Robert Markus Prize awarded to Michael Wuk

Thanks to your generousity, over 700 students like Michael have benefitted from donor funded scholarships, bursaries and prizes last academic year.

Hear from PhD student Michael Wuk who has benefitted from the Professor Robert Markus Prize in Humanities.

"My name is Michael Wuk, I am 23 and originally come from Cannock (a small town 40 minutes outside of Birmingham - no-one seems to have heard of it, except as Jeremy Clarkson's "Second Worst Place to Live in the UK!). I have studied Ancient History at undergraduate (BA Hons. First Class) and postgraduate (MA distinction and current PhD student) levels at The University of Nottingham.

"The Robert Markus Prize award means a lot to me for two reasons. The first is financial - I am currently working in a bar alongside current PhD studies, and it is difficult to do enough hours to ensure I am able to live and meet tuition fees. The £250 goes a long way towards these costs, and puts slightly less pressure on me when at work, which I can then focus into my studies. The second regards the recognition implicit in this award. For myself, I feel as if my hard work has been acknowledged with something more than a mark. I can assure you my parents were very pleased that I had won the honour, which was a pleasant ancillary effect. The prize will also benefit my future, lending weight to job and upcoming scholarship applications as a sign of my academic potential.

"My dissertation, for which I won the prize, focused on the military oath in the second and third centuries AD. This period was characterised by many emperors being killed by their own soldiers, despite each member of the army having to swear an oath of allegiance upon initial enlistment. As a result, one must wonder whether these soldiers believed their sworn obligations were of no importance, despite the religious dimension of swearing in this period. Furthermore, Christianity was becoming more popular from the late second century, which produced problems for soldiers who had taken the pagan vow but converted, or recruits who had no wish to repudiate their faith by participating in what was seen as an idolatrous practice. Unfortunately, there have been very few studies in this area, particularly in the later Roman centuries, which further encouraged me to produce an examination of the phenomenon.

"I am currently researching a PhD thesis on oaths in various contexts throughout Late Antiquity (third to seventh centuries AD) which includes the military oath. Thus my Masters dissertation is providing me with a good basis for me to study the elements of bonds in many contexts. For more details please see my University Profile page.

"Thank you very much for funding the prize I have been awarded."
Posted on Wednesday 25th January 2017