PhD Study : Philosophy, Theory and the Politics of Everyday Life

Summary

Applications are invited for projects that focus on potential connections between professional philosophy or academic ‘Theory’ and the politics of everyday life. You will undoubtedly have your own ideas here, but possible thematic areas of focus could be:

• The cultural-anthropological or ethnographic study of the everyday theatrics of philosophical and theoretical combat in ‘professional’ contexts (say, the academy) and/or the everyday world beyond (say, the media spectacle of the ‘culture wars’)
• Thinking about how ‘superstar’ academic theorists and philosophers operate in broader public life beyond the academy and how their status functions as a kind of currency within an increasingly competitive ‘marketplace of ideas’
• Sociological analysis of the cultural capital associated with certain kinds of specialist philosophical or theoretical knowledge among professional peer groups and how it reproduces power/inequality in marginalizing the ‘other’ in the academy (the everyday institutional or organizational politics of ableism, race, gender, class in the academic discipline of philosophy/theory)
• Cultural sociology and/or cultural geography of the shifts in philosophical or theoretical fashions in the academy and how they filter into and through everyday life
• The exponential growth of ‘hype’ and overblown rhetoric within the academy concerning the ‘usefulness’ and ‘impact’ of humanities disciplines like philosophy/theory and its possible connection to increasingly invasive and pernicious audit cultures.
• The impoverishment of philosophy and theoretical humanities in a culture that seems to ascribe greater value and significance to ‘science and technology’.

Essential criteria

Applicants should hold, or expect to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a subject relevant to the proposed area of study.

We may also consider applications from those who hold equivalent qualifications, for example, a Lower Second Class Honours Degree plus a Master’s Degree with Distinction.

In exceptional circumstances, the University may consider a portfolio of evidence from applicants who have appropriate professional experience which is equivalent to the learning outcomes of an Honours degree in lieu of academic qualifications.

• Clearly defined research proposal detailing background, research questions, aims and methodology

Funding and eligibility

The University offers the following levels of support:

Vice Chancellors Research Studentship (VCRS)

The following scholarship options are available to applicants worldwide:

• Full Award: (full-time tuition fees + £19,000 (tbc))
• Part Award: (full-time tuition fees + £9,500)
• Fees Only Award: (full-time tuition fees)

These scholarships will cover full-time PhD tuition fees for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance) and will provide a £900 per annum research training support grant (RTSG) to help support the PhD researcher.

Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Please note: you will automatically be entered into the competition for the Full Award, unless you state otherwise in your application.

Department for the Economy (DFE)

The scholarship will cover tuition fees at the Home rate and a maintenance allowance of £19,000 (tbc) per annum for three years (subject to satisfactory academic performance).

This scholarship also comes with £900 per annum for three years as a research training support grant (RTSG) allocation to help support the PhD researcher.

• Candidates with pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, who also satisfy a three year residency requirement in the UK prior to the start of the course for which a Studentship is held MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance.
• Republic of Ireland (ROI) nationals who satisfy three years’ residency in the UK prior to the start of the course MAY receive a Studentship covering fees and maintenance (ROI nationals don’t need to have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to qualify).
• Other non-ROI EU applicants are ‘International’ are not eligible for this source of funding.
• Applicants who already hold a doctoral degree or who have been registered on a programme of research leading to the award of a doctoral degree on a full-time basis for more than one year (or part-time equivalent) are NOT eligible to apply for an award.

Due consideration should be given to financing your studies. Further information on cost of living