In conjunction with the School of Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS), the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry (HAPI), and the School of Communication and Arts (SCA) the Institute is offering up to 8 PhD scholarships (domestic and international) to study under one of three research projects.
Project 1: Justice, Recognition, and Power in World Politics
The contemporary international order is being reshaped by shifting configurations of power, new articulations of cultural difference, and competing justice claims. These developments challenge our most basic theoretical, empirical, and normative assumptions, leaving us poorly equipped to understand the dynamics of contemporary global change. This project will investigate the nature and complex interconnection between these developments, seeking to enhance theory, revise historical understandings, and better inform normative reasoning.
Successful applicants will be supervised by Professor Christian Reus-Smit. While all dissertation projects that engage the project’s central themes will be considered, we are particularly interested in projects that are conceptually and theoretically innovative, draw on diverse Western and non-Western histories, or explore the ethical implications of shifting relations between justice, recognition, and power.
Project 2: Science and Secularization
The aim of the project is to explore past and present relations between science and religion with a view to developing a new account of the role of science in the processes of secularization. More specifically it will investigate whether science has been a major cause of secularization, and whether the pattern of scientific advance and corresponding religious decline observed in many Western countries represents the model that all societies are destined to follow.
The available supervisors for this project include Dr. Ian Hesketh (IASH), Dr. Tom Aechtner (HAPI), and Professor Peter Harrison (IASH). While all relevant dissertation projects will be considered we are particularly interested in projects on the following areas:
- Science and religion in the early modern period
- Science and religion in Victorian Britain
- The historical development of evolutionary theories of life
- Contemporary or historical issues associated with science-religion interactions, including: antievolutionism, antivaccinationist movements, climate change denial, religion and secularization, or any other pertinent area.
Successful candidates for this project will be enrolled in HAPI.
Project 3: Literary and Book History after Colonialism
Australian settler modernity was shaped by distinct orders of knowledge that can be traced through book history and studies of print culture. The key aim of Associate Professor Anna Johnston’s ARC Future Fellowship project is to provide fresh and challenging readings of Australia’s literary and cultural history, and to map the aftermath of colonialism in contemporary culture.
Successful applicants will be supervised by Associate Professor Anna Johnston, and will be enrolled in the School of Communication and Arts. While all relevant dissertation projects will be considered, proposals that articulate with Fellowship themes and approach are encouraged. Indicative projects could include:
- Settler colonialism and Australian literature, past and present
- Colonial science and natural history publications
- Missionary writing
- Archival or book history projects, particularly using UQ’s Fryer Library and / or AustLit
- Non-fictional prose and literary studies
Students in literary studies, cultural and intellectual history, and postcolonial cultural studies are encouraged to apply and to refine their proposal in consultation with the project leader.
Potential applicants should consult the additional information and instructions on how to apply on the UQ Scholarships page.
