Please note that the deadline for the studentships below has been extended to April 17, 2015. Please pass the information on to any potential students.

PhD Studentship in Women and Contemporary UK Film
 Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton

Applications are invited for two fully-funded studentships on women and contemporary film in the UK.

The studentships are part of the AHRC-funded project Calling the Shots: women and contemporary film culture in the UK, 2000-2015.


Calling the Shots is a four-year AHRC project investigating women working in contemporary UK film. It involves both quantitative and qualitative analysis of women filmmakers, as well as the wider culture of women’s film in the British context. One of the key goals of the project is to create a public conversation between women practitioners, academics, audiences, and the public. Successful applicants will engage in research on suitable topics in the study of women practitioners or women’s cinema audiences under the supervision of Dr. Shelley Cobb and Prof Linda Ruth Williams. Students will be registered at the University of Southampton.

Studentship #1: a project on women's screen-work in the UK. This project call is for a close study of contemporary women working in the UK industry who make both film and television products. The topic  could involve discussion of  screenwriters, producers or another crossover role and could employ interviews, marketing and reception studies, and textual analysis.

Studentship #2: an investigation of women audiences in the UK since 2000. The call for this project is open to ethnographic, discursive, and/or historical materialist approaches, focusing on reception or marketing and women audiences in conjunction with textual and narrative analysis as appropriate.


Please contact the Primary Investigaor Dr Shelley Cobb ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) or the Co-Investigator Prof Linda Ruth Williams ([log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>) to discuss your proposal in advance of submission.

The PhD scholarship requires: at least a good 2:1 honours degree (or equivalent) and a Masters in either Film or a related discipline.

The PhD scholarship is tenable for a maximum of three years, commencing September 2015, at an annual stipend of £13,863 (following RCUK rates for UK students). Tuition fees will also be paid directly to the University at the appropriate fee rate.

Application for this studentship is by CV; a sample of written work (4,000 words, max); an 800 word personal statement; and a 1500 word research proposal. The research proposal should be in line with one of the topics above. Please also arrange for two academic references to be sent independently by the deadline. All material should be sent to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.


Deadline for applications: Friday, April 17, 2015
We may invite you for interview over telephone or Skype (date tbc).
Dr Shelley Cobb
English and Film
Faculty of Humanities
University of Southampton
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/english/about/staff/sc1p07.page