The University of Leicester School of Historical Studies is offering a fully-funded studentship for October 2013 entry to its PhD programme. 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
Research Areas and Supervision
Applicants whose research area are in geographical focus and themes.
The successful applicant will undertake case study research on Sakhalin (Russia), and will be supervised by Professor Clare Anderson and Dr Zoe Knox.
The successful applicant will have considerable flexibility in determining the scope of their research.
However this research is 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.
Eligibility
- 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.
Worth of Award
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:
- [email protected]
- +44 (0)116 229 7528
How to Apply
To apply, simply follow these 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
Deadline: The closing date for receipt of applications is 31 August 2013.
IMPORTANT: In the Fees and Financial Support section of the application, applicants must indicate that they wish to be considered for the “October 2013 Funded PhD Studentship in Historical Studies (Ref. Clare Anderson)”
Click here for details and submit your application online