About the Project
Growing plants and food crops for domestic use is well appreciated as a source of physical, mental, and spiritual benefit (Schmutz et al. 2014). Growing crops as part of a community activity offers added social, economic, and wider benefits (Dowler et al. 2010). Merseyside and West Lancashire have a number of projects inspired by the CSA (community-supported agriculture) model, which seek to re-connect local communities with the land they live on. These farms claim to offer concrete benefits to their diverse local communities, such as building community cohesion, providing routes to employability, supporting a local economy, and improving individual health and wellbeing.
This interdisciplinary PhD project will look in greater depth at such claims, so as to extend and broaden understandings of how community growing initiatives might transform both the inner and outer landscapes of local people and communities. Drawing on collaborative and feminist ethnography, sociology and performance studies, the prospective GTA will spend a significant amount of time on the three farms, using a variety of arts-based methods to elicit the stories of the places and the people involved (see Foster 2016).
The work will give primacy to how participants experience and conceptualise the nature of ‘flourishing’. This might well be to do with physical and mental health, as well as including less tangible aspects of flourishing that are potentially engendered by re-forming lost connections with the earth, with the senses and with hands-on participation in food growing.
The ideal candidate should have a strong interest in working with local communities, and an enthusiasm for the project’s interdisciplinary setup that involves academics from Sociology, Performing Arts and Health. It will require self-motivation and a capacity for using creative and arts-based research methods.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr Victoria Foster (Department of Social Sciences) at [Email Address Removed]
References
Dowler, E., Kneafsey, M., and Cox, R. (2010) ‘Doing food differently’: Reconnecting
biological and social relationships through care for food. Sociological Review, 57 (2): 200–
221.
Foster, V. (2016) Collaborative Arts-based Research for Social Justice. Abingdon: Routledge.
Schmutz, U., Lennartsson, M., Williams, S., Devereaux, M. and Davies, G. (2014) The Benefits of Gardening and Food Growing for Health and Wellbeing. Garden Organic and Sustain.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Students will be expected to:
- Successfully undertake an initial programme of accredited research training.
- Undertake a PhD programme of research under the supervision of an appointed supervisory team.
- Enhance the research culture of the Department in which they are located, the Research Institute to which they are attached, and the University by participating in events, conferences and training.
- Successfully complete a programme of teacher training.
- Undertake up to six hours teaching a week or working with the Institute to which they are attached alongside University Departments or external agencies or organizations as directed by their Head of Department/Research Institute Director.
Eligibility:
- Candidates should have, or be expected to obtain, a good undergraduate honours degree level (2:1 or above) and/or a Masters level qualifications in a relevant subject area achieved within the last three to five years. If their most recent qualifications were obtained outside this period and/or they do not possess a Masters level qualification there needs to be convincing evidence that they will be able to make the transition to doctoral study.
- Although it is possible for candidates to apply for the GTA scheme more than once candidates who have applied unsuccessfully on two or more occasions are unlikely to be shortlisted for interview.
- International candidates who require a visa to study in the UK will need to demonstrate that they meet the requirements for a Tier 4 visa and possess appropriate English Language skills (IELTS Level C1/C2 or equivalent).
- Applications are not normally accepted from candidates who already possess a PhD, unless there are compelling reasons for doing so. If a PhD has been obtained in the UK as a Tier 4 (General) Student Visa holder, further sponsorship cannot be offered
under the Tier 4 (General) Student Visa category, as this will not meet the academic progression requirements set by the UKVI.
How to apply
Applicants must complete the online application form, attaching one document containing:
- A ‘Research Proposal’ which should not exceed 2,000 words in length
- A full academic curriculum vitae
Selection Criteria:
Selection will be based on the following:
- Your curriculum vitae
- The synergy between your qualifications, research experience and declared research interest
- Performance at interview
- Supervisory capacity in the declared area of research
- Previous tutoring/teaching experience and related subject based qualifications
- The strategic and developmental needs of the Faculty
The Recruitment Process
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview and asked to give a presentation related to their research proposal. Successful candidates at interview will be put forward to a final selection panel which will make the decision on the award of the studentships. Candidates will not have to attend the final panel.
The closing date for all studentships is 5th May 2017