Gillian Smith is a fourth-year student from Bethesda, Maryland majoring in History and minoring in Anthropology. Her research examines the archaic English crime of petty treason, the most severe form of murder under early modern English law. Specifically, she is conducting a case study of the 1763 trial and execution of Margery Beddingfield in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Through her thesis, Gillian reframes how historians view the intersection of gender and crime by arguing against the commonly held contention that women were treated leniently under early modern English criminal law. At UCLA, Gillian explores her interest in law as a clerk at Student Legal Services. In her spare time, Gillian writes comedy pieces as editor–in–chief of the satire magazine The Westwood Enabler. After graduation, Gillian hopes to pursue a master’s degree in Early Modern English History continuing her work on crime and gender.
