{"id":2139,"date":"2026-03-02T22:54:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T22:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/undergraduate-excellence\/2026\/03\/02\/the-road-to-a-phd\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T06:23:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T06:23:39","slug":"the-road-to-a-phd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/undergraduate-excellence\/2026\/03\/02\/the-road-to-a-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"The Road to a PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Sottile presenting at the Song, Stage, and Screen musical theatre conference in Chicago in June 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While everyone was stuck at home during the 2020 COVID lockdowns, Emry Sottile was spending their days working on their\u00a0research for the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program\u00a0that was being held on Zoom at the time. What started as a jumpstart on their master\u2019s thesis turned into\u00a0Sottile\u2019s\u00a0career in academia\u00a0and a pursuit of a PhD.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sottile\u00a0graduated from Chapman University in 2020 with a double major: BFA in TV Writing and Production and a BA in History.\u00a0Before starting their\u00a0MA in War and Society the following year, Sottile heard about the SURF program during a travel course with Dr. Julye\u00a0Bidmead.\u00a0An eight-week program dedicated to constructing research related to their field of study seemed like\u00a0a great opportunity\u00a0for Sottile to start generating ideas for their\u00a0MA thesis.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI thought the summer fellowship was going to be a really good way to end up exploring some of the things I was thinking about researching so I could get a headstart on my MA research and also have time to explore the things I was interested in,\u201d said Sottile.\u00a0They dedicated their SURF\u00a0research\u00a0to studying\u00a0musicals and how war and history are represented in them.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Sottile\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have the traditional SURF experience\u00a0of being in-person, they expressed\u00a0gratitude towards the Center of Undergraduate Excellence\u00a0(CUE)\u00a0for adapting to the circumstances. \u201c<\/span>I also appreciate the CUE still ensuring the program would run during the summer, despite the pandemic, and troubleshooting with us and the mentors with flexibility to give us the research experience…\u201d<\/span>\u00a0said Sottile.\u00a0They\u00a0met with professors, creative directors, and actors of musicals\u00a0via Zoom\u00a0for their research.\u00a0Sottile also discussed the\u00a0important\u00a0connections they made with mentors during SURF.\u00a0While they previously did not have strong mentorship in theatre due to their history and film majors, SURF allowed Sottile to work with Dr.\u00a0Jessica\u00a0Sternfeld\u00a0and build a strong mentorship that they still\u00a0maintain\u00a0today.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SURF\u00a0and\u00a0CUE\u00a0were\u00a0able to help Sottile build skills that would be needed\u00a0to\u00a0be successful in graduate school.\u00a0Time management, methods\u00a0for\u00a0conducting research, and being able to discuss research to a large audience were all skills that Sottile developed.\u00a0\u201c<\/span>I felt that those working\u00a0[at CUE], such as Dr.\u00a0Bidmead\u00a0during my time there, were helpful in not only making me aware of opportunities that existed I\u00a0didn’t\u00a0know about, but with the proper means to pursue them with individualized attention. Through organizing events like the Student Scholar Symposiums and the SURF symposium, the CUE gave\u00a0accessible\u00a0places to practice publicly presenting one’s research to lay audiences and other students\/teachers, which has been invaluable…<\/span>\u201d\u00a0said Sottile<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Sottile onsite at the Stranger Things-inspired sci-fi horror blockbuster live action role play, Hawkins (Grimmoire Productions 2025) for dissertation research<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sottile is currently a fourth-year PhD student at Northwestern University, where they have taken their research done during their SURF and master\u2019s program and have continued to expand on it. Their\u00a0SURF\u00a0research on the musical\u00a0<\/span>Allegiance\u00a0<\/span><\/i>had been reworked and expanded into an article\u00a0published in\u00a0<\/span>Studies in\u00a0Musical\u00a0Theatre<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in October 2024.\u00a0Their research on\u00a0<\/span>Bandstand\u00a0<\/span><\/i>is also being reworked for future publication in the same journal.\u00a0\u201c<\/span>It\u2019s been really cool that two-thirds of my research that I got to do over the summer during SURF is now finally out there or going to be out there,\u201d said Sottile.\u00a0After finishing their PhD, Sottile hopes to stay in academia as a professor.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sottile\u2019s SURF experience has stayed with them beyond their time at Chapman University, and their SURF research is now being published for other scholars to read and review. The SURF program is beneficial to students of all disciplines. If you want to learn more about SURF <\/span>visit the SURF information page on the Center for Undergraduate Excellence\u00a0<\/span>website<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emry Sottile’s SURF 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