White Rose Interdisciplinary PhD Scholarships

Thanks to Claudia Pine for drawing our attention to three newly established PhD scholarships at the universities of York, Leeds and Sheffield in the UK for students interested in examining water-related topics.

White Rose Research Studentship Network
Hydropolitics: Community, Environment and Conflict in an Unevenly Developed World

This network consists of three interconnected projects within a multidisciplinary network at the universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds. All of these projects look critically at struggles connected with water in the global South; however, they also look more hopefully at the ways in which these struggles help create communities either born or consolidated in adversity, and in which these communities interact with the larger international community in pursuit of a more sustainable world.

The White Rose scholarships offer a full Research Council equivalent stipend and a fee waiver at the home/EU rate. For further particulars, applicants should contact the principal supervisor of the project (or projects) for which they plan to apply.

The formal closing date for applications is Monday 21st February and shortlisted candidates should be available for interview in York on Thursday 10th March.

Project 1: The Nile Basin, 1950-2010: Communities in Conflict, Communities in Conversation

Principal Supervisor: Professor Graham Huggan (English, Leeds), g.d.m.huggan@leeds.ac.uk
Co-supervisor: Dr Ziad Elmarsafy (English, York), ziad.elmarsafy@york.ac.uk

Project description

The four main objectives of the project are (1) to explore the impact of the Aswan High Dam on Egyptian literature and film; (2) to examine the literatures and cultures of Egypt in their African context, thereby resituating the representation of Egypt as an African, rather than Arab, regional power; (3) to show how water conflicts have mobilised a variety of cultural communities in Egypt and Sudan, with particular attention to the cultural sustainability and resilience of Nubian communities on either side of the Egypt-Sudan border; and (4) to trace the recent history of conversations, both within these particular communities and between them and the wider international community, with specific reference to the representation of intercultural dialogues and exchanges across the languages of the region.
The researcher involved in this project will benefit from the combined expertise of Professor Graham Huggan at the University of Leeds (postcolonial studies, environmental studies) and Dr Ziad Elmarsafy at the University of York (North African literatures and languages); from institutional strengths at both universities in the areas of English studies, African studies and Middle Eastern studies; and from the multidisciplinary approaches adopted by the Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) and the Institutes for Sustainability Research (SRI) and Colonial/Postcolonial Studies (ICPS), all of which are housed at the University of Leeds. Opportunities will be provided for fieldwork in Egypt and for Arabic language training, while the researcher will also be invited to take part in, and help organise, a number of network-wide events.
Applicants are subject to acceptance to study for a PhD at the School of English. High-class BA and MA degrees will generally be seen as a requirement. Very high standards of English are expected; competence in Arabic may be an advantage. Further information on the application procedure can be found at: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/rsa/postgraduate_scholarships/wrs

Project 2: Hydropolitical Adaptation: Post-tsunami ‘Sustainabilities’ in Sri Lanka
Principal Supervisor: Dr Tariq Jazeel, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield
Co-supervisor: Dr Joseph Murphy, Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds
Project description

The main objective of this studentship is to explore the relationships between the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, narratives and representations of trauma, resilience and sustainability across differently ethnicized community contexts in Sri Lanka, and the contested politics of the postcolonial Sri Lankan national. It is expected that the project will use comparative ethnographic effort as well as examining recent fictional and testimonial representations in the wake of the disaster to explore how differently ethnicized communities have narrativized the tsunami and its effects in order to cope with, adapt to and build hydrological `resilience´. It will also explore how each community has responded to and connected with governmental post-tsunami reconstruction and aid initiatives articulated at the national level. The project aims to offer new understandings of the differential cultural and community resources that go into the fashioning of hydropolitical `sustainabilities´, whilst also exploring the role that post-tsunami efforts played in Sri Lanka´s protracted civil war.

The student involved in this project will benefit from the combined expertise of Dr. Tariq Jazeel at the University of Sheffield (Geography, Postcolonial Studies, South Asian Studies) and Dr. Joseph Murphy at the University of Leeds (Governance, Environment and Sustainability, Colonial/Postcolonial Studies). The student will also benefit from involvement in the South Asian Studies In the North (SASIN) research network, in which York, Leeds and Sheffield participate, as well as the University of Sheffield´s `Sheffield International Development Network´ (SIDNET). Opportunities will be provided for fieldwork in Sri Lanka, while the researcher will also be invited to take part in, and help organise, a number of network-wide events.

For further details contact either Dr. Tariq Jazeel (t.jazeel@shef.ac.uk) or Dr. Joseph Murphy (j.murphy@leeds.ac.uk), and see http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/scholarships/project/jazeel.html.

A White Rose Scholarship award will cover the cost of the UK/EU tuition fees and provide an annual, tax-free maintenance stipend at the standard UK research rate. In addition, a support grant will be made available to the lead for project research expenses. International applicants will be required to pay the difference between the UK/EU tuition fee and the Overseas tuition fee. Awards are tenable for a maximum of three years, subject to satisfactory progress. Further information on the White Rose Scholarships can be found at http://www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/scholarships/whiterose.html
How to apply
Applicants should fill out an on-line application available through the Department of Geography at http://www.shef.ac.uk/geography/phd/

In their supporting statement (no more than 500 words), applicants should make clear their suitability for this studentship and what they will bring to the project. We also require 1 sample of written work with your application.

Project 3: Drinking the Sea, Making the Desert Bloom: Water, Community and Culture in Contemporary Israel/Palestine

Principal Supervisor: Dr. Anna Bernard (English, York), anna.bernard@york.ac.uk
Co-supervisor: Dr. Jessica Dubow (Geography, Sheffield), j.dubow@sheffield.ac.uk

Project description

The doctoral researcher selected for this project will consider the cultural and communal importance of water in the context of the two greatest challenges to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process: the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the settlement developments in the West Bank. Research will combine interviews with local stakeholders together with compilation and critique of key literary, filmic, and visual representations of water resource and usage. The project’s main objective is to identify and explore the narratives of community formation and conflict that are derived from the conditions and rights of access to water in Gaza and the West Bank settlements. The researcher will evaluate the role of these images and imaginings in the definition and negotiation of community boundaries among Gazans and settlers, and where possible determine areas for inter-community dialogue and exchange.

The student will benefit from the combined expertise of Dr. Anna Bernard (York), who specializes in post-1980 Palestinian and Israeli literature and culture, and Dr. Jessica Dubow (Sheffield), a cultural geographer, with specific interest in landscape representation, spatial practice, and the nature of exilic identity. S/he will also benefit from current research conducted in the Centre for Peace Studies and the ‘Sheffield International Development Network’ (SIDNET) at Sheffield, and the Post-War Reconstruction Unit and the Centre for Applied Human Rights at York. Opportunities will be provided for fieldwork in Israel/Palestine and for Arabic language training, while the researcher will also be invited to take part in, and help organise, a number of network-wide events.

The White Rose scholarships offer a full Research Council equivalent stipend and a fee waiver at the home/EU rate. More details can be found here: http://www.york.ac.uk/students/housing-and-money/financial-support/bursaries/postgraduate/white_rose/.

To be eligible, applicants must first apply for a place in a full-time PhD programme in English at York: http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/engl/gsp/index.htm. In their research proposal, applicants are asked to describe their suitability for this studentship and what they will bring to the project.

For more information, please contact the principal supervisor, Dr. Anna Bernard, at anna.bernard@york.ac.uk.

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Ziad Elmarsafy
Department of English & Related Literature
University of York,
Heslington,
York YO10 5DD
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1904 323342
Fax: +44 (0)1904 323372
E-mail: ziad.elmarsafy@york.ac.uk

Website: http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/engl/staff/academic/elmarsafy.htm