The PhD research will will use practice-based and/or critical research on pressing contemporary issues such as migration and refugeeism, racism, xenophobia, violence and populist politics, postcolonialism and decolonization, globalization and inequality, transport, technology and mediation. The Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) incorporates Art, Design, Architecture, Film and Theatre. We are open to proposals for projects that are either broadly situated within any of the five disciplines or that cross disciplinary boundaries.

In LICA, as theorists and practitioners, we are concerned with the analysis and production of creative work in various forms, and we are interested in the relationship between politics and aesthetics and the ways in which ideas, images and objects, gestures, performances and bodies can reveal, cross or subvert borders, challenging conventional ways of viewing and thinking about the world.

At the foundation of our engagement with these issues is a recognition of the importance of research and teaching that is politically and socially engaged. To this end, LICA provides a supportive context for interdisciplinary thought, bringing together researchers who work in the fields of design thinking and mobilities research, theatre and performance studies, film studies, visual culture and fine art, and much of whose work crosses the boundary between theory and creative practice. As a space for dialogue between researchers working in a variety of disciplines and conceptual frameworks, LICA is uniquely placed to address the dynamic complexity of the questions posed by a rapidly changing and increasingly bordered world.

Funding includes all tuition fees and a contribution of £15,000 towards maintenance costs for students starting their course in 2020/21. Applications are welcome from UK, EU and overseas students.

Please contact Dr Jen Southern (j.a.southern@lancaster.ac.uk) to discuss your interest in this fully funded PhD.