PhD Studentship: Collections, Conviviality, Culture Wars: UK post-colonial redress, 1997-present

Applications are invited from eligible candidates for a full-time PhD studentship, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, to commence 1 October 2025 for 3 years. The project, which will contextualise museum practice, parliamentary policy, community organising, and public debate relating to colonial redress and reparation, will be principally supervised by Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp (UCL Institute of Archaeology) and Haidy Geismar (UCL Anthropology).

The deadline for applications is 6 May 2025.

Whilst there are long-standing and lively public debates on the recognition of colonial legacies in heritage and museums, the UK lacks a clear national position on the futures of cultural collections acquired through colonial occupation, compared to legal, policy and cultural frameworks that have emerged elsewhere.

UK museums and heritage institutions with such collections are engaged in a crisis of public mistrust, both highly visible and with high public scrutiny and expectation. They have struggled to establish a coherent narrative in public perceptions of what these museums are, and how they relate to post-colonial Britain and its attendant needs for redress and reparative justice. This crisis of mistrust has contributed to heightened perceptions of risk, further impacting the possibilities of and planning for change. It has also created a volatile and uncomfortable media environment, where those who are engaging in these conversations and this work of change are at constant risk of personal attacks and public backlash.

The wider project, of which this PhD project is part, contends with this crisis, the historical and national conjunctures that have led to it, and the possibilities for the future. This proposed doctoral research will contextualise museum practice through significant moments of parliamentary policy, community organising, and public debate relating to colonial redress and reparation, since 1997.

We are looking for an excellent, highly promising student committed to interdisciplinary work in museum studies, anthropology and/or cultural studies. Applicants may come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds (anthropology, history, sociology, cultural and media studies), but it is expected that the successful applicant will be able to clearly explain the relationship between their existing training and the topic of the studentship, including how their interests and career aims relate to the proposed topic area. Candidates should hold, or be enrolled, in a Masters degree with an overall/predicted grade of 70% or better, with at least 70% for dissertation; or equivalent. We encourage applications from students with practical sector experience within museums, community work, archives or heritage.

Further details

• A full description of the studentship, eligibility requirements and application information is available on the UCL website
•  For formal enquiries relating to the studentship, please contact Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp
• Any enquiries about the application process may be directed to the Institute’s Graduate Programmes Administrator, Lisa Daniel