Welcome to the Honours Student Interview Series with the UBC Department of History! Our department is proud to highlight the creative insights and academic achievements of our students and alumni. We recently had the pleasure of hearing from alumna Emily Mann, who graduated from the Honours program with a minor in Philosophy.
Scroll down to read through her interview and learn all about her honours thesis research and writing process.
What is the title of your honours thesis?
“Crimes of the Past, Crimes of the Present: White Liberals and the Early Years of South Africa’s Democracy”
What interested you in this topic? Why did you choose it for your thesis?
Learning about South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Dr. David Morton’s course on the history of Southern Africa, along with having personal connections to the area, inspired me to learn more about memory as it relates to questions of identity in the “new” South Africa. I chose to write about how understandings of crime post-1994 affected white liberals because I was struck by how many of them spoke of crime in their memoirs and I wanted to understand what this meant.
What was your favourite part of the research process?
My favourite part of the research process was developing a better sense of how I work under pressure!
Where do you hope to go next with your research or career?
I’m currently finishing my MA at the University of Toronto where I’m researching post-independence representations of apartheid-era history in Windhoek. I’d love to spend some more time in Namibia once this is done and find a way to work with public history initiatives.
What advice would you give to someone who is excited but nervous about writing their honours thesis next year?
Communicate well with your supervisor and be very open to changing your idea for where you want your project to go.
