GLASGOW’S REFUGEE HERITAGE – THEN AND NOW

Fully Funded PhD Studentship

(A Match Funded Studentship provided by the University of Stirling and Glasgow City Archives)

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 21 August 2017

The University of Stirling is offering a match-funded PhD Studentship supervised by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities alongside Glasgow City Archives (under the auspices of Glasgow Life) to commence in Academic Session 2017/18. This fully funded PhD studentship provides full RCUK costs of fees and student stipend for 3 years of PhD study.

The Studentship:

This PhD project will explore Scottish responses to Belgian First World War refugees. Around 20,000 refugees settled in Scotland (among 250,000 across Britain) - but why was support for them administered by a committee of Glasgow Corporation without resort to government funds, and funded instead by Scottish people, trades unions and churches? The researcher will investigate the motivations of the Glasgow committee and contextualize its work within the UK’s history of refugee welfare provision. Collaborating with Glasgow Archives and Museums, they will draw lessons for present-day public and policy debates at a time when Scotland is once more welcoming refugees.

This PhD project will therefore explore a series of questions and challenges in order to understand Scotland’s distinctive response to Belgian First World War refugees, in the context of Britain’s supposed tradition of welcoming refugees and to bring this history into dialogue with public and policy debates in the present, through a collaboration with Glasgow Life.

These questions include:

  • What were the motivations behind the large-scale humanitarian and charitable efforts of Glasgow Corporation’s Belgian Refugees Committee during the First World War?
  • What was the relationship between Glasgow Corporation and central government, and how did they interact to provide for Scotland’s c. 20,000 refugees?
  • To what extent was the Belgian refugee presence problematised in wider Scottish discourse?
  • What comparisons can be drawn with the varied reactions to present-day refugees in Scotland?

While the student will have freedom to shape the exact parameters of the project, the student’s doctoral work will include a sustained programme of archival research using materials held in the City Archives and relating to the administration of relief for Belgian refugees in Scotland. The researcher will seek to explain why Scottish hospitality for Belgian refugees was administered by a committee of Glasgow Corporation and funded by the people, trades unions and churches in Scotland. Contextualizing the committee’s work within wider Scottish and UK government arrangements to support Belgian war refugees, they will consider a commitment to municipal welfare, and civic pride in identifying Glasgow as the ‘second city of Empire’, as factors informing the policies and actions of Glasgow Corporation. The student will also undertake a programme of activities to bring this history into dialogue with the present, including the preparation of an exhibition for wider public engagement, and work with policymakers.

The PhD student will be jointly supervised Dr Jacqueline Jenkinson, Senior Lecturer in History and Politics at the University of Stirling and Dr Irene O’Brien, City Archivist, Glasgow City Archives, Mitchell Library.

At Stirling, the student will join a lively community of PhD students in History and in the wider Faculty of Arts and participate in the research and writing skills training provided by the University. At Glasgow City Archives, she or he will have the opportunity to work closely with City Archivist Dr Irene O’Brien and her team of archivists in Glasgow City Archives throughout the research period. In addition, Glasgow Life will provide training, facilities provision in the archives and, via Glasgow Museums, will provide both training in museum display plus cover the costs of mounting a professional exhibition ‘Refugees – then and now’ to be staged by the PhD student under the auspices of Glasgow Museums and fully resourced by Glasgow Life at the end of their PhD period.

Who can apply:Applicants should have a good undergraduate qualification and a relevant Master’s degree in History or a related field of expertise. Experience of the following areas of study is particularly welcome: social history, political history, archive studies, digital humanities, politics, Scottish studies. You will have some experience of relevant research methods (but note that research training is a key part of the studentship).Applicants without a Master’s qualification should include with their application a 1-page statement outlining the specifically relevant skills, experience and knowledge they have gained beyondundergraduate degree level, that could be considered equivalent to Master’s study.

The application:Applicants should submit:

  • a summary curriculum vitae (max 2 pages)
  • an example of recent academic writing (e.g., MSc/MLitt chapter or undergraduate dissertation)
  • a short statement (1 page) outlining your qualification for the studentship, and initial thoughts on how you’d approach the project
  • the names and contact details of two academic referees

Submit your applicationvia email . Applications will close21 August at noon.Please ensure your referees are able to provide (on request, via email) an academic reference by28 August, 5pm.

Interviews will be held during September at the University of Stirling.

Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Dr Jacqueline Jenkinson () and Dr Irene O’Brien (Irene.O') for ‘further particulars’ of the project, or with informal queries.