Collaborative doctoral award on powered machinery, education and display, Manchester
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.