The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
University couple celebrate double doctoral success
Aloved-up duo celebrated double doctoral success on Wednesday after graduating from St Andrews University – but they have more than one reason to celebrate.
As well as being awarded their PhDs in Hebrew Bible from the School of Divinity, married couple Ethan and Tamara Knudson also managed to juggle two new additions to their family during their time in St Andrews.
Ethan, who is from America, and Tamara, who was born in Stirling and raised in Zambia, met at the University of Oregon and after marrying in 2014, decided to return to the UK to be closer to Tamara’s family and her Scottish roots.
Keen to continue studying, they decided to apply for master’s programmes and St Andrews quickly became their top choice.
After both being accepted for MLitt courses back in 2016, they moved to St Andrews and “immediately fell in love with the town”.
Ethan said: “Much of our early days of getting to know one another had involved study ‘dates’ and we were delighted to take this up again, our favourite spot being the library at Martyr’s Kirk.
“It was a stressful year, but every day we’d take a stroll along East Sands to relax and process what we were learning with one another.”
Ethan hoped to continue on to a PhD and, as the year moved on, Tamara found she also wanted to pursue doctoral studies.
They both applied for PhDs in Hebrew Bible and were accepted to study under Dr William Tooman at the university.
He said: “We had our first child, Eilidh, about halfway through our second year of the PhDs.
“This of course made for some unique challenges as we balanced childcare, both of our studies and work (I was tutoring and Tamara was a research assistant to Dr Tooman).
“However, we felt very blessed and, in a sense, that we both got to have the best of both worlds – being able to take care of our daughter and pursue our passions.
“We were always able to process and work through questions together and help each other along since we faced so many of the same challenges.”
Just as the couple were planning to submit their research, they found out that Tamara was pregnant with their second child and she gave birth to their son Arlo at home on November 11 this year.
Looking back, the couple said that they do not know how they managed to combine working for two PhDs and having one small child with another on the way.
Ethan continued: “The reality is that the only way we managed was with the support of incredible friends and family.
“We’re not entirely sure what’s next, but our hope is that whatever we do and wherever we settle we can continue to share parenting and work together.”