You will undertake doctoral level research on Restitution Ecologies as part of a wider research initiative on critical heritage ecologies led by Dr. Tessel Bauduin and Dr. Colin Sterling. As a PhD candidate you will investigate the material ecologies of restitution through case studies, cross-disciplinary comparative research and – where relevant – engagement with artistic practice. As calls for the return of objects increase and the heritage and museums field orients towards issues of decolonization and reparation, this PhD project asks how such initiatives might support, challenge or undermine broader strategies of worldly repair. In so doing, the research aims to provide a new framework for critical and practical work at the intersection of heritage studies and the environmental humanities. To understand the ecological entanglements and implications of restitution processes, the project will focus on four case studies that speak to different dimensions of material, symbolic, environmental, and social repair.

The deadline for applications is 30 November 2023.