The School of Historical Studies is pleased to
offer this fully-funded studentship for October 2013 entry to its Doctor of
Philosophy (PhD) programme.
The studentship arises from a €1.5 million European
Research Council grant to Professor Clare Anderson, for
the project The Carceral Archipelago: Transnational Circulations in
Global Perspective, 1415-1960.
This research project, which started
March 2013, will take a case study and comparative approach to the history
of imperial expansion, unfree labour, confinement, and their legacies through a
focus on the history of penal colonies all over the world. It will employ a
project manager and two postdoctoral researchers, and includes provision
for the PhD studentship advertised here. The research student will focus
on Sakhalin Island, Russia. This is an excellent opportunity for a
student, passionate about history, with a background in history, another social
science and/or Russian
This is an excellent opportunity for interested
students to undertake their PhD research as part of a prestigious international
research project. There will be superb opportunities for collaboration and
networking, both nationally and internationally; for engagement in impact
activities (notably the production of a Transportation Atlas, and content for
the project website); for participation in the project conference and writing
workshop; and for the publication of research as part of the project’s academic
outputs.
Research Areas and Supervision
We would like to invite applications from students
whose historical interests coincide with the project’s geographical focus and
themes.
The successful applicant will undertake case study
research on Sakhalin (Russia), and will be supervised by ProfessorClare Anderson and Dr Zoe Knox.
The successful applicant will have
considerable flexibility in determining the scope of their research. However,
we are interested in reading proposals that fall within the project’s broad
objectives, which are to:
- quantify
and map global convict flows and circulations
- assess
the importance of convicts as a labour supply
- specify
qualitatively the character of convict work and management, convict
relationships with neighbouring communities, and convict experiences of
transportation
- compare
the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of each site with other labour
flows - e.g. of slaves, indentured servants, soldiers - and
adequately theorise convict transportation in debates about freedom/
unfreedom, circulation and mobility
- give
details of the flow of ideas, practices, and personnel within and across
nations and empires and to specify whether the global powers copied each
other’s ideas or designed transportation systems anew
- trace
the influence of penal colonies on other types of confinement, and vice
versa - e.g. asylums, prisons, agricultural colonies etc. - and
analyse the flow of ideas, practices, and officials across these spaces
- show
and analyse what the impacts of convict transportation were with respect
to culture, demography, and the built environment and what happened to
ex-convicts and their descendants
- find
out how histories of penal transportation are told in museums, heritage
sites, and monuments and how they have influenced people’s sense of
identity.
The successful applicant will be expected to
conduct research in libraries and archives outside Leicester and overseas.
Entry Requirements
This studentship is open to suitable UK/EU and
International (i.e., outside the EU) applicants.
Applicants must have a first-class or high upper
second-class honours degree (or equivalent qualification) in history or a
relevant discipline and meet the University’s standard English language entry requirements. It is expected that applicants will have a relevant
Masters degree with merit or distinction or be able to show evidence that they
will achieve this before October 2013.
Applicants should have good Russian language
skills.
The studentship is for full-time study only
and applicants must be able to commence their studies in October 2013.
Financial Information
The studentship package is generous and
include over a period of three years (36 months):
- a
tax-free stipend of £17,400 per year
- additional
funds for UK and international research travel
- provision
to attend one national and one international conference in the final year
of registration
Please note that the successful applicant will be
required to pay their tuition fees; the University's research degree
tuition fees are currently £3,828 for UK/EU applicants and £10,915 for
international applicants.
Informal Enquiries
Informal enquiries are welcome and should be made
to Professor Clare Anderson:
- ca26@le.ac.uk
- +44
(0)116 229 7528
Apply Now
To apply, simply follow our three-point checklist:
- Draft a research proposal that
tells us what you want to research and how you intend to do it
- Prepare
your supporting documents
- Submit
your online application or apply by post
The closing date for receipt of applications
is 31 August 2013.
Click here
for further details
