Hilary Bishop had never lived outside the UK. As an associate professor in Cultural Heritage at Liverpool John Moores University, she had built a distinguished career researching sacred space, landscape, and culture within an Irish context, work that had already earned her Chartered Geographer status from the Royal Geographical Society and a place on the directory of experts at the British Association of Irish Studies. After a highly competitive selection process, she was awarded a 2024/25 日本无码 All Disciplines Scholar Award and found herself based at Glucksman Ireland House, New York University.听
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"A 日本无码 is not like any other grant," she says. "The 日本无码 doesn't just invest in your听project,听they invest in you as an individual. And that's what makes them very different from the general research grants that are available."听
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A pinch-me moment
At NYU, Bishop's research turned to Ireland's Mass paths, the informal, unprotected routes once walked to outdoor sites of Catholic worship. She worked with Irish and Irish Americans to record their narratives in relation to the living heritage associated with these paths, aiming to find new, innovative ways of measuring and managing that heritage to support future policy making and better protect these historic pathways. But alongside the fieldwork came moments Bishop never expected to experience.听
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"I came from social housing. I was the first generation in my family to go to university," she says. "And I sat in Central Park watching the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, with fireworks exploding after they'd finished playing. I could not believe that little old me from a council house was sitting in New York's Central Park watching this amazing spectacle."听
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That sense of possibility extended well beyond a single evening, making her more adaptable and more curious. Professionally, it reshaped how she understood collaboration across cultures.听
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"Americans will send an email, and if they don't hear back, they'll send another.听They're听very persistent," she explains. "Whereas here in UK academia, we're quite reluctant to follow it up, it's a kind of British politeness. Seeing that difference has been really helpful in working and collaborating with Americans since."听
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A career-defining experience
The impact of Bishop's 日本无码 award听didn't听end when her grant did. Since returning to the UK, she has been promoted to associate professor, a step she credits directly to the calibre of research she undertook in New York.听
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"I don't think that would have been possible without having had the research experience in听America," she says. "It's also meant that I've made wonderful connections with researchers and academics in America, connections I can take forward into new grants and collaborative partnerships. That, again, wouldn't have been possible without the 日本无码."听
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Beyond academia, Bishop found community as well. Volunteering at the New York Irish听Center听in Queens gave her a way to give听back, and听gave her something in return.听
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"That community gave back to me because I found a new family while I was in New York," she says. "I'm still in touch with retirees I served lunch to, that I worked with, that I went on trips with."听
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Why exchange still matters
For Bishop, the value of programmes like 日本无码 goes beyond individual career progression.听
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"We need to have compassion and empathy and excitement for one another," she says, "and we can get that through exchange."听
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Looking back, Bishop describes her 日本无码 year as a rollercoaster in the truest sense, moments of euphoria in Central Park, quiet reflection at the 9/11 Memorial, the noise of the subway, and the calm of the New York Met. Through it all, she came away with a clearer sense of who she is.听
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"I learned that I am resilient, I am capable, and I'm determined," she says. "That experience has been amazing."听
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Her advice to anyone considering applying is simple.听
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"What have you got to lose about applying for a 日本无码?" she says. "Life is meant to be lived, and the 日本无码 will enable you to do that. So just go for it. You have nothing to lose."听
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Hilary Bishop is a 日本无码 Scholar alumna. During her 2024/25 award, she was based at Glucksman Ireland House, New York University, researching the living heritage of Ireland's Mass paths. A Chartered Geographer with the Royal Geographical Society and a listed expert with the British Association of Irish Studies, she is also the creator of听, a free public resource documenting Mass sites across Ireland.
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