Senior Research Associate

The role

The School of Humanities invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to assist with the research project ‘The Letters of Hannah More: A Digital Edition’. This project uses Digital Humanities techniques to produce the first edition of the 1,800 surviving letters of eighteenth-century philanthropist, poet, teacher and abolitionist Hannah More (1745-1833). The PDRA will work with Dr Jennifer Batt and the project PI, Dr Kerri Andrews, to edit, tag, transform and visualise a large batch of letters sent to the leading parliamentary abolitionist William Wilberforce. The PDRA will also assist with the establishment and running of a project blog on the bespoke project website being constructed by the Digital Humanities team at Sheffield University and will liaise with colleagues in Sheffield to ensure that the website reflect the aims and objectives of the Hannah More Letters project.

This appointment is for 12 months at 0.5 FTE, from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, and is funded by the Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA), which exists to promote high-quality scholarship in English and the Modern Languages. This role is a Pathway 2 (Research) role, and no formally specified teaching duties are required of the role-holder. However, other commitments permitting, the role-holder will be given development opportunities to undertake additional activities such as teaching on the BA English programmes within the School of Humanities.

What will you be doing?

The PDRA will:

• Edit, tag, transform and visualise a batch of letters sent from Hannah More to William Wilberforce, one of the most significant parts of More’s surviving letters.
• Establish and manage a project blog on the new website. The PDRA will be responsible for commissioning and publishing pieces on a monthly basis.
• Assist with the organisation of a launch event for the new Letters of Hannah More website.
• Liaise with colleagues to ensure the functionality of the new website is optimized.
• Undertake independent research leading to publications.
• Present papers at conferences and seminars.

You should apply if

Applications are invited from candidates with a PhD awarded in Romanticism or eighteenth-century studies in English, History, or any cognate field relevant to the project. You should have significant knowledge of Digital Humanities techniques including the ability to work confidently with a range of standard software and techniques, including TEI P5, XML tagging, Oxygen, XSLT and HTML. Experience working with eighteenth-century manuscripts would be advantageous, as would be experience of event planning. You will be a good communicator who can work across disciplines, and work as part of a team. Some knowledge of French would be an advantage. Applicants are encouraged to contact Professor Ad Putter for further details about the research project and its objectives.

Additional information

Please note that this role is open only to early career researchers who have been awarded a PhD in the last three years. Any applicants to whom this is not applicable will not be considered for shortlisting. 

For informal enquiries please contact: Ad Putter a.d.putter@bristol.ac.uk

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