1 joint PhD scholarship KU Leuven (Belgium) and the University of Coventry (UK) on "Wagnerian Networks beyond France New Perspectives on Gender, Art and Spaces of Performance around 1900".

The Department of Architecture (www.architecture.kuleuven.be), KU Leuven, Belgium, is part of the Science, Engineering and Technology Group at KU Leuven and coordinates the research on (interior) architecture, urbanism and spatial planning at the Faculty of Architecture (Brussels and Gent) and the Faculty of Engineering Science (Leuven). The Department enjoys an international reputation and currently counts more than 150 (international) PhD students. The Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities (CAMC), University of Coventry, UK, is one of three centres in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Coventry. CAMC is home to a vibrant research culture that weaves together three strands of scholarship: Cultural Memory, Critical Practices and Well-being and the Arts. The research of the Centre is both transdisciplinary and multidisciplinary and pursues excellence with its unique disciplines, sharing the belief that exchanges across disciplinary boundaries can transform discrete scholarly fields and can improve the lives and experiences of the individuals and communities with whom we engage.The PhD candidate will conduct his/her research at the research group I2A/PADP (Leuven, Department of Architecture) and the Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities (Coventry University, UK) and will be supervised by Professor Dominique Bauer (KU Leuven) and Professor Juliet Simpson (CU).

Project
Wagnerian Networks beyond France New Perspectives on Gender, Art and Spaces of Performance around 1900

Wagner s art and music is a touchstone for new creative and cultural memory making at the turn of the 20th century. Yet the reach and impact of Wagnerism as an artistic, cultural and social phenomenon, opening new conceptions of its interactions beyond its Paris-centred networks, is still under-investigated. The objectives of this PhD scholarship will be to develop knowledge of Wagnerian constructs of the artwork, encompassing visual, music and literary arts experienced in semi-private and public spaces to create new imaginaries of self, gender, social identity and future-making, as of art. A key aim for this PhD study, will be to investigate the potency of Wagnerian networks, theories and cultural practices, their interactions with changing gender identities, in particular, the importance of women as cultural agents and social networkers in the 1890s and early 1900s. The PhD should consider key questions and approaches relating to reception: to consider sites of Wagnerian artistic spaces and networks (notably in Brussels, London, Vienna and Copenhagen), examining actors, archival sources and cultural transfer via periodicals. Second, will be to explore the role of aesthetic experience: important for this study is to understand how and in what contexts music, visual and literary arts, and their spatial organisation, stimulate new states of feeling, interiority and emotions via Wagnerian sites of aesthetic interaction and pilgrimage . A third focus for this PhD will concern cultural identity: this may engage questions about routes to agency and creativity for women as artistic actors and patrons, and Wagnerism as a site for new gender identities. The core ambition for this PhD is to shed light on Wagnerism s entangled canonicity, extending to Belgian and British sites of transfer, and in their international interactions, in the construction, performing and shaping of the period s alternative expressions of cultural power, memory and social modernity.
We are looking for an outstanding candidate who is passionate about (historical) research. You are the ideal candidate if you:
have obtained a master s degree and can show proof of a strong interest in research in art history, history of architecture, cultural history, European (network) history, history of music and aesthetics
have distinguished yourself during your studies, or academic career
are able to show proof of your writing skills by means of an article, book chapter or master s thesis
know how to organize yourself, and are capable of working under pressure or against deadlines
function well in an interdisciplinary team but are also able to work individually
have a good command of English (advanced level reading, writing and speaking) and French (advanced level reading and speaking)
Offer
We offer a full-time PhD scholarship, in a joint supervision by KU Leuven (Faculty of Architecture) and Coventry University (Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities). Supervised by Prof. Juliet Simpson (CAMC-CU) and Prof. Dominique Bauer (KU Leuven). This PhD will develop established research collaborations on visual, material and literary cultures of memory and interiority around 1900 with a specific focus on Belgian-Francophone-UK cultural exchanges in spaces of art and cultural transfer in the modern and contemporary period. You will be based at the Faculty of Architecture, Sint-Lucas Brussels and Ghent campus (2 years) and the Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities (2 years).

The candidate is to start on October 1st 2023. The partners offer a full-time (100%) employment for 1 year (extendable up to 4 years in total after a positive evaluation) as a researcher in a creative work environment and with challenging assignments. When the PhD requirements are successfully fulfilled, the PhD diploma will be offered by both institutions.

More information and application portal:
https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60197664