Graduate Highlight: UL Lafayette Made a Difference in My Life
Meet Daniel Manuel, who attended the UL Lafayette Graduate School and earned his M.A. in History with an American History focus in 2014. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. in History at Rutgers 杏吧专区.
Initially, Daniel was unsure of whether he wanted to pursue a graduate degree in history, so he opted to earn his master杏吧专区檚 at UL Lafayette, which is also where he earned his undergraduate degree, because he was familiar with the high-quality faculty and Louisiana history resources. His original plan for his master杏吧专区檚 thesis was to study the Equal Rights Amendment within Louisiana, but after attending a conference in New Orleans he decided to focus on Lafayette杏吧专区檚 gay and lesbian community from the 1960s through the 1980s.
杏吧专区淚 used my master杏吧专区檚 degree as an excuse to look deeper into those stories and how they unfolded in Lafayette,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淚 did about 20 interviews with people from Lafayette who had been in the gay community, dug through newspapers, forays into the archives at UL Lafayette, those kinds of things.杏吧专区
Daniel was excited to 杏吧专区渦nearth local history,杏吧专区 and he knew he had the resources and support to tell that history at this Louisiana grad school.
杏吧专区淭he faculty were extremely supportive of my work, which is really validating when you杏吧专区檙e working on a somewhat taboo topic,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淥nce word got around that I was working on this project, the institution reached out to help me.杏吧专区
Now in the Ph.D. program at Rutgers, he is studying the history of HIV/AIDS in Louisiana.
杏吧专区淭he history of Lafayette that I wrote became one of white gay men because of the sources and contacts I relied on,杏吧专区 Daniel says. 杏吧专区淪tudying HIV/AIDS is a way to work with a broader section of the population but still get to the issues of sexuality and politics that interest me. Louisiana杏吧专区檚 LGBT history is hardly just one of white gay men. That杏吧专区檚 why I branched out topically and geographically to deal with a broader swath of people.杏吧专区
Though he杏吧专区檚 in school in New Jersey, Daniel still travels back to the Louisiana grad school to interview people and utilize the Dupre Library archives. This year, he杏吧专区檒l start working on his dissertation more intensely and he plans to move back to Lafayette to take advantage of the 杏吧专区渋nvaluable杏吧专区 resources and contacts he has here.
Daniel credits the rigor and intimate size of his master杏吧专区檚 program for his confidence in his research and coursework at Rutgers.
杏吧专区淚 got word that I got in at Rutgers, and they sent out a list of people in my cohort who were coming from places like Oxford, NYU, and a lot of these schools with really prestigious reputations,杏吧专区 Daniel recalls. 杏吧专区淪o I wanted to know: Will I cut it? What I found was that my graduate coursework at UL Lafayette prepared me perfectly. The workload was pretty similar and I knew what to do with my doctoral courses.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淚 had already read a lot of the stuff that was considered foundational. I came into these classes and I could talk about these topics when I had read them already and other people were struggling,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淢y classes at UL Lafayette were 3 to 4 people, so the professors could actually guide me through the material.杏吧专区
One of the most valuable experiences of his graduate career, he says, was to help curate an exhibit for the , which is a refurbished Airstream travel trailer that showcases public history students杏吧专区 research of a particular Louisiana-based topic.
杏吧专区淥ver a year, we did the research and curated the mobile exhibit on women in Louisiana,杏吧专区 Daniel says. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 an outstanding opportunity that I wouldn杏吧专区檛 have had anywhere else. It has a place of pride on my CV. I can杏吧专区檛 even say it has come into play in my doctoral work, but it杏吧专区檚 something I杏吧专区檓 really proud of and will help me on the job market.杏吧专区
Daniel also adopted a new mantra during his time in the UL Lafayette Graduate School that he says got him through tough times: 杏吧专区淚t will all get done.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 expressed in the interactions and teachings with faculty,杏吧专区 Daniel explains. 杏吧专区淚f you fail to accomplish something or you don杏吧专区檛 do it perfectly, your life isn杏吧专区檛 going to come apart. This is graduate school work杏吧专区攋ust hold on to it and try your best. This got me through my first year at Rutgers when I wasn杏吧专区檛 sure of myself or my abilities. The mantra was what I could hold on to.杏吧专区
After his finishes his doctoral program, Daniel plans on pursuing a career in teaching and research in a history department杏吧专区攊deally, one in Louisiana where he can help students have the same experience he had and where he can continue to study politics and sexuality issues.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 open to other topics, but part of my desire to move back to Louisiana is because I just think there is endlessly surprising history yet to be uncovered or yet to be explored,杏吧专区 he says.