The Centre for Postdigital Cultures and the National Library of Scotland (NLS) seek a doctoral student for a fully-funded AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Studentship, awarded by the Scottish Cultural Heritage Consortium and supported by the Scottish Refugee Council. The project will be supervised by Dr Janneke Adema (Associate Professor Digital Media) and Dr Judith Fathallah (Research Fellow) at the CPC and Dr Patrick Hart (Curator) and Dr Sarah Ames (Digital Scholarship Librarian) at the NLS.
Project Overview
With 100 million people displaced globally, collecting and conserving refugees’ writings and making them accessible and visible has never been more important. Examining their historical biases and silences has led libraries to revise their curatorial practices and collection development policies. Yet publishing by displaced people still presents libraries with significant challenges and raises profound questions regarding their purpose and role.
One reason refugees and other migrants may be under-represented in libraries’ collections is that they have been excluded from access to the resources required to publish—including money, time, cultural capital, language skills and technical know-how. Libraries traditionally see their function as collecting, conserving and making available publications, rather than to influence the publishing landscape. Yet driven by concerns to make scholarship more equitable and diverse, and alarm over the consequences of profit-driven models of scholarly communication, libraries are recognising that they do shape that landscape – as subscribers, funders, publishers, and platform and infrastructure providers. These concerns often echo those informing libraries’ responses to refugees and other minoritised groups.
This project asks what roles libraries should play in relation to publishing by displaced people. How do and have libraries collected, presented and represented refugees’ writings and experiences? Do libraries have a responsibility to make publishing more accessible for under-represented communities? What lessons might be learnt from the new forms of digital publishing developed by movements for open scholarship? How might these be adapted for non-academic communities? How might this relate to existing collection development and curatorial practices? And what are the practical, theoretical and ethical implications?
The project focuses on this cluster of research questions while heeding Angela Davis’ warning that ‘”migrant” and “refugee” don’t represent individuals or groups or communities [but] state regulated relations of governance’. To explore the relationship between libraries, publishing and displaced people, it brings together the CPC’s expertise in new models of experimental small-scale publishing (including scholar-led and library publishing); the Scottish Refugee Council’s tradition of supporting refugees’ cultural aspirations; and the National Library’s curatorial expertise and experience of the challenges involved in collecting and presenting refugee publishing.
This project hopes to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of libraries’ roles in a changing publishing landscape. It will show how libraries can support publishing beyond academia and lead to enhanced opportunities for under-represented and marginalised communities. It will develop recommendations as to how libraries can support the needs of displaced people while addressing biases and the need to decolonise.
The studentship offers opportunities to combine academic training with practice-based experience and research in a national library, and to gain a range of transferable professional skills.
The student will spend time with both the CPC and the NLS. The project welcomes both UK and international applicants, and those wishing to study full-time or part-time. We particularly welcome applicants currently underrepresented in doctoral student cohorts, including those with lived experience of forced migration.
Funding
Full tuition fees and stipend.
Up to £1,650 in further support from CU (£550 annually for 3 years) over the course of the Studentship, from identified additional stipend payment funds made available by the Arts and Humanities Research Council for these purposes.
Coventry University Research Support Allowance (per financial year for 3 years) up to £250 for full time (or up to £125 for part time), non-accumulative, with a one-off £300 fee for the PGR to attend (a) conference(s).
The National Library of Scotland provides £1,000 support per twelve-month period for each of the first three years of the Studentship and up to a maximum of £500 during the final year of the Studentship (£3,500 over the course of the Studentship).
Benefits
The successful candidate will receive comprehensive research training including technical, personal and professional skills.
All researchers at Coventry University (from PhD to Professor) are part of the Doctoral College and Centre for Research Capability and Development, which provides support with high-quality training and career development activities.
Candidate specification
- A bachelor’s (honours) degree in a relevant discipline/subject area with a minimum classification of 2:1 and a minimum mark of 60% in the project element (or equivalent), or an equivalent award from an overseas institution.
PLUS - the potential to engage in innovative research and to complete the PhD within 4 years
- An adequate proficiency in English must be demonstrated by applicants whose first language is not English. The general requirement is a minimum overall IELTS Academic score of 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in each of the four sections, or the TOEFL iBT test with a minimum overall score of 95 with a minimum of 21 in each of the four sections.
For further details please visit: https://www.coventry.ac.uk/research/research-opportunities/research-students/making-an-application/research-entry-criteria/
How to apply
All applications require a covering letter and a 2000-word supporting statement showing how the applicant’s expertise and interests are relevant to the project.
More information and to apply: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CZR131/phd-studentship-advancing-collection-development-through-supporting-refugee-publishing-strategies-for-libraries
To find out more about the project please contact Dr Janneke Adema.