Information, Interaction and Interpretation in Museums and Galleries

Ph.D Studentship: King’s College London with the Royal Academy, London

King’s Business School, Doctoral Programme, King’s College London

 

Studentship start date: October 2019

Application Deadline: 22^ndFebruary 2019

 

We seek applications for a studentship to undertake a Ph.D at the King’s Business School, King’s College London, in close collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts, London. The project will examine how visitors use information provided by museums and galleries, for example through labels, gallery cards and electronic devices, in exploring, discussing and interpreting works of art. It will focus on the interaction of visitors and the ways in which resources provided by museums and galleries inform how people engage works of art and participate within exhibitions. Data for the project will consist of audio-visual recordings of ‘naturally occurring’ conduct and interaction within museums and galleries augmented by field studies, interviews of visitors, curators and designers, and textual analysis. The project will also involve undertaking a series of small-scale, ‘experiments’ in actual exhibitions in which we make systematic changes to the information provided to visitors. The project will contribute to contemporary developments in studies of social interaction and in particular our understanding of how the sense and significance of art arises in and through talk, embodied conduct and the use of material and digital resources. It will also contribute to practice, – how the particular resources provided by museums and galleries bear upon the ways in which people engage art and participate in exhibitions. The successful applicant will be supervised by Professor Christian Heath, Dr Dirk vom Lehn (King’s College London) and Dr Maurice Davies (Head of Collections) Royal Academy, London.

Applicants should have a background in the social sciences and some familiarity with qualitative methods and research. The applicant is expected to have an interest in art and museums and galleries. The studentship may fund a one year MSc, followed by a three year studentship to undertake the Ph.D or if the applicant will have already secured an MSc. Or MA, then fund the undertaking the PhD only. We will only consider applicants that are expected to gain a 1^stor at least an upper 2:1 in their final degree.

To be eligible for a full award (stipend and fees), you must be ordinarily resident in the UK, meaning there are no restrictions on how long you can stay, and have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for at least three years prior to the start of the studentship grant.

Further information on the eligibility criteria for full awards can be found on the UKCISA website: www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information–Advice/Fees-and-Money/Government-Student-Support

To find out more about of the studentship and the proposed project please contact either Professor Christian Heath (christian.heath@kcl.ac.uk)or Dr Dirk vom Lehn (dirk.vom_lehn@kcl.ac.uk). The final deadline for applications is 22^ndof February 2019 but we would very much welcome applications before that date.

LISS DTP (liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk) can answer any general questions regarding the application process, core methods training requirements etc.

To be accepted, applications must include:

• a completed ESRC LISS DTP Collaborative (CASE) Application Form
• a copy of your CV
• 2 academic references, or 1 academic and 1 professional reference (these should be sent directly to liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk by your referees)
• copies of transcripts for all relevant degrees

These materials should be sent BOTH to liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk and the project academic lead by the deadline.

https://liss-dtp.ac.uk/case-studentships-student-applicants/#1543419212249-53f51303-994d

 

 

Special Issue – The Senses in Social Interaction

 

Co-edited by

Will Gibson (University College London, Institute of Education) & Dirk vom Lehn (King’s College London)

 

Symbolic Interaction invites submissions for a Special Issue exploring the role of the senses in social interaction. Our particular concern is with how the senses are invoked in communicative practice in everyday life and how people make their sensorial experiences accountable to one another. The papers will mark a turning point in the study of the senses by analysing empirically senses as interactional phenomena — i.e. how people communicate about the senses; how talk, gesture, gaze, material artefacts, physical environments, and other resources are used to make the senses accountable to other participants; and how senses are made relevant and observable to unfolding interaction. We regard this approach as contrasting with existing research in the field that often looks at the ‘cultural significance’ of sensorial action or at the phenomenological experience and the meanings of sensorial action in absence of a close analysis of the interaction order in which such meanings are situated.

Studies have begun to explore the ways that the sensorial activities figure in and configure social practices, and how they play a role in the structuring of contextually specific ‘practical relevancies’ (Mann 2018). We are particularly interested in research that develops this idea by looking at how the senses become relevant to ‘making something happen’. This ‘something’ may be in an organisational context, such as at work or in an organisationally ‘structured’ experience like visiting a gallery or going to a concert. Similarly, papers may look at more mundane contexts such as chatting, shopping, eating/drinking either in private or public spaces. A part of our interest is in exploring the methodological challenges in studying the senses (Vannini et al., 2013). In the light of this, we would be keen to publish a variety of methodological approaches from different theoretical perspectives, and to include work that uses a range of methods including observations and video methods, but also more experimental forms using contemporary modes of data representation from the arts.

We welcome tentative expressions of interest and are happy to explore the fit of possible research papers with the above theme.

Full papers should be submitted to the online system of Symbolic Interaction. Please select the tab related to this Special Issue when submitting your paper, or indicate in your cover letter that your paper is for the Special Issue. When preparing your paper please follow the author submission guidelines of Symbolic Interaction.

Deadline for submission is May 30, 2019. You will be informed by July 15 if your paper has been accepted for the Special Issue and if revisions are required to prepare the paper for publication.

To submit your article, please go HERE.

In case of any questions, please contact Will Gibson (w.gibson@ucl.ac.uk) and/or Dirk vom Lehn (dirk.vom_lehn@kcl.ac.uk).

 

References

Mann A (2018) Ordering tasting in a restaurant: experiencing, socializing, and processing food. The Senses and Society 13(2). 135–146.

Vannini P, Waskul D and Gottschalk S (2013) The Senses in Self, Society, and Culture: A Sociology of the Senses (Contemporary Sociological Perspectives). Routledge.