About the role
The School of Humanities at Bath Spa University wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Assistant to work on an AHRC-funded research project, 'Records of Early English Drama: Civic London, 1558-1642', led by Professor Tracey Hill (PI, Bath Spa University). The PDRA will work under the guidance of Professor Hill but need not be based in Bath since the research will primarily be undertaken in London.
Civic London 1558-1642 follows on from REED's Civic London to 1558 collection and will for the very first time bring together in annotated and edited form all the surviving records of dramatic and musical activity from the early modern City of London, including details of performers, musicians, artificers, pageant poets, dramatists, and other protagonists, playing spaces, civic participation and regulation, and the expenditure and income of the various bodies involved. The work will thus represent a major advance in knowledge, one which will provide a powerful and necessary corrective to previous thinking about the relationship between the City and theatre, which has been hampered by the absence - until Civic London 1559-1642 - of a comprehensive resource enabling scholars to understand the full complexity and scope of civic performance. The project's major output, which will eventually be published on REED's open-access website, will be the first ever scholarly edition of this important archival material.
This 12 month period of the project research will focus on the records of the City of London livery companies. With the PI, the PDRA will identify, transcribe, and help to contextualise all references to dramatic and musical activity contained in these records.
Following an initial phase of scoping and data gathering undertaken by the PI, we are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Assistant to work alongside the PI to:
1. Undertake primary research into the civic archive, to determine the relevance of these records to the project's scope, and to produce high-quality transcriptions of same
2. To develop and maintain a blogsite where research findings will be hosted
3. To help bring impact activities to fruition
4. To co-organise a seminar at the Shakespeare Association of America conference in April 2020.
They will join a collaborative team and will work with Records of Early English Drama colleagues in Canada as well as researchers in the UK to discover what the City of London archives reveal about civic drama, theatrical-related activity, and music in the early modern period. The findings of this research will be communicated in a range of outputs, including a blog-site, a conference panel, and an online edited collection.
The Postdoctoral Research Assistant will be actively involved in all facets of the project, and will be provided with the necessary training to contribute towards these tasks, although pre-existing web-editing skills or other digital humanities training would be beneficial. In addition, the successful applicant will be expected to possess excellent paleographical skills to enable them to work effectively on a large range of sixteenth and seventeenth century documents. Under the mentorship of the PI, the Research Assistant will develop their own research agenda and publications.
About you (requirements)
The successful candidate will have a PhD in a relevant area of early modern or late medieval literature and/or history, and will already have experience of archive-based research and palaeography relevant to the period. You will also possess exceptional interpersonal, networking and communication skills. Whilst prior experience of website-editing and digital humanities methods would be useful, you will be provided with training in these areas.
About us
At Bath Spa University we work with one clear vision: to be a leading university in creativity, culture and enterprise. And we place collaboration at the heart of everything we do. We make sure our people are engaged and empowered by blending digital technologies, international perspectives, work-oriented connections and inspirational teaching. Together we're on a journey to transform our students' lives. And it starts with people like you.
The School of Humanities offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in English Literature, Environmental Humanities, History and Heritage, Philosophy, and Politics. We have a strong, successful research culture across all these disciplines and more, and a commitment to developing new ways of connecting research and teaching to inspire and equip the next generation of thinkers, writers and citizens.
For an informal discussion regarding this post, please contact Professor Tracey Hill by email: t.hill@bathspa.ac.uk.
How to apply
For further information or to apply on-line please visit Bath Spa University jobs page. Please note that CVs will not be considered and those included with application forms will be removed. Any queries regarding the application process or our website should be emailed to hrcontact@bathspa.ac.uk.
We offer excellent facilities and benefits to our staff. These include a nursery, pension scheme, flexible working practices, an employee assistance programme, and family-friendly policies.
We value a diverse workforce and welcome applications from all sections of the community