New year. New beginnings. New JRAAS team.

There are many ways we could go about this, but, seeing as we went through the predicament of taking several dozen photos until we could agree on one, we might as well start there. Of course, the camera might have found a less demanding crowd in a group of strangers, but as four friends who have known each other for over a year and half, we were very demanding on our poor photographer. Begrudgingly, we have included the group favourite as the cover for this entry.

As we get settled into CETAPS for our first day of work, our minds are overflowing with ideas: workshops, conferences, cinema cycles, book club sessions, newsletter, podcast episodes… We are also aware that there is a gap between research & development and the average student, so we are committed to bridging it through some of these activities. By the end of our research fellowship at CETAPS we would like, above all, to leave behind the sense that academia is approachable.

While our group is certainly full of expectations, we are determined to also give continuity to CETAPS’ ongoing research. We expect to start working on the ARUS Digital Repository and the Shakespeare Translation Memory database soon and hope to expand on the work of the previous teams while also providing a new perspective.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering who we actually are in the photo. We’ll let you guess based on our interests:

Carolina Leão is working on a dissertation regarding the American Southern Gothic and its representation in American cinema. She has a BA in Languages, Literatures and Cultures in which she studied Anglo-American and German Studies. Besides Cinema Studies, her main areas of interest are Irish Studies, Feminist Studies, Gothic Studies, and American Studies.

Inês Pastor is developing their dissertation on the reconfiguration of American Frontier myths and aesthetics in science fiction by Joanna Russ and Joan Slonczewski. They have previously published on Frank Herbert and Ursula K. Le Guin in Via Panoramica and are currently a team member on the project Extraterrestrial Posthumanism [2023.11185.PEX]. Their main research interest is Speculative Fiction in all its forms, although they also have an affinity for Utopian Studies, Gothic/Horror Studies, and Irish Studies.

Jamie Santos is currently working on their dissertation regarding themes of Love and Death in the (auto)fiction of Canadian author Elizabeth Smart. They have a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Porto, and are also interested in Irish and Gothic literature and in Queer, and Comparative Studies.

M. Ribeiro Cameira is currently working on a dissertation about the Golden Age of Piracy and its connection to Utopian Studies. They have published on Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia E. Butler in Via Panoramica. Alongside Utopian Studies, their main research interests are Queer, Feminist, and Comparative Studies.

Now that you’re acquainted with us, the only thing left to say is we’re very excited for the work that lies ahead of us and we hope you are too. Much more is yet to come, so stay tuned to the Digital Lab blog for more information and news about our endeavours!