Leeds/Science Museum: AHRC PhD studentship on the reception of the stethoscope
Applications are now invited for this fully funded AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Studentship.
Making the Pulse: the Reception of the Stethoscope in nineteenth century Britain, 1817-1870.
The University of Leeds Centre for the History and
Philosophy of Science, in collaboration with the Science Museum, invites
applications for a fully-funded three-year PhD studentship on the
reception of the stethoscope in Britain.
The studentship award has been made by the Science
Museums & Archives Consortium under the AHRC’s Collaborative
Doctoral Partnership scheme. The project, due to begin in October 2016,
will be supervised by Dr Adrian Wilson and Dr Jonathan
Topham, at the University of Leeds, and by Dr Oisín Wall at the Science
Museum.
The project student will explore the multiple
channels of reception of the stethoscope in Britain between 1817 and
1870. The beginning of the stethoscope’s widespread use is widely
acknowledged as a foundational moment in the technologization
of medicine: little is known, however, about the specific mechanisms
through which they came to be accepted, and the different contexts in
which they were used and discussed. The project will move beyond the
existing focus of social histories of diagnosis
by exploring the whole range of practitioners involved in the making of
the nineteenth century stethoscope, including manufacturers,
purchasers, wholesalers, users, students and patients.
There will be intensive periods of work at the
Museum, particularly associated with detailed work in the museum
archives and stores, and examination of the material collections of the
museum held in reserve collections offsite. During these
periods there will be very close advice and guidance given by Dr Wall
and supporting expert staff at the museum. This staff support will
provide informed access to the collections, and guidance as the student
progressively engages increasingly deeply with
their project. The student will also benefit from the collaboration
over and above a standard PhD programme by extending their 'skills set'
and improving their employability. Such skills include curation, public
dissemination, and event organization that may
open opportunities not just in museums and galleries, but also in the
wider creative industries sector.
At the University of Leeds the student will join a
thriving group of c. 25 PhD students in the history of science,
technology and medicine, several of whom are engaged in collaborative
doctoral projects with museums as the partner institution.
They will also be involved in the Centre for History and Philosophy of
Science, a very active research Centre within the School of Philosophy,
Religion and History of Science. The centre runs seminar series and
reading groups, and also has its own innovative
Museum of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (whose
holdings include a Laennec-style stethoscope), with which the student
may choose to become involved, thereby furthering their museum skills.
The main contact and supervisor for this project is Dr Adrian Wilson. For further particulars please email:A.F.Wilson@leeds.ac.uk.
A full project description is available at
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/
The application deadline is 30 May 2016.