The studentship
This project, focusing on Indigenous Arts and Environmental Justice, combines the two supervisors’ expertise in environmental justice and postcolonial studies (Dr. Matthew Whittle) and American culture and environmental history (Prof. John Wills). Dr. Alicia Kroemer forms an additional part of the supervisory board, with Incomindios UK’s focus on Indigenous and Environmental Rights. In doing so, the project places emphasis on environmental racism and justice, and colonial and gendered violence, both of which are disproportionately implicated in the contexts of environmental racism. This research project, then, has three key objectives:
to survey and examine the considerable volume of Indigenous-produced art (to include literature and digital media such as video games) around key sites of protest and protest events, since the “birth” of the modern environmental movement in the 1950s;
to explore the role art and artistic responses have played in these protests, particularly with regard to drawing international attention to grassroots actions, and to examine the ways in which artwork has contributed to the globalizing of localized forms of protest;
to work with Incomindios UK and with Indigenous activists on developing a scheme of educational resources and outreach events around advocacy and activism, and Indigenous rights and environmental justice.
The project will demand a mixed-methodological approach, including:
– conventional text-based research into environmental change and its impacts on North American Indigenous communities, as well as into Native North American involvement in what we think of as the modern environmental movement;
– extensive archival (in both the USA and Canada, the UK, and Geneva), online (social media), and community research to create a database of all visual, written, and performing arts related to specific activist events;
– oral history with both Indigenous activists, Indigenous artists, and, where practicable, community members engaged in protests where visual and performing arts have played a visible role.
The successful candidate will be invited by the supervisory team to explore a range of events and to develop a number of case studies in which art and artistic practice, broadly conceived, plays or played a clear and substantive role in the pursuit of its goals. In each case, the candidate will be encouraged to look at both conventional and commercial gallery art, as well as the range of artforms deployed and artworks produced in direct support of individual actions, including site specific artworks and performance pieces, participatory art such as print actions, art produced specifically for distribution via social media, and grassroots print publications, giveaways, and similar. And finally, the candidate will be encouraged to reach out to artists, community groups, and activist leaders to engage directly with those who have sought to use and deploy art in the service of protest.
Alongside this research agenda, the candidate will work closely with colleagues in Incomindios UK to develop programmes of public outreach (via workshops, webinars, and exhibitions) and schools engagement that will be jointly delivered/hosted by the Centre for Indigenous and Settler Colonial Studies at Kent and Incomindios UK. In addition to this, the candidate will work closely with colleagues at Incomindios UK to connect their research/area of focus to Incomindios UK’s wider outreach, whereby they would contribute articles, research texts, interviews for the NGO’s social media platforms, submit proposals for events and projects within the UK for greater protection and promotion of Indigenous Rights.
There will be opportunities to organise events, participate in literary and methodological reading groups, and undertake training relevant to the project.
The candidate
Candidates will usually have a good honours degree (2:1 or above) and a relevant Master’s degree from any area of the Arts or Humanities. They will ideally have some experience of working on the literary, visual, or performing arts and of contemporary North American Indigenous contexts, either in their taught or research experience to date.
The candidate will also spend time working closely with project partners at Incomindios UK, so must be interested in developing the “fit” between their research and how that research might inform and contribute to the work of an active NGO. Interest in and awareness of the specificities of Indigenous Rights discourse is also desirable.
Essential skills/attributes:
Good honours degree (2.1 or above)
MA
Interest in building relationships between research and activism
Desirable skills/attributes:
Previous experience of working on art
Understanding of Indigenous North American contexts
Some knowledge of Indigenous Rights contexts
How to apply
Applications for this studentship must be made via the University of Kent application form.
Deadline: Thursday 7th September 2023, 23:59 BST
Interviews will take place the week beginning 2nd October 2023
When making your application, open your personal statement by stating you are applying for this studentship: AHRC/CHASE Collaborative Doctoral Award PhD studentship in collaboration with The University of Kent and Incomindios UK – Indigenous Arts and Environmental Justice.
More information
See https://www.kent.ac.uk/scholarships/search/FNADINDIGE01
Terms and conditions
The studentship is subject to UKRI eligibility criteria, and will cover Home fees and stipend at UKRI rates for a maximum of four years full-time, or eight years part-time study, subject to institutional regulations. The University of Kent will waive the fee difference between home and international rates if applicable.
Informal Enquiries
Informal enquiries about this collaborative project can be sent to [m.whittle@kent.ac.uk]
To find out more about activities at Kent and Incomindios UK, follow our social media:
Twitter: @ciscstudies @IncomindiosUK
Facebook: @incomindiosuk
Instagram: unikent_ciscs incomindiosuk
