University of Liverpool PhD studentships 2022 in UK

Applications are invited for a funded PhD studentship at the University of Liverpool to start October 2022.

University of Liverpool PhD studentships will be supervised by Dr Peter Campbell, based in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, Dr Sam Caslin based in the Department of History, and Bryan Biggs, Director of Cultural Legacies at the Bluecoat, Liverpool’s contemporary arts centre.

This interdisciplinary studentship will examine the role of the Bluecoat in enabling social mobility into artistic and cultural careers. The research will use a comparison of three historical moments that have been identified in existing literature as important for cultural production in Liverpool: the 1960s, the 1980s, and the 2000s. These are decades when Liverpool’s artistic and cultural networks enjoyed individual and collective acclaim from public and critical audiences, associated with prominent working-class artists. Yet there has, to date, been little research understanding the role of institutions in supporting and enabling those from working-class origins to ‘make it’ into the predominantly middle-class world of the arts.

The project will blend sociological methods such as quantitative analysis of secondary datasets on social mobility and the construction and analysis of social networks, and historical approaches such as archival research and oral history. It will also require understanding of literature from each discipline, covering the cultural history of class discourses and the sociological analysis of the changing class composition of British society. Discrete case study periods will allow a focus on specific exhibitions and projects, and individual artists’ careers, alongside the comparative macro-sociology of artistic and cultural careers.

The successful candidate will have prior interests in the arts, the sociology of class and modern history, and will conduct original research to generate primary data in addition to utilising resources and archives available at the Bluecoat alongside wider secondary data sources. The researcher will also identify impact pathways and opportunities to work with the Bluecoat to disseminate their findings (for example, exhibitions, conferences, policy papers).

Benefits of University of Liverpool PhD Scholarship:

A stipend of £16,159 + standard UKRI home fee rate of £4,500 per annum for 3.5 years (TBC for 2022/23).

Eligibility Criteria of University of Liverpool PhD studentships :

As this is a three year studentship, applicants must hold (or expect to soon be awarded) a Masters degree in a relevant subject, which includes a significant component of training in relevant research methods. UK or international applicants are welcome.