This year MSDS Marine are delighted to be hosting three internships thanks to funding from Historic England as part of our Landlocked and Looking Out project. The internships offer early career professionals and students the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the heritage sector – and the best bit is they are paid! Our second intern, Jack Doyle, joins us this week and is looking forward to getting involved in this project. In this blog Jack introduces himself.
Hi everyone I’m Jack, I’ve just finished my degree in Archaeology and History from the University of Manchester. While I was at Manchester I specialised in teaching and public engagement in archaeology, writing a dissertation on ways we use digital technology to do archaeology and how we teach students to use digital technology. I’m fairly new to diving and marine archaeology, at the moment I’ve only got my PADI open water qualification, but I loved my diving and I’m hoping in future I can work in marine archaeology.
I’m really excited to have gotten this opportunity because I love working in outreach and read a lot about the ways public outreach projects have used and taught digital technology in the research for my dissertation. I hope to bring some of that insight to the PWA 50 events, especially seeing as we’re working with VR technology. I’ve learnt about a lot of different places and periods over three years of my degree but I’m hoping this internship can really expand my knowledge of marine archaeology, which I’ve touched on at a lot of points but never fully dived into (sorry).
I also love film and filmmaking and was involved with the film societies when I worked at Manchester. Through my uni’s archaeology department, I’ve also been involved in making videos in collaboration with local heritage in the North-West, such as the Old Abbey Taphouse and Victoria Baths in Manchester. I’m hoping then I might get to make and edit some fun and interesting videos about the events, as well as upping the quality of those videos I’m making for a public audience.
Britain’s maritime history is a key component of the country’s past and learning more about Britain’s history with the sea is really important for understanding and talking about where we are as a country. There’s a real pull and excitement about the sea and what’s beneath it and wreck sites give us a really interesting and unique way to get more people involved in archaeology and heritage. With it being the 50th anniversary of the Protected Wrecks Act now’s a time to appreciate the importance of wreck conservation and celebrate what’s been done to protect these sites, as well as what they achieve in sparking really interesting ways of looking at and talking about the past.
I’m really looking forward to learning a lot about wreck sites and marine archaeology over the course of the internship, but I’m just as excited in getting involved with the public and getting them excited about wrecks and marine heritage through some videos but also through what I think will be some great events.
