Fully Funded PhD Scholarship: Literary Modernism and Proto-Veganism

Funded PhD Project (UK or International Students)

Funding provider: Northeastern University London (NU London)

Subject areas: English, animal studies

Project start date: 1 October 2024

Supervisors (*lead):

• Dr Catherine Brown* (Northeastern University London)
• Dr Derek Ryan (University of Kent)

Aligned programme of study: PhD in English

Mode of study: Full-time

Northeastern University London

As part of a major investment, Northeastern University London (NU London) has multiple, fully-funded PhD studentships available to accelerate its interdisciplinary research in the humanities, social sciences and digital sciences. Each scholarship is fully-funded for three and a half years (UKRI rates) and includes fees, an annual stipend, an additional London allowance and associated costs, such as training.

NU London is the European campus of Northeastern University, a large, top-tier research intensive, Boston-based institution. With campuses across the United States, Canada and London, students will have the opportunity to engage with, and visit the Northeastern University network overseas, as part of their London-based doctoral studies, providing a truly unique and highly sought-after dimension to their research training.

The Project

The questions to be answered by this project are: in what ways do the works of literary modernists reveal a proto-vegan consciousness - and how does an understanding of these ways shed light on the history of veganism, develop the theory and methodology of vegan literary studies, and contribute to urgent contemporary debates concerning humans’ physical, economic, affectual and ethical relationships to animals?

The PhD will focus on British or Irish Anglophone writers of the modernist period (as broadly conceived), and will be decided in collaboration with the candidate. They could include D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, Edward Carpenter, Henry Williamson or H. H. Monro (though comparative reference may be made to non-Anglophone writers such as Lev Tolstoy and Franz Kafka). Attention will be paid to the ‘animal turn’ in modernist culture, and to developments in the animal welfare movements of this period. This project is centred in the expansion of moral concern to animals which is central to Critical Animal Studies, and takes additional urgency from the threats posed to humans by animal farming - through climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemic-generation and antibiotic resistance.

The successful candidate will:

• Have a proven, strong educational background in English literature (see eligibility criteria below)
• Be excited and inspired by the proposed project area
• Be a self starter
• Have good communication skills
• Have an inquiring mind and be willing to challenge themselves
• Have a strong idea of which writer/s and text/s they would like to study (within the parameters stated above)

The successful candidates will benefit from a brand new campus on the banks of the River Thames next to Tower Bridge; an interdisciplinary, vibrant research environment; international collaboration and networking opportunities, dedicated research space, and a highly experienced, multi-institution supervisory team from NU London and the University of Kent.

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in late July 2024. Candidates are welcome to contact the NU London supervisor with informal enquiries before the application deadline: Dr Catherine Brown (catherine.brown@nulondon.ac.uk).

Eligibility

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject - 2:1 or 1st (essential)
• Master’s degree in a relevant subject (optional)

English Language requirements:

If applicable – IELTS 7.0 overall (with a score of at least 6.5 in each individual component) or equivalent.

Nationality

Applications are open to UK and international students. Please indicate if you are likely to require a visa on your application form. We are unable to cover visa costs.

Funding

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend (including London allowance (set at UKRI rates) for 3.5 years. For the 2024/2025 academic year the annual tax-free stipend is £21,237. Annual increments will be in line with UKRI rates.

International travel

Students will have the optional opportunity to travel to Northeastern University in North America to further their research training and experience.

How to Apply

Please send a CV and a Covering Letter stating how you meet the requirements and why you are interested in the proposed research project by clicking on the 'Apply' button above by 23:59 on the 12th of July 2024.

Please reference your application “PHDV0624”