NEW: York-Hull Collaborative Doctoral Award studentship for 2015-16

Posted on 1 April 2015

Bone and Oil: The Visual and Material Cultures of Whaling in the Long Nineteenth Century

The Department of Art History at the University of York, in partnership with Hull Maritime Museum, invites applications for a fully-funded AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award studentship to commence in October 2015. The PhD supervisors are Prof. Jason Edwards (York) and Robin Diaper (Curator, Hull Maritime Museum).

Focusing on Hull’s maritime activities from the late 18^th century, the museum’s collections contain numerous pieces of scrimshaw, more than 300 canvases, a sizeable print collection, and a range of other objects of key art and anthropological interest, supported by a small library and range of journals and object files. The student will develop a thesis relating closely to these collections, seeking to intervene in four current scholarly debates:

marine painting
Victorian whaling
interdisciplinary craft studies
interdisciplinary animal studies

In addition to their thesis, the student will provide

revised tombstone labels for the marine paintings, scrimshaw and other relevant sculptural items;
interpretive and contextual entries for relevant objects on the Museum’s collections pages;
a number of thematic case study essays, on the website, drawing together related materials;
a range of talks, tours and lectures aimed at a general public.

In exchange, the student will receive unparalleled access to the collections and archives through the three years of the project. The student will also be a member of the AHRC White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities allowing him/her to work and train alongside a cohort of over 70 other researchers, and offering access to additional research funding.

We invite applications from candidates with a strong academic background in long-nineteenth-century art, showing evidence of engagement with animal studies, interdisciplinary craft studies, and/or folk arts. The successful candidate will have developed an original, clear, feasible and significant proposal that can be developed within the 3-year registration period. The candidate must also have excellent command of spoken and written English, and show evidence of an ability to write about artworks for specialist and non-specialist audiences.

For more information about the project, and for entry criteria and application details, see:

Bone and Oil (PDF , 256kb)

The deadline for applications is 5.00pm on Monday 27th April 2015. Short-listed applicants will be invited for interview at Hull Maritime Museum on 22nd May 2015.