Daphne Rose (she/her) is a 2025 SURF L&S researcher majoring in Comparative Literature. For her SURF project this summer, Daphne will be researching the topic, “”A Necessary Excavation”: Female Trauma from Tragedy to Autofiction”.
How did your research question or process change over the course of the summer?
I realized early on that I had chosen much too broad of a research topic. This is very common, particularly among undergraduates, who likely have never had the opportunity to do original, independent research before, and it comes from a scarcity mindset, or the fear that if your topic is too narrow, you’ll run out of things to say. As it turns out, it’s the other way around: the deeper you dive into your research, the more you’ll discover. Additionally, as a Comparative Literature student, I thought I needed to make my thesis (and, by extension, my SURF project) comparative—which isn’t true at all! Although our training is comparative, our final projects need not be.
What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
Most of the challenges I faced were emotional—resentment, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome, the last of which disproportionately affects high-achieving women. I had to ask myself who that rhetoric served: me, or the hegemonic structures designed to keep people like me out of academia? Besides, if I wasn’t a competent writer or my research topic had no value, my project would never have been approved. Being an inexperienced researcher wasn’t just acceptable, it was actually expected of me—hence the workshops to teach me new skills and cluster meetings to keep me on track. Remembering that gave me the confidence to keep going.
What was one of the most exciting aspects of your research project that you were able to pursue?
The most exciting aspect of my SURF project was the complete freedom and support to research the topics that most interested me, that kept me awake at night because thinking about them meant my mind was too busy to fall asleep, without needing to make them relevant to a class essay prompt. It was a wonderful opportunity that solidified my desire to go to grad school so that I could continue researching and collaborating with my peers and mentors.
Did your research entail any travel? Fieldwork? Use of new technology, novel equipment or methodologies?
No. By nature of being a literary project, in a relatively new field, my project didn’t call for travel, fieldwork, or much equipment beyond my laptop and notebooks. It was much more mental: lots of reading, writing, analysis, and synthesis.
What skills did you develop that you didn’t have before?
Through the workshops offered by the Arts & Humanities mentor Danielle Stephenson, I developed new strategies for close reading that have been enormously helpful both on an interpersonal level, trying to decipher texts from my friends’ situationships, and in my classes as a Comparative Literature major.
Have you had any opportunities emerge for you as a result of your summer research?
Yes—I have the wonderful opportunity to be a Writing Fellow for my thesis advisor’s course this spring.
Are you thinking about or currently applying to graduate school or scholarships to support future research?
Yes! I’m currently in the process of applying to a handful of PhD and Master’s programs in Comparative Literature. It’s hard not to feel anxious applying in this particular cycle, with such drastic funding cuts and schools shutting their doors—but I’m still excited about the opportunity to continue my research in autofiction studies, and flexible about what that might look like. My backup plan is to take a year off to go to pastry school, and reapply next cycle with the added confidence of knowing how to make mille-feuille from scratch.
How did participating in the SURF (specifically the programming–the research cluster meetings and workshops) support your research process or feelings of preparedness?
The research cluster meetings helped keep me on track with my project, even when I felt unmotivated; I wanted some new idea, insight, or other indicator of progress I could share with my cohort. I can’t overstate how helpful the workshops were—not just in respect to my SURF project, but also in preparing me for my senior year at Berkeley as a better, more capable student. Perhaps it’s because I’m a transfer student or simply the nature of a Comparative Literature degree, but I sometimes struggle with the feeling that there are huge gaps in my education. I have a sense of how to develop arguments and compose a thesis, but before my SURF fellowship, I struggled to articulate the steps I took to get there. Dani’s workshops clarified the process for me and introduced new strategies I could use for close reading and thinking critically about a given text, as well as navigating archives and submitting one’s work for publication—the skills that distinguish a student from a scholar.
What was it like working with your faculty mentor/ research advisor?
My project was very independent. I was grateful for my faculty mentor’s trust in me as I pursued different ideas and worked at my own pace.
How did being part of this program support or shape your research experience?
Having the structure and guidance of the SURF program, with regular workshops and meetings with my mentor, was incredibly helpful for me. While I was excited to perform independent research for the first time, I didn’t have a clue what that looked like. The support of my mentor as well as the other fellows in my cohort was critical to my success: while I worked mostly alone, they were there to help me clarify my ideas, develop my skills as a researcher, and calm me down when I felt overwhelmed by the scope of the project I had chosen. I found SURF to be the perfect balance between the freedom to pursue my own interests and the guidance and insight of my colleagues.
What resources or opportunities provided by the program were most valuable to you?
The slideshows, handouts, and recommended readings Dani shared in her workshops were so helpful, I still go back and reference them when I’m developing ideas for papers and future research.