Hi all!  My name is Katie Knowles, and I am the new Lab Technician for the IRIS Center.  I am very excited to be getting started, and I cannot wait to learn more about some of the Center’s current and up-and-coming projects and the people behind them.

In May of 2015, I graduated from Hanover College with a BA in English and Music, with focuses in Medieval and Renaissance literature and Piano, respectively.  During my time at Hanover, I worked in the college’s archives and special collections where I assisted in organizing and maintaining the rare books collection and unique historical documents.  As an undergraduate, I also participated in the Shakespeare in England program, which led me to move to Stratford-upon-Avon for the year after graduation.

There I spent a year at the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute working toward my MA in Shakespeare Studies and writing my dissertation Symphonic Shakespeare: Representations of the Plays in Romantic Music.    Throughout the year, I also worked in the Institute library where some of my duties included maintaining the newspaper clipping collection as well as helping create content for displays and the library blog.

Through my position as the IRIS Center Lab Technician, I hope to explore research and funding opportunities, facilitate faculty and student involvement, and help expand the Center.  In addition, as this is a joint position with Lovejoy Library, I intend to assist  in the future digital humanities collaborations between the two groups.