PhD Studentship: The Local and the Global: Antiracist Activism in North Staffordshire, c. 1960-2020

AHRC-funded PhD Studentship at Keele University in collaboration with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service

Applications are invited for an AHRC-funded PhD in History, supervised collaboratively by Keele University, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service (SSTAS): ‘The Local and the Global: Antiracist Activism in North Staffordshire, c. 1960-2020’. This is offered under the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award programme. The student will be supervised by Dr David Ballantyne (Keele), Dr Shirin Hirsch (MMU) and Rebecca Jackson (SSTAS). This full-time studentship, which is funded for three and a half years at standard AHRC rates, will begin on 1 September 2024. It is especially suitable for students with a background in histories of race, antiracist activism, social movements, public history and/or local history in Britain or elsewhere.

The Project

This project will study the politics of race in North Staffordshire from roughly 1960 to 2020, with particular attention to ethnic minority experiences and antiracist activism around Stoke-on-Trent. It will produce key advances in the understanding of recent British racial politics away from the country’s largest – and more heavily researched – urban hubs.

The student will have access to unprocessed archival materials held by SSTAS and, with support from SSTAS, will build relationships with current and former local activist groups, conduct new oral histories with activists, and work to create and catalogue a new permanent archive of antiracist activism in North Staffordshire. The student will also be supported to create a public history exhibition showcasing their work.

During the project, the student will develop a range of transferable skills that will equip them for a career in academia, public history, or a related profession.

Key research questions may include:

• How did the composition and work of antiracist activist groups shift with North Staffordshire’s changing demography?
• How significant were local conditions in shaping the politics of race and antiracist activism, and were there significant variations in different parts of North Staffordshire?
• To what extent did external developments (regional, national or global) affect how activists made sense of the local politics of race, and were there particular times when these developments gained greater relevance in shaping these understandings?
• What tensions existed between and within ethnic minority groups in North Staffordshire, and how did activists negotiate them?
• How did economic developments, particularly deindustrialisation, shape attitudes towards race and the creation and work of antiracist groups?
• What factors contributed to the successes or failures of antiracist organisations in tackling racial animosity?

The Studentship

The studentship is awarded subject to AHRC eligibility criteria and covers tuition fees for all three and a half years and a grant (stipend) towards living expenses. The national minimum doctoral stipend for 2024/5 has been set by Research Councils UK as £19,237 per annum for Collaborative Doctoral Students. For more information visit: UKRI 2024-25 Stipend

Students are also eligible to draw additional funding to support the cost of training, research trips, conferences, and other development opportunities that will benefit the student’s doctoral research and future career development.

How to Apply

Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree in History or a related discipline, and will need to satisfy AHRC eligibility requirements including Masters-level advanced research training or equivalent.

In general, full studentships are available to students who are settled in the UK and have been ordinarily resident for a period of at least three years before the start of postgraduate studies. International applicants are eligible to apply for this studentship and Keele University will consider covering the cost of additional international fees.

The NWCDTP  and Keele University particularly welcomes applications from students from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in Higher Education. In support of these commitments the University welcomes applications from welcomes applications Global Majority, Disabled, and Socioeconomically Unequal communities.

Keele University is committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN charter, and values equality and diversity across our workforce and study body. We strive to ensure that our workforce and study body is representative of broader society, and therefore, we would actively welcome applications from women for this role.

The University is committed to operating flexible working practices wherever possible.

For information or informal enquiries about the studentship, please contact Dr David Ballantyne ([email protected] ). Enquiries about the application process should be directed to ([email protected] ).

To apply online for this vacancy and for full post details and copies of job descriptions, please click on the 'Apply' button above and select ‘Apply’ on the bottom of the studentship page, and include the following:

• a curriculum vitae (no more than 2 pages);
• a sample of writing (3-5,000 words);
• a letter (one page) outlining their interest in and qualification for the studentship;
• transcripts of undergraduate and Masters qualifications;
• two academic references, which the candidate should request the referee to send.
• The studentship reference ‘AHRC CDA - North Staffordshire’ to ensure your application is considered for the funded position.

Applications must be received no later than 5pm on Thursday 14 March 2024.

Please note it is the responsibility of applicants to request references from their referees and ensure that they have been received by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences by this deadline. All documents should be submitted in either a MS Word or PDF format.

Interview date: Tuesday 19 March 2024. Interviews will be conducted online or in-person.