Category: Studentships

U Greenwich: PHD Studentship: Racist Hate Speech (UK)

“Studentships“Ph.D. Studentship: Racist Hate Speech: How Bystanders Become Upstanders When Witnessing Derogatory Remarks, University of Greenwich, London, UK. Deadline: 30 October 2024.

Looking for a PhD researcher to conduct research on racist hate speech. The successful candidate will be joining a vibrant community of academics and fellow PhD researchers based at the Greenwich campus in London, where they will be supervised by Professor Sofia Stathi, Dr Jo Kenrick, and Professor Jill Jameson. A comprehensive programme of ongoing training and career development is provided by the Research & Enterprise Training Institute (RETI) at the University of Greenwich.

Insulting statements intended to derogate an individual or group based on perceived attributes such as race are often referred to as hate speech. Racist hate speech is on the rise and threatens vulnerable groups as well as the cohesion of democratic societies. The Council of Europe explicitly highlights the link between hate speech and escalation to violence, and recommends attention and action via education and counter-speech. As such, the topic of hate speech requires urgent scholarly attention that not only highlights its consequences but also identifies strategies that tackle it.

This PhD will focus on examining: (a) how witnessing racist hate speech influences bystanders, and (b) how to counter racist hate speech and enhance allyship with victimised ethnic groups. Both are important to protect and support victims, and to understand and support bystanders who are also (indirectly) affected. Understanding these will provide a more nuanced perspective on the broader effects of racist hate speech and will highlight (individual and contextual) factors that can not only help tackle racist hate speech but also demonstrate allyship with victimised ethnic groups.

U Oslo: PHD Research Fellowships in Political Science (Norway)

“Studentships“1-3 Ph.D. Research Fellowships in Political Science, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. Deadline: 1 September 2024.

The Department of Political Science is recruiting 1-3 Ph.D. Research Fellows. They invite applications from excellent candidates in all sub-fields of political science, including public policy and administration, comparative politics, political theory, international relations and research methods. The appointment is for a fixed, non-tenured term of 4 years, and has a 25% teaching component. The Department teaches in all the sub-fields mentioned above, and directs study programmes in Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies, International Studies, and Public Administration and Leadership. The successful candidate will be part of the Faculty’s PhD programme. The work is expected to lead to a PhD in political science.

DAAD Postgraduate Scholarships & Research Grants (Germany)

“Studentships“

Postgraduate studies, scholarships and research grants , DAAD, Bonn, Germany. Deadline: varies by program.

DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, or German Academic Exchange Service) has a scholarship programme offering a wide range of opportunities, from master’s degrees to doctoral degrees, and including research grants. A few examples include:

Master Studies for All Academic Disciplines

Research Grants in Germany (during doctorate or early post-doctoral phase)

Research Grants – Doctoral Programmes in Germany

 

Utrecht U: Cancelling as a Postcolonial Strategy for Repairing Cultural Heritage (Netherlands)

“Studentships“Ph.D. in Cancelling as a Postcolonial Strategy for Repairing Cultural Heritage, Utrecht University, Netherlands. Deadline: 15 August 2024.

The Department of Media and Culture Studies is looking for a PhD candidate for a project that delves into the meaning and applications of canceling practices within antiracist and decolonial movements. The specific focus is on cancelling as a reparative strategy aimed at addressing the enduring impact of historical injustices in the present. Termed ‘reparative canceling,’ these practices seek to rectify symbols, art, knowledge, cultural heritage, and ingrained cultural norms that are deemed harmful and unjust, thus perpetuating the legacy of colonial history.

You will investigate how reparative cancelling of cultural heritage is performed within antiracist and decolonial activism in both postcolonial (Global South) and post-imperial (Global North) societies. Specifically, it will scrutinise the foundations, justifications, reparative outcomes, and potential drawbacks of the diverse canceling strategies employed by contemporary antiracist and decolonial publics to engage with memory and cultural heritage.

The project will address the following sub-research questions:
* Where does the ‘right to cancel’ stand in relation to the ‘right of memory’ and the preservation of cultural heritage?
* How is the emergence of decolonial and antiracist counter-narratives and counter-memories facilitated by reparative cancelling?

You will tackle these questions by analysing chosen case studies encompassing a range of reparative cancelling practices, such as suppressing/banning, removing/displacing, renaming, and blacklisting/censoring, situated in different geographic locations – namely two postcolonial contexts and two post-imperial contexts.

U West of Scotland Studentship: Politicizing of ESOL Learners (Scotland)

“Studentships“

Ph.D. studentship for The politicizing of ESOL learners: An ethnography of language, migration and politics in the classroom, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland. Deadline: 29 July 2024.

The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) is seeking to attract a PhD candidate of outstanding ability and commitment to join its vibrant and growing programme of internationally excellent research. Meaningful participation in society and access to decent work are key tenets of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision in the UK. Despite the increasing demand for ESOL, practitioners have warned of the damaging effects of severe funding cuts and inconsistent policy. Critical scholarship has also highlighted the detrimental impacts of such language education for migrants, including its alignment with neoliberal agendas (Simpson 2015; Flubacher et al. 2018; Allan 2013), the enactment of surveillance of racialized groups (Khan 2016), and the enabling of exclusionary regimes of citizenship (Cooke & Peutrell 2019; Monforte et al. 2019). These critical assessments from both researchers and practitioners have led to a growing movement towards the explicit politicisation of ESOL, through increased engagement with political issues ranging from anti-racism and access to decent housing, to ESOL funding and provision.

Designed as a multi-sited ethnography across Further Education and the Third Sector, including ESOL classrooms and political events, this project seeks to explore the political stances, identities, and actions engendered through ESOL education. Focusing on migrant learners in Glasgow, the project aims to understand how their political engagement, or lack thereof, is responded to in the ESOL classroom. It also examines how the shifting policies, infrastructures, and practices of ESOL teachers and institutions impact students’ political stances within the broader context of migration and inequality in Scotland. Through this comprehensive approach, the project will contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of ESOL in promoting and/or discouraging political engagement and social inclusion among migrant communities.

The successful candidate should hold a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, or a related subject and have experience conducting research (e.g., Master’s dissertation). Experience and/or knowledge of qualitative, especially ethnographic methods, would be desirable. A working knowledge of popular migrant languages in Glasgow (such as Urdu, Arabic, Polish or Ukrainian) or professional experience in the ESOL sector would also be advantageous. The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate an interest in critical approaches to the study of language and society and be prepared to become an active member of the newly established UWS Centre for Research on Migration, Diaspora, Citizenship, and Identity.

U Sheffield PhD Studentship: Status Conflict in Teams Led by Women & Ethnic Minorities 2024 (UK)

“Studentships“
PhD Studentship 2024-5: Status Conflict in Teams Led by Women and Ethnic Minority Team Members, Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, UK. Deadline: 10 July 2024.

This PhD project will use two secondary datasets and a series of experiments to explore how teams led by white women and ethnic minorities manage status related conflict in newly formed teams. The project will draw on Expectation States Theory which highlights how individuals in newly formed performance-oriented groups are likely to be granted high and low status positions. In the absence of task expertise, diffuse status characteristics (e.g. gender, ethnicity) tend to be used as indicators of high status, meaning that women and ethnic minorities often occupy low status positions in teams. Recent work has found that teams seem to perform ‘better’ when ethnic minorities and women are in low status positions. This is theorised to occur due to the absence of status related conflict among team members, which illustrates the barriers that women and ethnic minority leaders face when adopting leadership roles. This project will therefore explore when and how minorities are able to overcome status conflict in these teams using an interaction process analysis methodology.

Given the quantitative nature of this research, the successful candidate will have a very strong aptitude for research design and statistics and will have a background in psychology or a related discipline. They will be supervised by Dr Sam Farley, Dr Nicola Thomas, and Professor Jeremy Dawson from the Institute of Work Psychology Sheffield University Management School.

The project offers the opportunity to collaborate with Professor Eden King and Professor Mikki Hebl from Rice University’s Department of Psychological Sciences. Professors King and Hebl are experts in Diversity and Inclusion and have a longstanding collaborative relationship with Professor Jeremy Dawson. The plan is for the successful candidate to have a four week stay at Rice University in the final year of their studies, so that they can write up their findings for journal publication under the guidance of Professors King and Hebl, who would feed into the supervision throughout the PhD project.

Heriot-Watt U PhD Studentships: 2 in Languages & Intercultural Studies 2024 (Scotland)

“Studentships“
2 PhD Studentships with Graduate Teaching Assistantships 2024-5 in Languages and Intercultural Studies, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Deadline: 10 July 2024.

The School of Social Sciences seeks to award a number of PhD scholarships with associated Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) positions to outstanding doctoral candidates with clear potential to excel as academic teachers and researchers. The GTA PhD scholarship is a four-year fixed term position: Students undertake a PhD on a 0.75 FTE basis alongside a 0.25 FTE teaching contract. Remuneration consists of a PhD stipend of £14,427 per annum (0.75 of the standard UKRI rate), plus a salary of £7,401. In addition, PhD tuition fees will be covered.

Two posts are available in the Department of Languages & Intercultural Studies. One of the posts will provide teaching support in Spanish, and the other will provide teaching support in British Sign Language (BSL). Under the leadership of the Head of Department, Prof. Jo Drugan, the role-holders will provide teaching support, including large and small group teaching, tutorials and assessment activities.

China Scholarships for African Students 2024 (China)

“Studentships“
China Scholarships for African Students 2024, Chinese Scholarship Council, China. Deadline: 29 June 2024.

The Government of China offers scholarships for African students for the academic year 2022. The scholarships are intended for studies leading to the award of master and doctoral degrees China Scholarships for African Students. The Commission of the African Union acts as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the AU (and is somewhat analogous to the European Commission) for China Scholarships for African Students. If English is not your first language, then you will need to show that your English language skills are at a high enough level to succeed in your studies China Scholarships for African Students. Scholarships are available for pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees. The scholarships are open to all qualified African nationals.

Scholarships are awarded to study Public Policy, Public Administration of National Development, Public Administration, Public Administration in International Development and Governance, Public Administration, Chinese Economy, Management of Rural Development and Management Studies, Public Health, International Communication, Transportation Engineering of Railway Operation and Management, Transportation Engineering, Professional Accounting Program, Auditing, Program in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development, Information and Communication Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electrification & Information Technology in Rail Transit, International Law and Chinese Law, Public Diplomacy, International Relations and Theoretical Economics in National Development.

Queen Mary U: PhD Studentship in Linguistic Integration in Quebec (UK)

“Studentships“
Funded PhD Studentship: Linguistic Integration in Quebec, Queen Mary University, London, UK. Deadline: 24 June 2024.

Forming an independent project in its own right, this PhD studentship in applied linguistics or French (applied/sociolinguistics) will contribute to a broader Leverhulme-funded project on the ethics of linguistic integration in England, Quebec and Wales, by providing the empirical data on Quebec and contributing to the development of an innovative interdisciplinary approach that combines insight from applied/sociolinguistics and political theory/philosophy. Informed by theoretical debates on linguistic integration from these and other disciplines, your project will focus on the following specific research questions: a) How is linguistic integration conceived, practised and experienced by different parties in Quebec? b) What language-related expectations result from these conceptions and experiences? c) What is the relative legitimacy of these expectations when assessed against core liberal democratic values and principles (e.g. justice, equality, inclusivity, solidarity)? To address these questions, you will undertake a qualitative analysis of a broad sample of documentary materials in Quebec (e.g. legislation, policy documents, media debates, speeches, campaign pamphlets) and conduct (in French) semi-structured interviews and/or focus groups with policymakers, second-language teachers and adult immigrant language learners during a fieldtrip.

You will be based at Queen Mary University of London and supervised primarily by Professor Leigh Oakes of the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film. You will also benefit from input from political philosophy/theory through additional supervision by Professor Yael Peled of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity and the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and from participation in a rich set of group activities (e.g. four meetings per year, reading groups, conference participation, joint publications) involving the other members of the research team: Dr Huw Lewis (Aberystwyth), Dr Gwennan Higham (Swansea) and another PhD student based in Aberystwyth. This is a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, collaborative research project and a new generation of scholars committed to interdisciplinary approaches to the politics of language.

NOTE: The studentship is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and will cover 100% of home tuition fees and an annual tax-free maintenance allowance at the UKRI London rate for three years. Due to funding restrictions, this scholarship is unfortunately only open to applicants eligible to pay tuition fees at the UK home rate.

Swansea U: Studentship – From Wales to the World (UK)

“Studentships“
PhD Scholarship: From Wales to the World: A History of the Children’s Peace and Goodwill Message, 1922-1972, Department of History, Swanse University, Wales, UK. Deadline: 13 May 2024.

Swansea University, and the National Library of Wales are pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded Collaborative doctoral studentship from October 2024 under the AHRC’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.

Every year without fail since 1922, a message of Peace and Goodwill has been broadcast to the world in the name of the children of Wales. Emerging in response to the violence of the First World War and in support of international peace, the message elicited responses from young people around the globe. The Goodwill Message linked Wales and the world and was a key means through which peace activists sought to mobilize children in the cause of peace against the backdrop of international upheaval. Despite having no parallel in modern history, little has been written of the history of the Goodwill Message or the international responses to it.

This innovative project stands at the intersection of Welsh and international history. Based at Swansea University and the National Library of Wales and working in conjunction with the Welsh Centre for International Affairs, it will utilise the NLW’s rich collections to research the history of the first fifty years of the Goodwill Message, analysing how visions of peace were articulated in the face of international turmoil and questioning how young people appear in the historical record. There will be opportunities to take part in the programme of CDP Cohort Development events and other activities organized for CDP students by the AHRC, as well as training and development provided by Swansea University and the CDP Welsh Culture and Heritage Consortium.