Departmental news

Applications now open for fully-funded PhD Studentship (fees and maintenance) with the Lord Leycester Hospital

Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship (fees and maintenance) to be held at the Department of History, University of Warwick and the Lord Leycester Hospital, Warwick. The studentship is funded through the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training PartnershipLink opens in a new window and will start in October 2023. The Department of History has partnered with the Lord Leycester Hospital to offer a project on ‘Almshouse, Guild and Town Community: The Lord Leycester Hospital in its Urban Setting’. In addition to the PhD research the successful candidate will also gain experience and training in contributing to outreach and public engagement activities, including developing an exhibition.

In 2020, the Hospital secured a 3.8 million National Lottery Grant for restoration of the Grade I and II listed buildings, along with other improvements and engagement activities. This will include the creation of four new museum and exhibition spaces exploring and showcasing the Hospital’s 700-year history.

The project will be supervised jointly by Dr Naomi Pullin (Warwick), Professor Beat Kümin (Warwick), and Dr Heidi Meyer (Master of the Lord Leycester Hospital).

For more information about the project please contact Naomi Pullin (naomi.pullin@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window) or Beat Kümin (b.kumin@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window). Applications need to reach the University of Warwick by 11 January 2023: https://www.midlands4cities.ac.uk/apply/Link opens in a new window.

ECLS Halloween Special

The English and Comparative Literary Studies department warmly invite staff and students from across the

Faculty of Arts to join us for an afternoon of events celebrating our Gothic/Horror research and interests on:

Monday 31^st October, 12-5pm in FAB 5.49 (ECLS Hub)

A draft outline is below and a more detailed schedule will be updated in coming days here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/events/ecls_halloween_special/Link opens in a new window

12 -1pm – Gothic Projects

Two PhD students will introduce us to their projects on the UK as gothic ideology and Victorian Spiritualism.

1-2pm – Gothic Transformations

The English department student-led Transformations team will introduce the gothic reader and the witches reader produced each year in conjunction with local schools and will delight use with a dramatisation of a gothic scene related to their work.

1.30-2pm Minor Hauntings: An Introduction and Reading

Dr Jen Baker introduces and gives a short reading from her edited collection Minor Hauntings: Chilling Tales of Spectral Youth which was published as part of the British Library Tales of the Weird seriesLink opens in a new window in 2021.

2-2.30pm Fireside Readings

Student-led mini-critical introduction and reading from Gothic texts.

2.30-3pm Fireside Readings

Student-led mini-critical introduction and reading from Gothic texts.

3-3.30pm Fireside Readings

Student-led mini-critical introduction and reading from Gothic texts.

3.30-4pm Fireside Dramatic Read-a-long:

A student-hosted dramatic read-a-long where you, the audience, will take on roles of in a Gothic reading.

4 - 5pm Gothic pop-up books: A mini-workshop

Come and learn about and play with a host of Gothic pop-up books and some of the ways in which we can use them to challenge ideas of what is a book and what is literary!

5-7pm Secret Cinema (FAB 0.03) (booking required)

Screening of a Literary Adaptation of a Gothic text

Researchers from the Department of History will be delivering a series of talks at Warwick Words History Festival. Now in its twentieth year, Warwick Words is a popular annual event, bringing internationally acclaimed historians to share stories from the past to venues around Warwick.

Since 2012, the University of Warwick has collaborated with the festival on a series titled Tea Time Talks, where academics from the Department of HistoryLink opens in a new window discuss their research. This year, topics are:

• History and the Russian Invasion of UkraineLink opens in a new window – Professor Christoph MickLink opens in a new window and Dr Claire ShawLink opens in a new window - Saturday 8 October
• Picking up the Pieces: Gender and Romantic Failure in late 20th Century BritainLink opens in a new window – Dr Zoe StrimpelLink opens in a new window - Saturday 22 October
• The Politics of Touch in the late 18th CenturyLink opens in a new window – Professor Mark PhilpLink opens in a new window - Saturday 26 November

The programme also includes a play written by PhD student David FletcherLink opens in a new window and performed by Loft Theatre company: Taking the WatersLink opens in a new window tells the story of a cholera epidemic that took place in Leamington Spa in 1849, and the medical and political conflicts that surrounded it.

Other speakers at the festival include Tracy Borman, Max Hastings, Dan Jones, Adam Rutherford, Charles Spencer and Alison Weir.

Tickets are available from Warwick Words’ website: https://warwickwords.co.uk/Link opens in a new window