WPeople : Charlotte Frearson

Job title: Recruitment and Student Experience Officer (Fieldwork, Outreach, Social Media and Careers Tutor)
UCL Department: Institute of Archaeology

What does your job title mean?

I look at UCAS forms, I deal with incoming students and run the open days for the Institute of Archaeology. I run the social media channels – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and SoundCloud. I sort out all of the field work admin for the students who are here and I run field work projects, including outreach events in the summer with widening participation. I’m also the careers tutor, so I run careers events for current students and work with them to help plan their careers.

Lots of things basically. I do things and things happen. Keeps me busy.

Could you say what a typical day looks like for you?

I start early. I check emails and our online application portal. If there’s any new applications for our undergraduate programmes I deal with those. Then I tend to split my day between the different areas I work in, depending on where we are in the year. From October to January I’m really busy with UCAS applications and incoming students. After that I’m working on fieldwork things and careers stuff for the current students. During the summer I work on outreach events and fieldwork projects.

How are you involved with Widening Participation?

The Institute of Archaeology has worked with Access and Widening Participation for a long time, since I started here in 2008. We work on Taster Days and we’re often involved with the summer residential programmes. For a few years running, we did “Bones of London”, so we were thinking about human remains that are buried beneath us. I’ve also been working with Widening Participation on setting up some projects in Islington, digging in a park. They will be specifically aimed at Widening Participation students.

Why do you think it’s important to work In WP?

Places like UCL have an amazing reputation because they are amazing universities. I think that can be quite off putting for people from certain backgrounds who don’t necessarily think that they can get to somewhere like UCL. But certainly in our department, we’ve always encouraged applications from people across all of the different backgrounds. We’ve always had students from across the age range for example, mature students in their 50s/60s/70s.

We’ve always been one of those departments who love public engagement. We want as many people to get involved in archaeology as possible. A lot of students come from all sorts or backgrounds and we love it because it makes for a really diverse community in the department.

What would be your main bit of advice for someone thinking about studying archaeology?

Do it!

I think it’s quite brave in a way for people who are at school to say “I want to study archaeology” because it’s not taught in schools, like history or geography. It’s quite brave to say that you want to do something you’ve never done before.

It’s quite different from most degrees, quite exciting too. You have to do so many days of fieldwork during your time here and most people come to us without any digging experience. That means that it gives you quite a lot of practical skills that other degrees can’t offer. On the other hand it’s a very academic subject, we’re dealing with 3 million years of history – from the very beginnings of our species to very recent events such as the Second World War.

I talk to a lot of people who say “Oh you’re an archaeologist, I really wanted to do that but I did something else.” My advice to students thinking about studying archaeology would be to go ahead and get involved.

Where are you from?

I grew up in Colchester in Essex. We moved to Bahrain when I was very little and then back to Essex. But I only lived in Essex for 8 years and I’ve lived in London for 13 years so I think I can say I’m a Londoner now. I’m pretty proud of that.

Where and what did you study?

I did my undergraduate degree in Southampton. I really wanted to experience somewhere new so I decided not to study in London as it was so close to where I grew up in Essex. I loved every minute of my time in Southampton, and then I came to UCL to do my masters in Human Evolution and Animal Behaviour. I studied monkey behaviour for a year. Now I’m planning a PhD on top of my work. I’ll be studying the history of the Institute of Archaeology, so I’ll be digging up all the secrets hidden here.

What’s the coolest thing about work in archaeology?

Excavation. Everything you find is a new discovery, even if it was buried yesterday. A little while ago we were in Islington and we found a Victorian cistern, and then we were in Sussex and we found some Roman glass. We were blown away. I absolutely love finding things, even after digging for 20 years. This one time I found a bit of old rock and I was obsessed with it.

I think what’s absolutely fascinating is that you can see the human touch on everything you find. I’ve found bits of pottery that have thumb prints in where people of been working with the clay. I love being able to see what our ancestors were making and to understand more about their lives.

Can we talk a little bit about Indy? How long have you had him for?

I think he was born on May the 4^th, which is pretty awesome. He’s from Norfolk. I’ve had him just over a year. He’s my first dog, I was never allowed one when I was little. He’s awesome, he’s completely changed everything about my life. He’s my baby. I mean, look at him he’s wearing a jumper. We’re training him as a therapy dog for students.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BI0AxLBA6wV/?hl=en&taken-by=archaeo_whippet

What exactly does it mean to be a therapy dog?

He’s broken down a whole lot of barriers. Students come in here and talk to the dog about any problems that they’re having. I listen and make sure they’re ok, but they find it easier to come in and talk to an animal. It helps them to calm down.

Are whippets a normal choice for therapy dogs?

No but I know a few who are therapy dogs. They are known for being quite scared. They shake a lot and people assume that they’re scared but it’s not that. They’re just cold, he doesn’t really have much fur. That’s why he’s wearing a jumper. He’s actually quite a fearless whippet. I got him at 10 weeks and immediately introduced him to all of London so he’s not scared of much.

He’s not at all aggressive, so in that way he’s great as a therapy dog. He doesn’t really jump up or lick. He’s quite cat-like. So if you want a therapy dog that’s not going to encroach on your space too much then he’s perfect. He also loves people and other dogs. He doesn’t mind being stroked and handled.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSx8y3pD4S1/?hl=en&taken-by=archaeo_whippet

Do you have any funny stories about him?

He doesn’t really chew anything. That kind of gets you into a false sense of security. But one day I decided to treat myself to a new mascara. It was an expensive one and I was pretty excited about it. Later I heard my friends in the room next to me asking if anyone had a bought a new mascara. I was like “yeah! Me!” and they looked and me and said “well, Indy’s chewing it.” I went in and he had bitten through the cardboard and he was sitting there with mascara all over him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMW_pqQgvMw/?hl=en&taken-by=archaeo_whippet