AHRC Collaborative PhD Studentship in the Institute of Railway Studies & Transport History (Department of History) and National Railway Museum
Picturing the railway passenger as customer in Britain: the Great Western Railway, 1903-39
Applications are invited for one full-time PhD studentship in modern history, available from October 2008. This three-year studentship is fully funded (including all University fees and a tax-free maintenance grant) through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Awards scheme, and managed by the University of York and the National Railway Museum (NRM). The student will be based in the Institute of Railway Studies & Transport History, a joint initiative of the Department of History and the 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 the role played by photography in the commercial culture of one of Britain s oldest and most financially successful railway companies, the Great Western Railway (GWR). The development of marketing, advertising and publicity were key tools in the emerging consumer society of Britain before the Second World War. The GWR was a leader in developing these techniques in relation to transport services, and an early, systematic and sustained user of photography for these and related purposes. The bulk of the research will use the NRM s outstanding collection of original GWR photographic images 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. 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: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/irs/irshome/academic/York%20CDA%20further%20details-1-1.htm
The studentship is open 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: cd11@york.ac.uk; +44 (0) 1904 686229 or 432990.
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