived, so it encouraged me to be very brave and try new things. It made me a lot more fearless. It has had a really big impact on me as a person in terms of my confidence and ability to take risks. Which is super important when you’re looking for jobs. The other thing I would say about that is to travel as much as you possibly can while you’re out there and just see as much as you can and learn as much as you can. It was 10/10!

What did you enjoy the most about your degree studies?

I enjoyed how much I learned across different disciplines. For instance, I did film studies at AS level. The reason I dropped it was because I wasn’t terribly good at it, but I had another chance to learn about film during my degree. Now I can watch a film critically. I’ve just learnt so many different perspectives on things that are so fundamentally part of the society that we’ve constructed like racism, feminism, and capitalism, and these issues which are so huge in which the United States has been such an influential power.

Do you have any advice for people considering a degree in American studies?

Do it with a very open mind. So if you think you’re only really interested in American politics, enter the degree course with an open mind and you will do literature and read American novels. And you’ll probably really enjoy it. You might not think that you will, but you might discover something that you are really interested in. The great thing about American studies is that it opens you up to those options and those different disciplines and forms of learning.

So if you could travel anywhere in the Americas, where would you go?

My number one choice at the minute is Cuba, because I just think that it’s such an interesting history. I would be very interested to go and learn about that first hand. I was lucky enough to hit quite a few states when I did my year abroad and I went travelling with my friends. So there’s some places that I would really like to revisit and some new places that I would really like to go around the United States, then Canada, Mexico as well.

Are there any books, records, films or TV shows, etcetera that you would recommend to perspective American studies students?

My number one pick of a book that I would recommend to prospective American Studies students is an amazing book by Michelle Alexander called The New Jim Crow. It is about the justice system in the United States and how it is constructed to disadvantage people of colour in the United States. I think it’s absolutely vital reading. I actually first read it during my year abroad. It was an assigned text there and it completely changed the way that I think about justice in the United States. And it ties in with the amazing documentary on Netflix called 13th by Ava DuVernay. The documentary was partly based on this book by Michelle Alexander and she speaks in the documentary. So I would say take them together, read The New Jim Crow first, then watch the 13th.