Historical & Philosophical Studies (History); Social Sciences & Social Care (Other social sciences, Human & Social Geography)
Project description:
Despite being one of the world’s oldest narratives, stories about Great Floods have yet to receive sustained critical attention. No synthesis has brought together the increasingly precious adaptation and mitigation lessons held within the anthropological, literary and historical intercultural responses to past floods. This PhD sets out to mine their potential lessons for the present. It will set out applied historical lessons of global value resulting from analysis of the Great Flood stories that span the ages through Indigenous South and North America, the Near East, the Greco-Roman world, and Mesoamerica.
This exciting PhD project will address this environmental history research gap via detailed examination centred upon the context-specific elements from flood stories that made the flood mitigation/adaptation options successful (or not) within sources such as the “earth-diver’ motif in the Northeastern United States, the Maya Deluge Myth and the Four Flood Myth Traditions of Classical China.
The student will analyse international historical, ethnographic, and paleoclimatology sources, oral history collections and academic literature on Great Flood stories and conduct semi-structured interviews/policy document analysis on present-day flood resilience in a specific flood-prone region.
They will be encouraged to produce a policy report, article and a short book publication such as a Cambridge Element (a book series within Treatied Spaces Research Group). The aim of each output will be to connect historical knowledge to present-day practice.
This is a funded 4-year PhD studentship to start in September 2024. An exciting opportunity for an ambitious, talented and enthusiastic researcher to conduct interdisciplinary research in order to advance thinking within the area of blue-green humanities.
To watch our recent webinar which includes an introduction to this research scholarship click here.
If you have any queries about this project, please address them to watercultures@hull.ac.uk, rather than contacting the supervisor directly. This is to support our inclusive recruitment practices. Our Water Cultures Professional Services Team will liaise with Supervisors and ensure you receive responses to your queries.
Funding:
This PhD scholarship is funded for 48 months, covering fees at the UK rate, a maintenance grant of £18,622 per year (2023/24 rate), and a research and training support grant.
Eligibility:
You should have a good undergraduate degree (at least a 2:1 Honours degree, or international equivalent) in a relevant subject such as History, Human Geography, American Studies or Cultural Studies. A Masters in a relevant subject is desirable, but not essential.
Because this project is international in design, it would benefit significantly from being carried out by a candidate with capabilities in multiple languages and cultural registers.
If your first language is not English, or you require Tier 4 student visa to study, you will be required to provide evidence of your English language competency. The IELTS requirement is 6.0 overall with no less than 5.5 in each skill.
