TORCH-Pitt Rivers Museum Knowledge Exchange Fellowship

TORCH – Pitt Rivers Museum Knowledge Exchange Fellowship

Funded by TORCH’s Humanities & Identities research grant from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation

Up to: £8,000 for academic buyout (usually 1-term) and £2000 to support activities related to the collaboration

This 1-year Fellowship would need to be taken during the academic year 2019-2020.

The TORCH-Pitt Rivers Museum Research Fellowship is offered to support high-quality research on the Pitt Rivers Museum’s collections and related to their project Beyond the Binary which is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This opportunity aims to bring about an exchange by bringing Oxford Humanities Academics into the Pitt Rivers Museum, and the Museum collection feeding back into the individual’s research.

Beyond the Binary: Queering and Questioning Collections and Displays at the Pitt Rivers Museum

Thanks to a new grant to the Pitt Rivers Museum by the Heritage Lottery fund, the project will work with local, national and international partners to explore the global diversity of sexual and gender identities.

Working with a broad range of partners, from researchers to community activists, the project will challenge historical interpretations of the museum’s collections – offering alternative understandings from people with different identities, as well as identifying human histories that are unrepresented as a result of intolerance. This is so that no individual or group feels excluded from the museum because of their sexuality or gender, and so that all visitors – however they might identify themselves – can understand humanity better.

In addition to exploring the existing collections, this project will include a community-focussed acquisition programme for LGBTQ+ cultural and historical artefacts. Objects will be collected from British communities and across the globe that highlight traditions of gender non-conformity, bringing British LGBTQ+ heritage into conversation with global LGBTQ+ material culture.

TORCH and the Pitt Rivers Museum are keen to encourage proposals from academics in the Humanities who are interested in interdisciplinary research, involving the broader cultural, social and political aspects of museum collections. We are also looking for proposals that will add to the work of the Museum's exhibition programme that fit into the scholar’s individual research.

We welcome applications for fellowships that will contribute to the wider aims and development of the Beyond the Binary project, so that it complements the project and team at the Museum.

More information on the project can be found here: https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/beyond-the-binary

The conditions for a TORCH-Pitt Rivers Museum Knowledge Exchange Fellowship are:

The Fellowship is available to University of Oxford postholders, based in the Humanities Division.

The funding includes a ‘buyout’ (up to £8,000), and up to £2,000 for collaborative project expenses with the partner.

TORCH and the Pitt Rivers Museum will receive printed acknowledgement in and copies of publications resulting in whole or in part from research carried out during the period of the Fellowship.
 

The Fellow will also provide a written report on the completion of their Fellowship.

During the tenure of the Fellowship, a Fellow may be asked to attend events, conferences or symposia on behalf of the TORCH and the Pitt Rivers Museum, and to participate in informal seminars with Museum staff.

Guidelines on how to apply

The deadline for applications is 12 midday on 31 July 2019.

Please send your application by the deadline via the online IRAMs application link here.

1. A completed case for support, which asks for brief applicant details, the title and overview of the proposed research project, and outline budget.

Potential candidates are invited to contact the Pitt Rivers Museum team to discuss potential research areas and how this would connect and be part of the Beyond the Binary project.

Selection criteria

Assessment of the applications will focus on:

• The quality of the proposed project;
• The proposed benefit to the partner organisation;
• The potential for the project to enhance the applicant’s research;
• The potential for the project to develop a productive and long lasting partnership with the named organisation;
• The ways in which the project will promote the reach and significance of research beyond the academic community.
   

A selection panel made up of both researchers and judges external to the University will make the final decisions. The application will be treated as confidential at all times.

Outcome of applications

Applicants will be informed if they have been selected within 1 month of the deadline. We may hold an informal interview to choose between candidates

For any further information please see the contact details below.

Contacts:

Professor Wes Williams

Knowledge Exchange Champion

TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities

Radcliffe Humanities, University of Oxford

Oxford  OX2 6GG

Email:  wes.williams@seh.ox.ac.uk  

Dr Victoria McGuinness

Head of Research Partnerships

TORCH | The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities

Radcliffe Humanities, University of Oxford

Oxford  OX2 6GG

Email:  victoria.mcguinness@humanities.ox.ac.uk

Telephone: 01865 615362

Jozie Kettle and Andrew McLellan

Public Engagement Team

Pitt Rivers Museum,

South Parks Road, Oxford

Email: jozie.kettle@prm.ox.ac.uk or andrew.mclellan@prm.ox.ac.uk