Full-Time PhD Studentship - Imagining Alternatives: Utopia in the World

The School of Modern Languages and Cultures and the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) at Durham University invites applications for a PhD studentship through the Institute’s new flagship programme of research, Inventing Futures (IFs). This studentship is for full-time study and covers home-level fees and an annual stipend. International candidates are eligible to apply, but the difference between home and international fees must be covered by alternative means. Candidates not offered funding may be offered a PhD place at the University.

We welcome applications from outstanding candidates who can demonstrate academic excellence at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and provide evidence of sufficient research skills to contribute to the project. The successful candidate will be joining an exciting interdisciplinary team at IMEMS involving early modern History and Italian studies alongside French. In addition to their doctoral research, the successful candidate will contribute towards project activities , working with the rest of the project team, and benefitting from appropriate training.

IFs emphasizes future-oriented consequences of the Institute’s past-oriented study. Its three flagship projects each involve a PhD student and an early-career researcher working with academic staff. The project relevant to this PhD is ‘Imagining Alternatives: Utopia in the World’, led by Professor Richard Scholar, IMEMS and French Studies (School of Modern Languages and Cultures). The other projects are ‘Daphne and her Sisters: Framing Gendered Violence’ and ‘Forging Social Solidarities during Religious Wars’. All have been generously funded by Joanna and Graham Barker. For more on Inventing Futures, please click here.

‘Imagining Alternatives: Utopia in the World’ proposes that policy makers diminish the communities they serve when they impose blueprints to manage access to limited resources. The project explores an alternative approach to problem-solving that harnesses the collective power of the human imagination. Thomas More’s Utopia (1516), first published in Latin and then translated into many European languages in the century after its publication, provides a model for this approach. The project places Utopia among other literary, philosophical, and sociopolitical exercises in alternative world-making. It investigates the early material history of Utopia and related texts from the period in their journey across borders of language, culture, race, gender, class, and sociopolitical allegiance.

Your lead supervisor will be Professor Scholar (richard.scholar@durham.ac.uk). A second supervisor will be identified with complementary expertise relating to the candidate’s proposal. We welcome interdisciplinary applications. Applicants are invited to discuss their plans with Professor Scholar in advance of the deadline.

How to apply

Candidates should apply to the French Studies PhD programme (R1A001) through Durham University's application portal by 31^st March 2025 and should select ‘other’ in the Scholarship Details section, entering ‘IFs’ in the text field.

Applicants  will be assessed by a panel of experts regarding past academic and/or professional performance and experience; the coherence, importance, and viability of the proposed research; and its relevance to the project; and fit with supervisorial strengths at Durham.

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