PhD Studentships in French Studies, University of Warwick

UK. Three years AHRC-funded PhD studentships is being offered by the Department of French Studies. Successful applicants will work in a collaborative doctoral project entitled ” French Revolutionary Prints As Spectacle”. Fees paid and £12,940 pa maintenance (subject to residency status).

The PhD will be supervised by Dr Katherine Astbury in conjunction with Waddesdon curator Juliet Carey and Head of Collections Pippa Shirley. This studentship is an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Programme Award which is intended to encourage and develop collaboration between the University of Warwick and a non-academic organisation, in this case, the historic house Waddesdon Manor (near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire).

The project aims to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the notion of spectacle in French Revolutionary prints and their role in the cultural production of the 1790s. In particular it will examine the interrelationship of theatre, politics and visual images during the Revolution.

During the tenure of the doctoral studentship, the student will create an on-line catalogue of the collection of Revolutionary prints at Waddesdon, guided by the curators. The second year of the PhD will be spent in France, accessing material in the major collections in Paris. Further information can be found on the project website.

This studentship will run alongside a parallel AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Programme project entitled “Representations of Paris in French Revolutionary Political Culture, with Particular Reference to Prints” supervised by Professor Colin Jones (Queen Mary University of London) and the intention is that the two students will work together at Waddesdon on the catalogue.

The successful candidate will normally have excellent academic skills in both English and French as well as a proven track record in Art History. Candidates must fulfil the academic requirements for the AHRC studentship competition, i.e. to hold an excellent first degree and an MA in a relevant field, by the start date of October 2008.

The successful candidate will join a vibrant postgraduate community in the Department of French Studies at the University of Warwick and in the first and third year, they will also work on the cataloguing project at Waddesdon Manor itself. The student will benefit both from the buoyant research culture in the Department of French Studies, with its emphasis on interdisciplinary studies, and from the expertise of the Waddesdon curators.

Candidates should send a sample of their academic work of no more than 5000 words, a full CV, including the names and addresses of two academic referees, and a covering letter outlining their suitability for the post and their reasons for wanting to undertake research within this collaborative framework to

Mrs Sylvia Howell
Postgraduate Secretary
Department of French Studies
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL

Enquiries should be addressed to Dr Katherine Astbury: Katherine.Astbury@warwick.ac.uk

Click here for an online application form . The application form must be completed if you wish to be considered for this post. Please quote the reference number REF01-048.

Application deadline is Friday 30 May 2008 (midnight, British Time). Interviews will be held on Thursday 26th June 2008.