Overview
UCL History Department is offering Impact studentships in the fields of historical research set out below. Each studentship will cover UK/EU fees and a stipend equivalent to AHRC funding for three years (£15,290 in AY 2009-10) from 1 October 2010. The successful candidates will be expected to contribute to teaching as a Teaching Assistant (up to 40 contact hours per academic year), for which training and supervision will be provided.
The Impact Studentships will not in any way affect how the research is undertaken, but the award-holders may be asked to contribute to public engagement work relating to their findings.
Eligible candidates
Due to funding restrictions, these studentships are funded for UK or EU applicants only. Candidates should have a good BA degree and an MA in History or a closely related discipline.
Application procedure and closing date: Applicants should send THREE COPIES of a c.v. and a 2-page research proposal, in hard copy, to David Ferguson, Department of History, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, by Tuesday, 1 June 2010.
Fields of study
1) The Practice of Religious Toleration in Early Modern Europe: A Case Study
First Supervisor: Prof. Ben Kaplan, author of Divided by Faith: Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe (Harvard, 2007)
In the post-9/11 era, issues of religious toleration and conflict have risen to the top of the global agenda. Religion has reemerged as a powerful force in international relations, as well as in the public sphere of countries whose politics had seemingly been secularized. This reemergence has posed an acute question whether people with intense commitments to different faiths can live peacefully with one another, and if so, by what arrangements and accommodations. A historical perspective on these questions is highly relevant to contemporary concerns, revealing that religious toleration has taken many guises in the past and suggesting that it may well do the same in the future. This PhD project will contribute to our understanding of the forms and patterns that religious toleration can take. Unlike most academic studies of the history of toleration, it will take as its subject the practice rather than the theory of toleration – practice defined as the peaceful coexistence and interaction of people of different faiths. Its focus will be on the early modern period (ca 1500-1800), when for the first time European society was profoundly divided by faith and “tolerance” became an issue in daily life for millions of people. In that period, some countries such as France and Hungary became officially multi-religious and regulated closely the religious life of all their subjects, while others such as Holland maintained an official single religion but permitted their inhabitants to cultivate a variety of faiths privately.
This PhD project will consist of a case study focusing on a single country or two adjacent ones. Candidates should propose a case study closely tailored to their own interests and expertise. The study may focus on any relevant European land(s), including the British Isles, or on a community or territory within a land; on the interactions between members of Christian confessions, or between Christians, Jews, and Muslims; and it may choose to focus thematically on a particular issue or phenomenon -- for example, `mixed' marriage, conversion, travel and cross-border encounters, disputes over churches and cemeteries, or judicial mechanisms for dispute-resolution, to name just a few possibilities. The successful candidate will show clearly how their proposed case study will contribute to the existing historiography and to an understanding of broader patterns of religious conflict and toleration.
2) The European Revolutions of 1848 and the end of the Liberal Utopia
First Supervisor: Dr Axel Körner, editor of 1848 – A European Revolution? (Macmillan 2000).
The Revolutions of 1848 represent a key moment in the political, social and cultural development of modern Europe, with important repercussions throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Traditionally, each revolution has been studied in isolation, as a series of national revolutions. Methodologically, the focus of these studies has been restricted to the place of the revolutions in the formation of individual nation states or on the social causes of the revolutions. With a narrow focus on the “age of nationalism”, historians have largely ignored the extent to which the revolutions of 1848 were connected and perceived in their time as a European event. Its protagonists understood themselves as part of a Liberal International. Their nationalism was not understood to be directed against any particular other nation and for many being a patriot meant also to be an internationalist. 1848 represents the climax of this internationalist movement, during which the European middle class hoped to put into practice its idea of constitutional government controlled by free citizens. The failure of the revolutions of 1848 represents the end of this liberal utopia. In the words of another European exile who taught at UCL, 1848 also presents the moment when “nationalism and internationalism became contrary poles”.
Due to its close relationship with many of the protagonists of 1848 the British Library owns a formidable, but largely unexplored collection of materials on 1848. The research for this PhD will draw extensively upon primary materials available there, and will also help to launch future collaboration between UCL and the BL. At UCL, the Centre for Transnational History offers an unparalleled expertise in dealing with 1848 in a comparative and transnational perspective.
This PhD will explore the extent to which 1848 was perceived as a European event and will examine the impact the revolution’s failure on the idea of a Liberal International. Candidates should propose a project based on the comparative study of two cases, tailored to their own interests and expertise.
3) Navigating Cultural Difference: The Left and Multiculturalism in Post-war Britain
First Supervisor: Dr Michael Collins
Since 1945 Britain has become an increasingly multicultural society. The end of empire and subsequent migration to these islands have had profound implications for ideas of nationhood, citizenship, identity and welfare. Firmly grounded in Enlightenment universalism, Marxism and socialism also have a long tradition of theorising the relationship between culture and politics. In the post-war period, British Cultural Marxism constituted a significant contribution to political, social and cultural theory. However, the point at which practical politics and political, social and cultural theory intersect – and the specific challenge presented by ‘cultural difference’ to the Left – remains an underdeveloped area of historical inquiry. It is also one that has particular relevance for contemporary debates about cultural difference and national identity, centring on various attempts to re-examine the value of multiculturalism in the wake of the “7/7” terrorist attacks.
Interested candidates should propose a PhD project falling within the broad parameters set out above. Specifically, the project should seek to examine the impact of empire, decolonisation and the rise of multiculturalism in Britain on Left political, social or cultural theory in Britain since 1945. It should take the form of an empirically grounded history of ideas, but particular methodological and theoretical approaches can be discussed in light of the details set down in the proposed project.
Contact
David Ferguson
History Department
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
UK
+44 (0)20 7679 7125
Email: david.ferguson@ucl.ac.uk
Visit the website at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/history/
Please kindly mention Scholarization.blogspot.com when applying for this scholarship
UCL History Department is offering Impact studentships in the fields of historical research set out below. Each studentship will cover UK/EU fees and a stipend equivalent to AHRC funding for three years (£15,290 in AY 2009-10) from 1 October 2010. The successful candidates will be expected to contribute to teaching as a Teaching Assistant (up to 40 contact hours per academic year), for which training and supervision will be provided.
The Impact Studentships will not in any way affect how the research is undertaken, but the award-holders may be asked to contribute to public engagement work relating to their findings.
Eligible candidates
Due to funding restrictions, these studentships are funded for UK or EU applicants only. Candidates should have a good BA degree and an MA in History or a closely related discipline.
Application procedure and closing date: Applicants should send THREE COPIES of a c.v. and a 2-page research proposal, in hard copy, to David Ferguson, Department of History, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, by Tuesday, 1 June 2010.
Fields of study
1) The Practice of Religious Toleration in Early Modern Europe: A Case Study
First Supervisor: Prof. Ben Kaplan, author of Divided by Faith: Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe (Harvard, 2007)
In the post-9/11 era, issues of religious toleration and conflict have risen to the top of the global agenda. Religion has reemerged as a powerful force in international relations, as well as in the public sphere of countries whose politics had seemingly been secularized. This reemergence has posed an acute question whether people with intense commitments to different faiths can live peacefully with one another, and if so, by what arrangements and accommodations. A historical perspective on these questions is highly relevant to contemporary concerns, revealing that religious toleration has taken many guises in the past and suggesting that it may well do the same in the future. This PhD project will contribute to our understanding of the forms and patterns that religious toleration can take. Unlike most academic studies of the history of toleration, it will take as its subject the practice rather than the theory of toleration – practice defined as the peaceful coexistence and interaction of people of different faiths. Its focus will be on the early modern period (ca 1500-1800), when for the first time European society was profoundly divided by faith and “tolerance” became an issue in daily life for millions of people. In that period, some countries such as France and Hungary became officially multi-religious and regulated closely the religious life of all their subjects, while others such as Holland maintained an official single religion but permitted their inhabitants to cultivate a variety of faiths privately.
This PhD project will consist of a case study focusing on a single country or two adjacent ones. Candidates should propose a case study closely tailored to their own interests and expertise. The study may focus on any relevant European land(s), including the British Isles, or on a community or territory within a land; on the interactions between members of Christian confessions, or between Christians, Jews, and Muslims; and it may choose to focus thematically on a particular issue or phenomenon -- for example, `mixed' marriage, conversion, travel and cross-border encounters, disputes over churches and cemeteries, or judicial mechanisms for dispute-resolution, to name just a few possibilities. The successful candidate will show clearly how their proposed case study will contribute to the existing historiography and to an understanding of broader patterns of religious conflict and toleration.
2) The European Revolutions of 1848 and the end of the Liberal Utopia
First Supervisor: Dr Axel Körner, editor of 1848 – A European Revolution? (Macmillan 2000).
The Revolutions of 1848 represent a key moment in the political, social and cultural development of modern Europe, with important repercussions throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Traditionally, each revolution has been studied in isolation, as a series of national revolutions. Methodologically, the focus of these studies has been restricted to the place of the revolutions in the formation of individual nation states or on the social causes of the revolutions. With a narrow focus on the “age of nationalism”, historians have largely ignored the extent to which the revolutions of 1848 were connected and perceived in their time as a European event. Its protagonists understood themselves as part of a Liberal International. Their nationalism was not understood to be directed against any particular other nation and for many being a patriot meant also to be an internationalist. 1848 represents the climax of this internationalist movement, during which the European middle class hoped to put into practice its idea of constitutional government controlled by free citizens. The failure of the revolutions of 1848 represents the end of this liberal utopia. In the words of another European exile who taught at UCL, 1848 also presents the moment when “nationalism and internationalism became contrary poles”.
Due to its close relationship with many of the protagonists of 1848 the British Library owns a formidable, but largely unexplored collection of materials on 1848. The research for this PhD will draw extensively upon primary materials available there, and will also help to launch future collaboration between UCL and the BL. At UCL, the Centre for Transnational History offers an unparalleled expertise in dealing with 1848 in a comparative and transnational perspective.
This PhD will explore the extent to which 1848 was perceived as a European event and will examine the impact the revolution’s failure on the idea of a Liberal International. Candidates should propose a project based on the comparative study of two cases, tailored to their own interests and expertise.
3) Navigating Cultural Difference: The Left and Multiculturalism in Post-war Britain
First Supervisor: Dr Michael Collins
Since 1945 Britain has become an increasingly multicultural society. The end of empire and subsequent migration to these islands have had profound implications for ideas of nationhood, citizenship, identity and welfare. Firmly grounded in Enlightenment universalism, Marxism and socialism also have a long tradition of theorising the relationship between culture and politics. In the post-war period, British Cultural Marxism constituted a significant contribution to political, social and cultural theory. However, the point at which practical politics and political, social and cultural theory intersect – and the specific challenge presented by ‘cultural difference’ to the Left – remains an underdeveloped area of historical inquiry. It is also one that has particular relevance for contemporary debates about cultural difference and national identity, centring on various attempts to re-examine the value of multiculturalism in the wake of the “7/7” terrorist attacks.
Interested candidates should propose a PhD project falling within the broad parameters set out above. Specifically, the project should seek to examine the impact of empire, decolonisation and the rise of multiculturalism in Britain on Left political, social or cultural theory in Britain since 1945. It should take the form of an empirically grounded history of ideas, but particular methodological and theoretical approaches can be discussed in light of the details set down in the proposed project.
Contact
David Ferguson
History Department
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
UK
+44 (0)20 7679 7125
Email: david.ferguson@ucl.ac.uk
Visit the website at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/history/
Please kindly mention Scholarization.blogspot.com when applying for this scholarship
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