Stuart Hall Doctoral Studentship in association with Merton College and TORCH 2019-2022

Applicants are invited for a DPhil studentship offered as part of a collaboration between the Stuart Hall Foundation, Merton College, and TORCH.

Funded through Merton College and the Clarendon Fund, and supported by TORCH, the studentship aims to support the Foundation’s vision to encourage scholars, artists and researchers to build on Professor Stuart Hall’s legacy.

We welcome applications from DPhil candidates in any Faculty in the Humanities Division. Candidates with particular research interests in Professor Stuart Hall’s areas of expertise are encouraged, including cultural theory, criticism and reception; race, ethnicity, and identity; and the politics of diasporic experience.

This studentship is part of, and the postholder would be expected to contribute to, the ‘Humanities & Identities’ research theme at TORCH which is designed to create new interest in, and opportunities for, research that reaches across the humanities and beyond in areas that link to diversity and inclusivity. There will be opportunities to contribute to conferences and workshops. The successful candidate will also be encouraged to participate in Merton’s on-course and admissions access and diversity work. This could include speaking at some school events, participating in UNIQ summer schools, and serving on the College’s Equality Forum. The postholder will be expected to demonstrate their interest in, and commitment to, the application of scholarship to intervene in society in the spirit of Professor Stuart Hall. They will be able to tap into the resources and networks of the Stuart Hall Foundation including an annual gathering of Stuart Hall Foundation Scholars and Fellows, and privileged access to the work of the Foundation.

The Humanities Division of the University of Oxford is committed to increasing the portfolio of scholarships available to all students to attract the best, irrespective of background. The underrepresentation of UK-BME students suggests that more can be done to increase opportunities for students from these backgrounds to pursue a graduate degree in the Humanities. Applications are particularly welcome from black and minority ethnic (BME) candidates and candidates from non-traditional or disadvantaged backgrounds who are under-represented at graduate level in the Humanities at Oxford.

Award value: The studentship covers course fees at the Home / EU rate, and provides a stipend (tax-free maintenance grant) of £14,777 (2017-18 rates) for the three years.

Application process: Applications for a DPhil programme in the Humanities should be made through the University portal as usual by the 11 January 2019 application deadline. 

In addition, you are required to submit a supporting statement by the application deadline to the Graduate Office of the Humanities Division: graduate.admin@humanities.ox.ac.uk.

In your supporting statement, which should be no more than 1,000 words, please set out how you anticipate your graduate research engaging with and building on Stuart Hall’s legacy. We also invite you to comment on how you would envisage contributing both to the TORCH ‘Humanities & Identities’ research theme and to Merton College’s access and diversity work, and please outline specifically how you as an individual would be best placed to do this.

The Selection Committee will consider your supporting statement in conjunction with your application for a DPhil programme.More information