This PhD project will offer the student an opportunity to explore the use of smell – both stories connected to smell and physical scents – in cultural heritage institutions in Europe in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The aim of the PhD project is to provide an overview of smell’s historical and continued role in heritage and museum practice. However, the PhD student will also be given support to identify and follow their own nose when it comes to choosing case studies for detailed examination. Methodologies from museum studies, public history, and cultural history will be deployed as part of the project. The chief aims of the PhD project will be to:
- Understand how scents have been used in museums and heritage spaces.
- Trace the different narratives and stories told about smells and smelling in these spaces.
- Understand how scents and narratives shaped the public’s experience of museums and heritage.
This project will involve the use of a varied collection of sources, including archival material relating to the history of smell; literature relating to museums, exhibitions, and heritage practice; museum site-visits and observation; and interviews with curators and heritage professionals about how they have used smell in their work. This studentship forms part of the ‘Odeuropa’ project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101004469. The aim of this project is to identify and preserve the smells of Europe as part of our cultural heritage. ODEUROPA: Negotiating Olfactory and Sensory Experiences in Cultural Heritage Practice and Research is the first European initiative to use artificial intelligence (AI) to investigate the importance of smells and smelling in connection with works of art, places, people and traditions. You can read more about the aims of the project, its methodology, and consortium on the project website. The project and PhD studentship will start on the 1st of January 2021 and run for 3 years.
This is a double PhD degree run between Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (ARU) and the Vrije University (VU) in Amsterdam. The candidate will be enrolled at ARU but graduate at the VU and receive a degree from both universities with supervision from both. The student will also have visiting rights at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, and there will be additional money to fund travel to Amsterdam and Europe for the purposes of research and engagement with other Odeuropa project members.
Supervisory Team: Dr William Tullett, Lecturer in History (Anglia Ruskin University, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Cambridge) and Professor Inger Leemans, Professor of Cultural History (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Faculty of Arts – Principal Investigator on the Odeuropa project of which this studentship forms a part).
We welcome candidates with backgrounds in all academic disciplines. Given the focus of the project, applicants from those holding undergraduate and master’s degrees in History, Heritage, Museum Studies, or Curation would be particularly valued.
For full details on the studentship, including application procedures please view the vacancy on the ARU website. For questions about the studentship or research project, please contact Dr William Tullett.
The deadline for applications is 4 December 2020.