 |
 |
Dear all - We have a funded PhD award at the University of Hull, UK, on the cultural, historical and literary geographies of urban imaginaries. The PhD will address the fluctuating image of Hull and should contribute to Hull's UK City of Culture 2017 programme. If you, or someone you know, is looking for a PhD like this, please read on below... Many thanks, David -- Fully funded PhD award, University of Hull, UK (to start in September 2015) -- ‘IMAGE AND IDENTITY IN HULL: WRITING A CITY OF CULTURE FROM THE PAST TO THE PRESENT' Co-supervised by David Atkinson (Department of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences) and Daniel Weston (Department of English), University of Hull. The award of 'UK City of Culture 2017' to Hull is a game-changer for the city. This is a once in a generation opportunity to shift perceptions of the city away from the sometimes problematic associations of recent years (such as the decline of traditional industries and poor social indicators in some districts), and to reshape wider, public understandings of Hull as a particular, distinctive place with its unique history and specific strengths and weaknesses. This PhD will explore various attempts to write the 'nature' of Hull and its specific sense of place through the writing and literary imaginaries generated by twentieth century writers, academics and journalists. The research generated by this project will be offered as an element of the Hull2017 programme - providing depth and context to the debates about Hull and its identity that will flourish from 2017 and beyond. The city of Hull didn't used to have an image problem. A century ago, commentators from elsewhere routinely noted the wealth and success of the city, and the pride and confidence of its citizens. These commentators, and the voices of subsequent twentieth century critics who wrote about Hull, will constitute a key resource for this project. You will explore how their writing constructed imaginaries about Hull and its people. You will assess how the senses of place that were articulated reproduced various themes and tropes of representation, how these were inflected by Hull’s specific histories and contexts, and how these themes and representational strategies evolved and changed over a century that brought much change and upheaval for this port-city. Sources to be researched would include (but are not limited to) the following: • Literary authors and poets and the ways they have represented the city and its region. This would encompass figures like Winnifred Holtby, Phillip Larkin, Douglas Dunn, Peter Didsbury, and Sean O'Brien. • Academic authors who have sought to apprehend the city and its place-identity. These would include the visionary planning theorist Patrick Abercrombie and his Plan for Hull (1945); pioneering sociologist Jeremy Tunstall and his work The Fishermen (1962), plus the various academic geographers who have sought to articulate Hull’s sense of place. • Journalists who have covered Hull and its developments. Sources would range from the national newspapers of modern Britain that offered their perspective on the city’s problems and successes, to the city’s local newspapers (totalling nine in Edwardian times) which reveal local responses to the city and its changes. The PhD will analyse how writing, authors and readers played significant roles in the production of Hull’s place identity. It will explore how this distinctive city has been represented, and represented itself, through a century of great change. The research will resonate with a range of interdisciplinary academic debates across the humanities. It will also be designed to contribute to the Hull2017 UK city of culture programme. Additional Information: Applications should be made online via this page: www2.hull.ac.uk/student/scholarships/science/imageidentityhull.aspx Closing date: 2nd February 2015. Candidates should have an undergraduate degree (at least a 2.1) and preferably a Masters degree in an appropriate subject such as human geography, English, history or related disciplines. This studentship is eligible for full funding (academic fees and an annual stipend of £13,863) for UK/EU citizens; or an International Fees Bursary (for non UK/EU citizens, which pays overseas fees, but no living expenses). The studentship is renewed for three years subject to satisfactory progress. Students will be informed of the outcome of their application by 20th March at the latest. Studentships will start on 28th September 2015. For any further details, please feel free to contact David Atkinson ([log in to unmask]) or Daniel Weston ([log in to unmask]).