CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
FOR FULLY-FUNDED PHD IN ART HISTORY PROJECT (UK OR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS)
MEDIEVAL PAINTING AND THE END OF LIFE: FROM THE MONUMENTAL TO THE PERSONAL
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY LONDON (NU LONDON)
TO START 29 JANUARY 2024
DUE BY 31 OCTOBER 2023
Supervisors (*lead): Dr Niamh Bhalla* (Northeastern University London) and Dr Emily Guerry (University of Kent)
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY LONDON
As part of a major investment, Northeastern University London (NU London) has multiple, fully-funded PhD studentships available to accelerate its interdisciplinary research in the humanities, social sciences, and computing, maths, engineering and natural sciences. Each scholarship is fully-funded for three and a half years (UKRI rates) and includes full course fees, an annual stipend (including an additional London allowance) and associated costs, such as training.
NU London is both a UK university governed by UK higher education regulations, and the European campus of Northeastern University – a large, top-tier research intensive, Boston-based institution. Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is known for its high-impact research, aimed at solving problems across the globe. Interdisciplinarity, experiential learning, and connection to partners beyond academia are at the heart of the Northeastern University ethos. Northeastern received $230.7m of external research funding in 2022, and is the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. It has campuses across the United States and Canada (in Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; Portland, Maine; Oakland, California; San Francisco; Seattle; Silicon Valley; Arlington, Virginia; the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant; Toronto and Vancouver). Whilst the PhD will be a UK qualification, students will have the opportunity to engage with and visit the Northeastern University network overseas as part of their London-based doctoral studies, providing a truly unique and highly sought-after dimension to their research training.
THE PROJECT
This research will contribute methodologically to current debates across the humanities concerning the importance of visual and material objects within human experience. The student recruited to the research project will be required to work on medieval visual culture pertaining to the end of life, to demonstrate how imagery held agency in medieval people’s navigation of formative moments in the human lifecycle.
The specific regions and materials of focus will be shaped by the candidate.
Areas identified as being of particular interest by the supervisors are:
The monumental: Medieval wall paintings concerning death and judgement in Europe – an area of great interest that is currently underdeveloped in scholarship. A comparative approach concerning wall paintings of judgement in eastern and western Europe from the tenth to the fourteenth century may be beneficial to exploring the movement of people and the exchange of ideas in the Middle Ages, specifically shared understandings and uses of images that were implicated in the end-of-life process across various regions.
The personal: Images pertaining to death and the afterlife in manuscripts and on other portable objects where the encounter with the imagery was more personal and the theological treatment of death sometimes different to that of public images. Again, a culturally comparative approach between East and West would be encouraged in this regard. Preference should be given to objects that facilitate access to the experiences of persons often omitted from mainstream historical record.
The research will involve the usual methodological apparatus pertaining to art history, including direct empirical engagement with primary visual and material sources such as paintings and/or illuminated manuscripts, the interrogation of relevant primary written sources pertaining to the topic, regions and artefacts under study, and the application of the critical theoretical apparatus that informs the humanities more generally. This research will lend itself naturally to an interdisciplinary approach touching on gender studies, anthropology, philosophy and theology.
The successful candidates will:
Have a proven, strong educational background in art history or a related subject (see eligibility criteria)
Be excited and inspired by the proposed project area
Be a self-starter
Have great communication skills
Have an inquiring mind and be willing to challenge themselves
The successful candidates will benefit from a brand new campus on the banks of the River Thames next to Tower Bridge. This is an interdisciplinary, vibrant research environment with international collaboration and networking opportunities and dedicated research space. It will form the hub of a highly experienced, multi-institution supervisory team from NU London, Northeastern University and the University of Kent. In addition, successful candidates will benefit from the unique connection to the wider Northeastern University network in North America, providing a range of additional research opportunities and learning resources.
Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in November. Candidates are welcome to contact the NU London supervisor with informal enquiries before the application deadline: niamh.bhalla@nulondon.ac.uk
ELIGIBILITY:
Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject - 2:1 or 1st (essential)
Master’s degree in a relevant subject (optional)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:
If applicable – IELTS 7 overall (with a score of at least 6.5 in each individual component) or equivalent.
NATIONALITY:
Applications are open to UK and international students. Please indicate if you are likely to require a visa on your application. We are unable to support visa costs.
FUNDING:
This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees, an annual stipend and an additional London allowance (set at UKRI rates) for 3.5 years. For the 2023/2024 academic year the annual stipend is £20,622. Annual increments will be in line with UKRI rates.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL:
Students will have the opportunity to optionally travel to Northeastern University in North America to further their research training and experience.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please send a CV and a Covering Letter stating how you meet the requirements and why you are interested in the proposed research project via the 'Apply' button above on the website below. Please reference your application “PHDM1023”