Applications are invited for a fully-funded three-year CHASE doctoral studentship, jointly supervised within the Departments of Politics and International Studies (SOAS University of London), History, Classics and Archaeology (Birkbeck College, University of London), and the Arab and African Research Center (AARC) in Egypt.
Project
The studentship will support interdisciplinary (Politics and History) research examining the dynamics and dilemmas of transnational solidarity as exemplified in Egypt’s role as sponsor of South ern African liberation movements during the 1960s. This will be one of the first studies of its kind, contributing to scholarship on the Cold War, Afro-Asian decolonisation, and African liberation struggles’ contemporary legacies.
This project’s overall aims are to retrieve and analyse the shifting motivations, power balances, and mutual influences driving relations between the Egyptian state and the southern African liberation movements which it sponsored during the era of decolonisation, and to engage with theories of solidarity in politics and historical geography to evaluate these.
The successful candidate might focus specifically on one or a combination of the following questions: the nature of Egyptian diplomatic, financial support to, and influence on Southern African liberation movements; the place of Egypt in the political imaginaries of nationalist liberation activists’; the implications of the case study for theories of transnational solidarity; the role of Cairo as a Cold War city.
Supervision
The three supervisors will be Dr Reem Abou-El-Fadl (Politics, SOAS), Dr Hilary Sapire (History, Birkbeck) and Professor Helmi Sharawy (Director, AARC). This is an opportunity to work with two disciplinary/regional experts, and with both a scholar and former co-ordinator of African liberation movements in Egypt’s presidency (1958-1971).
Requirements
The PhD will commence in October 2022. The student will spend at least three months each at the AARC, and at archives in South Africa. Fluency in Arabic, a capacity to travel freely in Africa, and a first-class degree in Politics/History are essential.
Benefits
The candidate will benefit from two world-leading Departments, enjoying specialisms in Middle East and African politics at SOAS, with its internationally renowned research library, and expertise in global history, transnationalism, and African History at Birkbeck. Rigorous methods training will be offered at both institutions. The candidate will join the AARC’s Africanist research network and gain special access to its archives/publications. They will also participate in the University of London Southern African seminar series events and workshops.
Funding Amount
For the academic year 2022-23, the stipend will be £18,612 with London weighting. This includes enhanced stipend to cover additional travel costs relating to the project. The funding will cover UK fees.
How to Apply
Applications for this studentship must be made via the SOAS University of London application form, available at this link , by Friday 6 May 2022 at 12 noon. Applicants must provide two references in support of their application.
Candidates will be assessed by a shortlisting process, and shortlisted candidates will be interviewed. Interview outcomes will be received by the Management Board for approval.
Birkbeck awards over 100 research degrees each year. So far in 2022, up to the end of February, 18 Birkbeck Doctoral Researchers were awarded a PhD or Professional Doctorate for their work in the following areas:
School of Arts
3 PhDs in History of Art
3 PhDs in English, Theatre and Creative Writing
1 PhD in Languages, Cultures and Applied Linguistics
Our internationally renowned London Critical Theory Summer School returns on Birkbeck’s campus in central London this summer from 27 June to 8 July. The LCTSS may revert to either a hybrid model or a full-scale online programme if Covid-related restrictions globally require us to do so.
Throughout the two weeks, attendees will be immersed in a substantial programme of study with the acclaimed critical thinkers Jodi Dean, Achille Mbembe, Sarah Nuttall, Etienne Balibar, Costas Douzinas, Stephen Frosh, Esther Leslie, Jacqueline Rose and Slavoj Žižek. We are also welcoming Sisonke Msimang as part of our strengthening connections to the WISER institute (Johannesberg).
The Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities are pleased to offer three bursaries to Birkbeck students and one bursary to an international student to cover the full cost of fees, travel and accommodation during the period of the Summer School in central London.
This year, there will also be a LCTSS Virtual Programme, an educational experience for those: unsure whether they are ready for the full in person course; with concerns about travel; or on a reduced budget.
The deadline for applications is Friday 18 March. Application forms are available here.
The Essay Film Festival returns in March and April for its eighth edition, with a focus on politically engaged and collectively authored essayistic film practices.
The festival will take place between 19 March & 23 April.
The Essay Film Festival is organised by the Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image in collaboration with the ICA and with support from CHASE.
Around the World in 80 Snippets: Scissors-and-Paste Journalism in a Global Context
Tuesday 8th March | 1800 – 2030 | Online event
This workshop will introduce participants to the Atlas of Digitised Newspapers and Metadata and explore emerging methodologies for working across multiple digitised collections including the development of the Scissors-and-Paste Database. It will work with participants to develop best practice in searching, browsing, mining, and interrogating online collections and working with a variety of tools to build up a contextualised and robust dataset for a variety of different projects as well as discuss how the history of newspapers and newspaper archives continues to shape our historical scholarship.
Animating Archives are pleased to share the details and open bookings for their third workshop entitled Archivable. Led by Beth Bramich and Hatty Nestor, this session aims to introduce PhD researchers to a range of creative approaches to working with materials held in the Jo Spence Memorial Library Archive. There will be a short presentation by archivist Charlene Heath, who oversees the Jo Spence archive at the Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) in Toronto, Canada.
Thursday 24th March 2022 11:00-12:30 | Online (zoom)
Carolina Orloff, Cecilia Rossi and Polly Barton
Moderated by Ashley Barr
The role of a literary translator is often under-appreciated, but with the International Man Booker Prize and rise in translated works published in the UK, translators are finally being recognised for their creativity. Latin American works-in-translation publisher Carolina Orloff, translator Polly Barton and UEA’s Dr Cecilia Rossi discuss the current boom in translated works and how this is shaping the UK publishing industry. Could this be a professional avenue for researchers able to speak two or more languages?
The value of creative writing retreats and writer’s awards
Thursday 26th May 2022 11:00-12:30 | Online (zoom)
Rachel Humphries and Mary Morris
Moderated by Karítas Hrundar Pálsdóttir
Rachel and Mary discuss the value of their creative writing retreats and residential courses, and how incorporating an online programme has reached writers that otherwise would not have access to retreats. Rachel also discusses the Bridge Awards Emerging Writer prize and the value it has for writers. What careers might centres such as Moniack and Arvon offer Creative and Critical Writing researchers? And what pedagogical considerations are taken into account for the workshops/retreats/courses they offer?Register here
Cumberland Lodge offers doctoral students in the UK a unique opportunity to benefit from a close association with our work and discussions for two years.
The Cumberland Lodge Fellowship offers doctoral students who are firmly committed to promoting social progress the chance to set themselves apart, by deepening their understanding of pressing societal issues from a cross-sector perspective, and developing valuable skills in public engagement, networking, communication and interdisciplinary working.
Every year in the spring, nine Cumberland Lodge Fellows are selected through a competitive application that is open to doctoral students from universities and higher education institutions across the UK. A tenth is nominated by the Council for At-Risk Academics, which supports international academics who are at risk of persecution, conflict or violence in their home countries to study or work in the UK. Our Amy Buller PhD Scholar, who is supported financially to complete a PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, also becomes a Cumberland Lodge Fellow for the duration of their three-year Scholarship.
A unique opportunity
Launched in 2014 and originally known as the Cumberland Lodge Scholarship, the Cumberland Lodge Fellowship is designed to fit around the demands of doctoral research. It is open to students of any age who are enrolled on a doctoral programme (on a part-time or full-time basis), and to those undertaking professional doctorates as well as more traditional paths of study.
Cumberland Lodge Fellows play an active role in our interdisciplinary conferences, consultations, public lectures and other programmes, and receive ongoing mentoring and support from our staff.
They have the chance to network with senior figures in public life and to participate in, or help to lead discussions with, people of all ages, backgrounds and perspectives that ultimately inform recommendations for practical action and policy change.
What’s involved?
Ten new Fellows join us each year in September, at the start of the academic year, beginning with a residential weekend retreat at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, to which the previous year’s cohort of Fellows are also invited.
Cumberland Lodge Fellows have the chance to be involved in our conferences, consultations, seminars, report launches and retreats, with support from Cumberland Lodge staff. This may include:
leading workshops and/or chairing panel discussions
taking part in cross-sector discussions
proactively networking with fellow delegates at Cumberland Lodge events
supporting Cumberland Lodge staff with event facilitation
writing engaging newsletter articles and blog posts
supporting the promotion of our programmes and outputs to the wider public.
Fellows also have the opportunity to contribute to the development of our programme of events and activities, and are expected to act as an ambassador for our work and programmes, at university and beyond.
Personal development
Fellows are invited to apply for a Personal Development Grant of up to £300 during the two-year fellowship period, to use creatively to enhance their skills and promote progress towards more peaceful, open and inclusive societies.
How to apply
To apply for a 2022-24 Cumberland Lodge Fellowship, please download and complete the application form in the resources section of this webpage, and return it to: Fellows2022@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk
Applications must be received by 12noon on Friday 8 April 2022.
If you are shortlisted for interview you will be informed by Tuesday 26 April, and interviews will take place online via Zoom on Thursday 5 May 2022. Please note that, due to the high number of anticipated applications, we are unable to provide feedback if you are not invited to interview. If you have not heard back from us by Tuesday 26 April, we regret that you have not been shortlisted for interview. If you have any questions that are not answered above, please email us at: programmeteam@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk
Eligibility
To take part in our competitive application process, you must be able to demonstrate that you are:
committed to promoting more peaceful, open and inclusive societies, through your academic research and/or other activities
committed to enabling social progress
studying for a doctorate at a UK university (in any academic discipline or area of study), for the duration of the Fellowship period* (expected completion not before June 2024)
able to provide the names of two referees (one academic, i.e. your doctoral supervisor, and one non-academic) who will vouch for your eligibility and support your application
able to attend the initial residential Fellows’ Retreat at Cumberland Lodge, on 9-11 September 2022
committed to the full two-year programme (even if you complete your doctorate before August 2024).
You should also demonstrate an openness to working across disciplines and engaging with a wide range of subject matters, and explain how you think a Cumberland Lodge Fellowship will benefit your work and life, both now and in the future.
* Please note:
We accept all types of doctoral study equally, including full-time, part-time and non-traditional pathways or professional doctorate programmes. You will most likely (but not necessarily) be in the first year of your doctorate.
If you are currently registered for a Master’s degree and hope to go on to study for a doctorate, you are not yet eligible to apply.
If you are on an agreed pathway to doctoral study, but have not yet transferred from Master’s to doctoral status, you are eligible to apply, providing your supervisor can confirm you are already working to doctoral standard, as part of your application.
We do not provide financial assistance for tuition fees or maintenance, but we do provide Fellows attending our events with meals, accommodation and economy-rate travel expenses to and from our events within the UK, from our charitable funds.
Meet our Fellows
Follow the links below to find out more about our current Fellows.
Following on from the success of the virtual Live Lectures in the previous IP for Research programmes, Vitae and the Intellectual property Office (IPO) will again be offering free online live lectures within the 2021/22 programme. See here for more
Applications for British Federation of Women Graduates Academic Awards are now being sought. The Awards are made to women doctoral students who will be in, or going into, their third year (or part time equivalent) of work for a research PhD/DPhil etc. in the autumn of 2022. Awards are, in effect, one off prizes varying in value from £1,000 to £6,000 and are given for outstanding academic excellence coupled with written and verbal communication skills. For further details please go to: www.bfwg.org.uk and look up under ‘Awards/Scholarships’ where more information, including criteria for eligibility, can be found.
Closing date for applications is: 5pm on Friday 4th March 2022
BRITISH FEDERATION OF WOMEN GRADUATES RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS DAY
Saturday 14th May 2022 10.30am – 4.00pm At BFWG HQ: 4 Mandeville Courtyard, 142 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 4NB
The RPD is when BFWG invites doctoral students to present their research to a general audience. Last year we were had to hold the Day as a ‘virtual’ event due to the pandemic. We hope that it will be possible to hold the Day in person this year and we invite postgraduate students to submit abstracts of their research for consideration. Abstract forms will be available on the BFWG website: www.bfwg.org.uk
Are you a postgraduate woman student? Do you have research you would like to present to a discerning audience – and have the chance of winning a small prize of £120 for the best presentation to a general audience? Or would you like to join with us, just to meet and listen to other postgraduate women students presenting their research? Our Research Presentations Day (RPD) offers these opportunities. Past attendees, both presenters and audience, have found the Day thoroughly enjoyable and helpful in developing presentation skills. If you think you would like to submit an abstract please look at BFWG webpages www.bfwg.org.uk or contact rpd@bfwg.org.uk for further details. Closing date for applications is: March 31st 2022 All -students, academics, anyone else interested (male or female) – are welcome to attend as audience. Lunch is included and there is a door charge of £10 but no charge for bona fide students whether attending as presenters or as audience.
The Birkbeck Institute of Social Research’s Urban Intersections Working Group aims to stimulate conversations at the intersection of different disciplines, practices, spaces, media, and ways of seeing and understanding an urbanised (and urbanising) world.
Last year we inaugurated a reading group for post-graduate students (masters and doctoral) in any department of the College. Through a specific text, participants have the opportunity to reflect and discuss a particular urban topic, speaking from, but also challenging, their own research and disciplinary perspectives.
Sessions are held over Microsoft Teams and there is no limit to the number of participants. We will aim to hold at least one physical meet-up a term. We have a preliminary reading list that will be open to discussion and editing by the whole group. At the start of each session, a group member will frame the text to get the conversations going.
Our proposed reading list: Week 1: Alatas S. F., Sinha V: Sociological Theory Beyond the Canon, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2017. Introduction: Eurocentrism, Androcentrism and Sociological Theory (1-16) Weber, M: The City, Free Press, London, 1958 Occidental City (80-89) Week 2: Simmel, G: The Adventurer, “Das Abenteuer,” Phiosophische Kultur. Gesammelte Essays, Leipzig, 1919 Jackson, S: Paranoia, The New Yoker, NY, 2013 Week 3: Wilson, E: The Rhetoric of Urban Space, NLR, Jan-Feb, 1995 Sudjic, D: Dangerously Insane, LRB, Oct 2010 Week 4: Nora, P: Between Memory and History, Representations, Spring 1989 Sicard, M: Eutopia, NLR, May-June 2020 Week 5: Myambo, M, T: Africa’s Global City?, NLR, Nov-Dec 2017 Ruiz Tagle, J: Territorial stigmatization in Socially-Mixed Neighbourhoods in Chicago and Santiago: A Comparison of Global-North and Global South Urban Renewal Problem, Social Housing and Urban Renewal (Watt and Smets, Eds.), London: Emerald, 2017 Week 6: Thompson, M et al: Re-grounding the City with Polanyi: From Urban Entrepreneurialism to Entrepreneurial Municipalism, Economy and Space, Vol. 52(6), 2020 Baibarac, C and Petrescu, D: Co-design and Urban Resilience: Visioning Tools for Commoning Resilience Practices, CoDesign, Volume 15, 2019 Week 7: Hatherley, M: Look at England Urban Spaces, Open Democracy, August 2011 Hatherley, M: The Occupation of Space, Open Democracy, January 2011 Self, W: It Hits in the Gut, LRB, March 2012 Other: Adams RE: Circulation and Urbanization, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2018 Halegoua GR: The Digital City: Media and the Social Production of Place, New York: New York University Press, 2019 Hou, J: Guerilla Urbanism: Urban Design and the Practices of Resistance, Urban Design, Vol. 25, 2020 Massey, D: The Spatial Construction of Youth Cultures, Cool Places, (Skelton and Valentine, Eds.), London: Routledge, 1998 Zukin S: The Innovation Complex: Cities, Tech, and the New Economy, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2020 We aim to hold one meeting per month, but this will be negotiated by the group once it is formed. The first meeting will take place in the middle of December 2022. If you would like to be involved, please contact Henry Mulhall (Henrymulhall@gmail.com) and Sara Rodriguez (paralingual@gmail.com) with your name, department, and course of study by 30 November 2021.
Registration is now open for the 2022 Birkbeck 3 Minute Thesis Competition, which will take place on Thursday 16 June from 6pm. You can register to attend this exciting event here
Birkbeck 3MT: Thursday 16 June 2022
Join a selection of Birkbeck PhD students as they compete to communicate their compelling thesis topics in just three minutes. This event has provided some outstanding opportunities to share and celebrate the interests and successes of PhD researchers from across the College and we will invite all current Birkbeck PhD students to take part. The winner of the Birkbeck competition will be chosen by an expert panel of judges who will award:
£500 to the overall winner
£250 to the runner up
The audience will also have their say by picking a people’s choice winner who’ll win a special prize.
All potential competitors for the Birkbeck Three Minute Thesis Competition will be invited to attend training sessions which will prepare them and will provide useful skills beyond the competition.
This is an international event and the Birkbeck winner will have the opportunity to continue on to the UK semi-finals later in the year.
Registration
Registration is open in 2022 and you can find details of how to attend the competition here.
