NB This is an ADDITIONAL studentship to the one previously advertised.

AHRC Beyond Text Collaborative Research Studentship in the Institute of
Railway Studies & Transport History (Department of History, University of
York) and National Railway Museum

Picturing the imaginary geography of the Great Western Railway, 1903-39

Applications are invited for one full-time PhD studentship in modern history
(railway studies), available from October 2008. This three-year studentship
is fully funded (including all University fees and a tax-free maintenance
grant) through the AHRC Beyond Text Collaborative Research Studentships
scheme. The student will be based in the Institute of Railway Studies &
Transport History, a joint initiative of the University of York (Department
of History), and the National Railway Museum (NRM), and have full access to
the Museum's new research facilities as well as those offered by the
University for postgraduate researchers. 

This project explores photography's role in transforming the 'structure of
seeing' through which landscape was apprehended from the point of view of
railway travellers in early-C20th Britain.  Most mobility studies of this
period marginalize photography, concentrate on motoring, and play down the
role of the railways, despite their continuing importance for
longer-distance travel up to 1939. This PhD serves to rectify this dual
neglect of photography and railway travel in Britain through an analysis of
the production and use of a large collection of landscape photographs
developed by the Great Western Railway for commercial purposes. The bulk of
the research will use the NRM's outstanding collection of GWR photographic
images and negatives along with the public materials these were used to
produce. However there will be considerable scope for independent initiative
on the part of the student, for example by researching comparisons with
other railways or transport modes. She or he will be expected to play an
active role in the research community of the IRS&TH as well as more widely
in the University and the NRM, including the dissemination of research
findings in both scholarly and publicly accessible forms. There will be
opportunities to assist in the content development of new exhibitions at the
NRM.

The project will be jointly supervised by Professor Colin Divall (University
of York) and Ed Bartholomew, Senior Curator Conservation and Collections
Management (NRM). Further details are available at: 
https://www.york.ac.uk/inst/irs/irshome/academic/York%20Bey%20Txt%20further%
20details.htm

AHRC regulations specify that the studentship is open only to UK citizens
and to EU citizens who have been in full-time education in the UK for the
last three years. Applicants must hold a good first degree in a relevant
subject and normally hold, or expect to complete by September 2008, a
master's degree in a relevant field. Candidates who do not have a higher
degree will be considered only if they can provide evidence of equivalent
further study.

Application forms http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/gso/gsp/apply plus two letters
of reference should be sent to the Graduate Schools Office at the University
of York to arrive no later than Friday 30 May 2008. Under section 3 of the
application form, 'Outline of academic interests or proposed research
topic', applicants should make a 300-word statement of how their education
and training to date will allow them to respond to the project agenda
outlined in the further details.

Applicants may be called for interview in York at their own expense in June.
Informal inquiries may be made to Prof. Colin Divall, University of York:
[log in to unmask]; +44 (0) 1904 686229 or 432990.