David Phillips '17 Travels to Germany for Research Project

David Phillips '17, a freshman at the University of Notre Dame, and two of his friends conceived an research project and applied for an undergraduate research grant which Notre Dame fully funded.
Their research project was to compare two Gothic novels, Johann Goethe's Faust and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. They traveled to Germany for one week over Spring break to research the potential connection by visiting museums, meeting with various scholars, and visiting historical document archives along the way. They spent time in Frankfurt, Ingolstadt, and Munich. Their research confirmed our hypothesis and revealed that Mary Shelley and Goethe shared ideological, social, and historical influences. For example, they both had ties to the Bavarian Illuminati. The Bavarian Illuminati is the original illuminati and was actually a group of non-religious, enlightenment era, free-thinkers who believed in education.

We can’t wait to hear more about David’s travels. This summer, he will be traveling to Santiago Chile to do research with a conservative catholic law professor and then to Rome to present a paper he wrote on Frankenstein at a conference.

We would love to hear what our alumni are up to in college and beyond! Share your story with us by contacting our alumni coordinator, Susan Garke at sgarke@cchsca.org.
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    • David Phillips '17 at an art museum that is part of a broader festival celebrating Goethe's Faust

    • David and his friends in Munich's city center

    • David and his friends outside of a beer hall in Munich