AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Award: Science Museums & Archives Consortium

UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING & NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM, YORK
Literary Cultures, Social Networks & the Railway Worker, 1840-1920
Deadline for applications: Monday 21 March 2016 4pm

The School of Arts & Humanities at the University of Stirling is pleased to invite applications for this fully-funded AHRC PhD Studentship (fees & subsistence at current AHRC UK/EU rates).

The National Railway Museum holds the world’s most important collections on the development of the railway network & nascent railway workforce. This PhD project will use the extensive archival resources held by the Museum & elsewhere to explore the importance of literary cultures (including writing, reading & performance cultures) in the social structures of Victorian railway work. By uncovering a lost culture of songs, poems, periodicals, prose & autobiography by railway workers – produced both individually & collectively – and assessing their place in working-class literature of the Victorian period & early twentieth century, it will argue for the importance of cultural representations of industrial labour & technology in understanding both the lived experience of historical workers & the interrelated functions of cultural & industrial production. While the student will have freedom to shape the exact parameters of the project, it is likely to involve interdisciplinary research into the history of industry, into print cultures & literature, and into working-class culture.

The successful applicant will have the opportunity to design a thesis that will advance our knowledge of working-class history, literature & industry in the long nineteenth century, and to work with the National Railway Museum to use this knowledge to help shape future museum interpretation with regards display, public engagement & learning opportunities. S/he will be expected to hold an undergraduate & Masters degree in any related field of expertise.  

The PhD student will be jointly supervised by Professor Kirstie Blair at the University of Stirling & Ms Karen Baker at the National Railway Museum, and may choose to be located either in York or in Scotland. At Stirling, the student will join a lively community of PhD students working on literature, history & the history of reading in the long nineteenth century. At the National Railway Museum, the student will have the opportunity to work closely with curators & other research students & participate in activities affiliated with the Institute of Railway Studies (a partnership between the National Railway Museum & the University of York).

Information on the application process & further particulars can be found on the University of Stirling's webpages here. 

Potential applicants are welcome to contact Prof Kirstie Blair (Kirstie.blair@stir.ac.uk) or Karen Baker (Karen.baker@nrm.org.uk) for more detailed information or with informal queries.  
Deadline for applications: Monday 21 March 2016, 4pm. Interviews will be held shortly thereafter, at the National Railway Museum.

First published: 17 February 2016