FULLY-FUNDED PhD STUDENTSHIP: Books and Borrowers, 1747-1857: Innerpeffray Library and the History of Scottish Reading 

The School of Arts and Humanities, University of Stirling, is pleased to invite applications for this three-year, fully-funded PhD Studentship (fees and subsistence at current AHRC UK/EU rates). Funded by the Scottish Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities (www.sgsah.ac.uk), the University of Stirling (www.stir.ac.uk) and the University of Dundee (www.dundee.ac.uk), this studentship is an Applied Research Collaboration Studentship, through which the successful applicant will both produce a conventional PhD thesis, and gain experience in collaborative working and applied research with Innerpeffray Library in Perthshire as the external partner.

The successful candidate will be jointly supervised by Dr Katie Halsey (University of Stirling), Dr Daniel Cook (University of Dundee) and Ms Lara Haggerty (Innerpeffray Library).The precise scope and emphasis of the PhD thesis will be shaped by the interests and initiative of the successful applicant in consultation with the supervisory team, but the proposed doctoral project must fall within the broad field of the history of reading, and must make use of the collections and manuscript holdings of Innerpeffray Library, including its historic loans registers (1747-1968), historic visitors’ books (1859 to the present) and 1702 Trustees’ Minute book. For further information about the library, see www.innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk .
Some research questions that the doctoral project will seek to answer will include (but are not limited to):
·         What effects did the ideals of the Scottish Enlightenment have ‘on the ground’? 
·         What do the borrowers’ registers of Innerpeffray Library contribute to our knowledge of the history of books and reading?
·          What can Innerpeffray Library tell us about the shifts or continuities in the borrowing and reading behaviour of communities and individuals over time? 
·         How can we map the effects of book borrowing/ reading on the practice of individuals (environmental history), or on their social mobility (social/cultural history), or geographical mobility?
·         What role did rural libraries play in disseminating knowledge? 
·         How typical is Innerpeffray? (through comparative analysis of other Scottish/English/Welsh/transatlantic libraries) 

The PhD student will be based at Stirling University, and will spend one day a week (or equivalent) at Innerpeffray Library. There will also be regular meetings with the co-supervisor at Dundee.

Further information on the studentship and on the application procedure is available in the Further Particulars: http://www.stir.ac.uk/media/schools/artsandhumanities/documents/Fully-Funded%20PHD%20Studentship%20-%20Books%20and%20Borrowers.pdf 

Potential applicants are welcome to contact Dr Katie Halsey ([log in to unmask]) and Dr Daniel Cook ([log in to unmask]) informally with any questions they may have.

The Studentship will commence on 1 October 2015. 

Deadline for applications: Tuesday 30 June 2015. Interviews will be held shortly thereafter, at the University of Stirling.
 

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