AHRC funded collaborative doctoral award: Power-assisted learning? Exhibiting, interpreting and teaching on technology in the twentieth-century industrial city
An AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award with the University of Manchester and the Museum of Science and Industry
We invite applications for a 3.5-year fully funded
PhD studentship, beginning in October 2017, to explore the history of
model engines and other demonstration equipment in education and museum
display. The project is a collaboration between
the University of Manchester, UK, and the Museum of Science and
Industry (MSI) in Manchester, and is funded by the Science Museums and
Archives Consortium within the Arts and Humanities Research Council
Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.
About the project
Model devices and demonstration equipment have
found a wide variety of uses as tools for technical education, sources
of public spectacle, aids to informal learning in museums, icons of
industrial heritage, and physical symbols of the technological
future. Through case studies of museum development and
industry-teaching relations in twentieth-century Manchester, this
project will chart how approaches to machine display have changed over
time, exploring past practices to find possible lessons for present-day
interpretation. Research will focus particularly on the challenges and
opportunities of displaying working artefacts, such as model engines,
and the meanings of “authenticity” in demonstration.
Research questions may include:
·
What roles have objects and material culture
played in promoting learning on technical topics? Did Manchester’s
unrivalled position as the hub of a diverse production culture for plant
and instrumentation give it unique educational
opportunities?
·
What are the options in dealing with objects
that can be worked for display, such as model steam engines? What
approaches have past exhibitors taken to the trade-off between
conserving machines and displaying them in use? What
attitudes have exhibitors and their audiences taken to the use of
replicas and the importance of authenticity?
·
What can we learn by considering an expanded
definition of “technical education”, going beyond the traditional focus
on formal classroom- and workshop-based study to consider the roles of
on-the-job training, self-education and
informal learning in an industrial city?
·
How far can we establish who were the
intended and actual audiences for formal or informal learning on
technical topics, and how they responded?
·
What lessons can this history offer for
Manchester’s self-presentation as a city with a distinct scientific and
technological identity and agenda today?
The project will draw strongly on the Museum of
Science and Industry’s collections of powered machinery and technical
education artefacts, and on its holdings of archival material from a
number of local industrial firms. The student will
have an institutional base at the University of Manchester’s Centre for
the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM), but will spend
a significant amount of time on site at MSI, and will receive
appropriate training in dealing with collections and
archives. Research from this project will contribute to MSI’s planned
redisplay of its Power Hall displays, and to longer-term gallery
planning.
The project supervisors are Dr James Sumner,
Lecturer in History of Technology at the University of Manchester, and
Ms Jan Hicks, Archives Manager at MSI. The studentship will cover full
tuition fees at the UK/EU rate plus a living allowance
at the standard Research Councils UK Doctoral Stipend rate (£14,553 for
2017/18: see
www.rcuk.ac.uk/skills/
The studentship will begin in October 2017. It is
funded for 36 months, plus (subject to successful completion of the main
project) a further 6 months, supported by the AHRC Student Development
Fund, to allow the student to contribute further
to MSI gallery development working directly alongside members of the
Collections Department.
Eligibility
Applicants should have, or expect to receive by
October 2016, a good Master’s degree in the history of
science/technology, general history, museum studies, science and
technology studies, or another subject closely relevant to the themes
of the project. In some cases we may be able to consider relevant
professional experience in place of a Master’s qualification: please
contact the academic supervisor for guidance before applying. All
applicants should also have at least an Upper Second-class
undergraduate degree (or non-UK equivalent: see
www.gov.uk/government/
The
award is subject to the Research Councils UK eligibility requirements,
listed under Terms and Conditions of Research Council Training Grants at
www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/
Applicants whose native language is not English
must be able to satisfy the English language entry requirements of the
University of Manchester: for further guidance see
www.manchester.ac.uk/study/
How to apply
The deadline for applications is Friday 31 March. Please submit
·
a letter of 1 to 2 pages outlining your suitability for the studentship
·
a CV of up to 2 pages, including contact details for two referees
·
a sample of academic writing, around 2000-3000 words
directly to the academic supervisor, Dr James Sumner, at
james.sumner@manchester.ac.uk. Informal enquiries about the project are welcome.
Shortlisting will take place in early April, and shortlisted candidates will be asked to attend interview on
Tuesday 18 April at MSI in Manchester.