Research Fellow in Humanities

ABOUT THE ROLE

Working as part of multi-disciplinary teams, you will support the Principal Investigator in delivery of research activity on the UKRI-funded Future Leaders Fellowship project ‘Global Music Technologies: Collaboration and Cultural Exchange’. The roles are required to undertake research into the global collaboration and cultural exchange which lies behind musical instruments, one applicant with a focus on the long 19th century, and one applicant on 20th century electronic instruments. The project features an exciting series of workshops, and culminates in an international conference, for which the postdoctoral researchers will be key contributors. Collaboration with the project’s PhD student will permit engagement with our education partners, and facilitate the transformation of organological research into practical application for music education professionals. They will also help to co-curate the project website, co-edit an edited collection, contribute individual and co-authored conference papers and journal articles, and will be supported to build their postdoctoral profiles.  

Specifics of each post are detailed below, followed by the general duties and responsibilities. 

Postdoctoral Research Fellow 1 will study German musical instrument manufacture and its intersections with innovation across Europe and beyond. They will consider the role of instrument manufacture in nation building and identity, and the ways in which industry underpinned the position of Germany as a leading musical power in the West. They will consider woodwind, brass and piano trades, the latter facilitated by granted access to the Steingraeber und Söhne archives in Bayreuth. A knowledge of 19th century music and fluency in German are therefore desirable. 

Postdoctoral Research Fellow 2 will create the first transnational exploration of electronic instrument innovation and manufacture of the long 20th century, considering the American musical instrument trade boom in tandem with the lesser studied histories of British, Japanese and Soviet era instruments. They will consider these developments as influenced by the advent and rapid evolution of recorded sound and consumption of music in the home, all against a backdrop of political tensions and rapid cultural shifts. A specific anchor of the project will be working with the collections and archives of the newly established Gretsch Museum in Savannah, GA. A knowledge of 20th century music and/or electronic instruments is therefore desirable.  

The roles are fixed term for 36 months. 

ABOUT THE TEAM

This Research Project is being delivered within the Department of Humanities. The Department of Humanities brings together around 80 academic staff and more than 800 students in English Literature, Creative Writing, English Language, American Studies, History and Music. The successful applicants will be joining five full-time Music colleagues, as part of the History subject group, who are supported by wider research and teaching expertise that relates to music across the department and faculty.  

ABOUT YOU 

Applicants should hold a doctorate and have demonstrable specialist expert knowledge in music of the 19th (PRF1) or 20th (PRF2) centuries. Experience working with the museums and archives sector is desirable, as is an interest in the histories of musical instruments/organology; candidates do not necessarily need to come from an organology/musical instrument studies background. 

Further information about the requirements of the role is available in the person specification.   

If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact rachael.durkin@northumbria.ac.uk

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