Kerrie Holloway has made the most of her time while studying abroad. She is a graduate student pursuing a degree in history. Kerrie has spent two summers studying abroad with UNA in London, and she has used both trips entirely for the completion of her thesis.

“I began the research process last year,” Kerrie said. “I started with the theory and idea and gathered data.”

Between both summers, Kerrie began writing. During the writing process, however, she found she had holes she had to fill. Most of these holes could be filled with research gleaned from newspapers articles published in the 1920s—these articles are housed in the newspaper archives in the Colindale Library in London.

“Fortunately for me, all my information is only here (in London),” she said. “Tons of newspapers haven’t been digitized and probably won’t be for a while, so they are only found in Colindale.”

Her research is focused on a historically controversial group known as the Bright Young People, so called by the newspapers in the middle to late 1920s. She is arguing that the Bright Young People, instead of being dismissed as “rebellious and silly” as they have been by historians, are products of many social, political, and economic changes that took place during and after WWI. Some changes include the flapper voting laws, the women’s workforce during the war, changes in fashion, and changes in home life.

“I’m relating all of this to Addler’s inferiority complex,” Kerrie said. “This generation was a little too young to fight in WWI, so they’ve got this whole sense of “Well, we missed it,” at the same time these huge changes are taking place. They had this underlying current of feelings of inferiority going on.”

Often, in her readings of newspapers during that time, Kerrie has found articles that match up almost exactly with what she is trying to say.

“It’s shocking how many times people were saying these exact things in the 20s, but it’s something that hasn’t been said since,” she said.

Kerrie will be presenting a portion of her thesis at a conference at Washington University in St. Louis next October. She will also be using it as a writing sample when she applies to Ph. D. programs.

To unwind after her work in London this summer, Kerrie will take a side trip to Ireland with another student. This will be another country on a long list that she has visited already including Scotland, France, Germany, Ecuador, Mexico, and Fiji. London, however, has called her back for a third time this summer.

“I love how diverse London is,” Kerrie said. “There are tons of different types of people and options for everyone. It’s a lot easier to feel like you fit in in a city where there is so much diversity.”

For anyone who hasn’t travelled abroad, or for someone who is considering it, Kerrie offers advice.