- Pin it
- SubscribeUnsubscribe
- Embed
Matthew Gardner hasn't added a story.
Every little bit helps and you will be my hero for donating anything!
My Background (in case it interests you):
I am from Riverside, California and am currently living in New York City.
I completed my Bachelors degree at the University of California, Berkeley for my undergraduate studies where I majored in Celtic Studies. I wound up there after having originally attended the George Washington University where I was studying International Affairs. While there, I realized I didn't feel the passion for International Affairs that I wanted to feel for what I was studying. So I transferred to Riverside Community College back in Riverside, California to figure out what I wanted to do. While visiting a friend in Berkeley that year I sat in on various lectures being given at the annual California Celtic Colloquium. What I learned there was that I didn't know any of the stories being discussed, the history was completely unfamiliar to me, and that the Celtic languages themselves were beautiful. I instantly knew that I wanted to understand what all of these people were talking about and knew I had to go to Berkeley to do that.
My two years at UC Berkeley were amazing; I loved my studies, my job, my friends, and the city of Berkeley and all its quirkiness. I studied Modern Irish for two years and took countless classes not only about the Celts, but the Scandinavians as well as my particular interests became more focused on the medieval period.
My Berkeley career culminated in the writing of my Senior Honors Thesis titled: "The Legal and Cultural Interactions Between the Sons of Míl and the Tuatha Dé Danann". For this I studied medieval Irish legal and cultural texts within the context of the stories written during the medieval period, particularly "Tochmarc Etainne", "The Wooing of Étainne" and "Togail Bruidne Da Derga", "The Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel". Both are stories I recommend if you have the time, and true to fashion, are fairly odd from a modern American standpoint.
Much of my background reading for my thesis, as well as for various classes, involved reading archaeological texts, which I became more and more interested in. So when I began researching grad programs, I knew that not only would Celtic and Viking Archaeology fit me perfectly, but that Glasgow would be the perfect place to study it. There I will have opportunities to work at Celtic and Viking archaeological sites as well as have opportunities to work with local museums. I look forward to continuing my studies and to what happens after I get my masters.
While I don’t know for sure what I will be doing, I plan on either going directly into a PhD program, ideally Cambridge, where I have already reached out to a potential advisor, or working in a museum for a while and then continuing on to get my PhD. Regardless, I want to eventually teach and continue my own research in a field that does not get nearly as much attention as it should.
If you read all of this, thank you. I hope it was interesting and that you decide to help me out!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Matthew James Gardner
Highlights
See all activity26Activity
Delete media item?
Delete this item from the media gallery? It will also be deleted from any related story update.
Set as ?
The campaign video will appear in social media and email.
The campaign cover picture will appear in social media and email.
The will appear at the top of your campaign page and in social media and email.
Reset ?
It will be removed from the top of your campaign and won't be used as default in social media and email. The will remain in the media gallery.
Embed
Share a link
Delete update
Delete this story update?
Any pictures or videos will remain in the campaign's media gallery.
Report campaign
Report submitted
Thank you. We take reports like yours very seriously. Our goal is to keep the community safe.
Please know that we may contact you for more information, but that we won't notify you personally of our decision. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Thank you. We've already received your previous report. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Tell us about the problem. Please fill in both fields below.
Record a video
Upload a video
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Take a minute or two to record one now. Record a short video message of support. Or upload one from your device. You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Upload a short video message of support. Upload a short video message of support. Or record one right now.
- Most effective video length: about a minute.
- Maximum length: 5 min.
- You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Heads up! The existing video will be replaced.
Email your friends
Join our team
Tell people why our cause matters to you. Your personal message will encourage others to help. Easy, effective, optional.
Say it in video
Short personal videos by supporters like you are incredibly powerful. Record one right now and you'll help us raise more money. Easy, optional, effective.
Add a personal goal
Set a personal fundraising goal. You'll encourage more contributions if you do. And rest easy. There's no obligation to achieve your goal or bad consequences if you don't. Easy, optional, effective.
We have a video!
Video thumbnail
We'd love to show you our campaign video. Want to take a look?
, you're already on the team.