Shakespeare Studentship

... to research 'The value of Shakespeare‚ in 21st century arts and education policy'.

Applications are now being considered for an AHRC PhD studentship at the Shakespeare Institute. The studentship will be the second appointment for the AHRC Project: 'Interrogating Cultural Value in the 21st Century: the case of Shakespeare'. Applications are invited from candidates who have completed a Masters course in Shakespeare Studies, Drama or Cultural Studies.

This thesis will analyse the development of public policy in the arts since World War II and consider its implications for the development of 'Shakespeare' as a locus for the development of the arts, education and tourism. Its key research resource will be the documents of the Arts funding bodies, educational policy documents from HMSO and the sources in the press and arts publications where key shifts in public policy are disseminated and discussed. It will also explore the development and dissemination of the Cambridge 'Shakespeare in Schools' project and explore its educational policy and practice implications through a series of case studies in different types of schools.

It will be informed by the extensive literature on teaching Shakespeare in Schools and Universities as well as the literature on the development of the terms in which the arts are presented as a valued element in compulsory education.

A key element of the thesis will be to map the shifts in the terms of value applied to the role of 'Shakespeare' in arts and educational policy against the changing pattern of public funding available to theatre and education.

Application Procedure
Please apply to the University of Birmingham via their website <>www.apply.bham.ac.uk and indicate in your application that are applying for the AHRC studentship. In addition to your application, you will also need to send us two academic references, confirmation of your degree results and a statement from you indicating what you would bring to the project. Please note that this PhD Studentship is only open to Home / EU applicants only. If you are an EU resident and English is not your first language, then you will need to meet the University of Birmingham's English Language requirements. Deadline for application is 1 March 2007 with interviews being held in April 2007.

[from London Renaissance Seminar list]