CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award 2012-2015 "How to Build an Arts Centre? Historical perspectives on engaging local audiences with innovative performance practice: Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre in the 1970s"
Aberystwyth University - Theatre, Film and Television Studies

The Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth University and Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, are pleased to invite applications for a three-year doctoral studentship, fully funded by the AHRC (full fees; annual stipend of £14,140; plus associated expenses of up to £1,000 per annum), to commence on 1 October 2012.
The research will be supervised by Dr Heike Roms and Professor Mike Pearson (Aberystwyth University) and Janek Alexander (for Chapter).

CLOSING DATE for applications: 23 July 2012 INTERVIEWS to be held in the week of the 6 August, 2012 STARTING DATE: 1 October 2012 (a later start date of 1 January 2013 will also be considered)

THE RESEARCH PROJECT
The doctoral project will examine past approaches to developing audiences for and encouraging community participation in experimental performance and live art work in Britain. It will do so by studying the establishment and early development of Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, one of Europe's largest multi-disciplinary arts centres, during its formative years in the 1970s. The project will offer unprecedented access to Chapter's unique archive of administrative, programme and marketing files, dating back to its founding in 1971, and to its key personnel. Combining archival research with oral history interviews, the studentship will explore how Chapter's various audience development initiatives further our knowledge and understanding of the infrastructures that were developed in support of performance art and 'alternative' theatre in Britain in the 1970s and the impact these had on the development of local audience communities. The aim is to open up a historical perspective on current debates about the social impact of and community participation in experimental or 'avant-garde' performance practice with a view to inform future initiatives in audience development.

The parameters of the project will be further defined by the interests, skills and initiative of the successful applicant in consultation with their supervisors.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
The successful candidate will choose the specific topic of their doctoral research within the project's general remit. We are looking for a highly promising student who will value the opportunity of combining academic research in this area with involvement with a leading cultural sector organisation. The successful candidate will meet the AHRC's criteria for eligibility, including residency criteria, and be able to demonstrate the potential to develop advanced research skills. A completed (or near-completed) MA or equivalent professional experience is highly desirable.

WHAT WE ARE OFFERING
The student will be given exceptional access to Chapter's extensive and as yet unexplored archival collection of administrative, programme and marketing files and to its artistic and administrative personnel. He/She will also benefit from the lively research culture at the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, one of the largest departments of its kind in the UK, which currently has some 40 PhD research students working on a wide range of projects. The student will receive full research training at Aberystwyth University. He/She will be based mainly in Aberystwyth, with periods of fieldwork to be undertaken in Cardiff.

The award pays tuition fees at the Home/EU rate and a maintenance grant each year (£14,150) plus associated expenses (up to £1,000 per annum), for a maximum of three years of full-time doctoral study, subject to evidence of satisfactory progress.

HOW TO APPLY
1. You can apply online or offline using Aberystwyth's standard PhD application FORM http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/postgrad/howtoapply/

2. You must include two academic REFERENCES and academic transcripts. Please inform your referees about the distinct nature of the CDA project so that they may take this into account when writing letters of reference.

3. Please include a STATEMENT (max 500 words) outlining:
* how your previous experience will equip you to undertake the proposed research
* how you envisage the collaborative nature of the project being of benefit to your research
* how you consider the research will further your future career plans.

4. Please also include a research PROPOSAL (max 1000 words) outlining:
* how you will refine the project as laid out in the project description in order to achieve your own research aims

For informal enquiries and further information please contact Dr Heike Roms, Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, Aberystwyth University, SY23 3AJ ([log in to unmask]).

Further particulars can be downloaded from:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/media/CDA-FurtherParticulars.pdf