PhD studentship in Social Anthropology and Modern History

The project “Esperanto 4.0: Millennials and the global Esperanto movement in historical and anthropological perspective” invites applications for one PhD studentship, for applicants to start at the University of St Andrews in September 2019. The student will examine the current resurging interest in the artificial and neutral language Esperanto among millennial Esperanto speakers and activists in an anthropological-historical perspective.

The main focus of the project is to conduct ethnographic fieldwork in the form of meetings, formal and informal interviews, and oral history, regarding millennial Esperantists.

The project seeks to address – among others – the following questions:

• To what extent are current Esperanto-speakers driven by similar or different agendas and ideals as previous generations of Esperanto-speakers?
• To what extent are current speakers aware of the historical origins and the legacy of the language and the broader movement?
• How do millennials interact within the wider Esperanto community in comparison to previous generations (travel, congresses, local and national societies, media and online forums)?
• To millennial Esperantists, what are the limits and potentials to revive the movement within the current social, economic, political, and cultural climate?

For further information on the project, see the Transnational History website

The successful candidate will find a highly stimulating research environment and joint supervision from Social Anthropology and History. The studentship allows for the development of a flexible and independent interdisciplinary project around today’s Esperanto community in a historical perspective. While the project is a free-standing PhD project it will be embedded into a wider project on “Esperanto and Internationalism, c. 1880s-1930” (Dr Bernhard Struck, School of History).

The project looking for a PhD candidate trained in Social Anthropology or History. This could include someone with a joint degree or someone with a Masters and undergraduate degrees in the disciplines. Applicants should have completed a taught-postgraduate degree (or equivalent) with a good Masters degree by September 2019. It is expected that the student will know or be willing to learn Esperanto. The studentship is funded through the St Leonard’s College Interdisciplinary Doctoral Scholarships Scheme at the University of St Andrews. The scholarships comprise a full-fee waiver and stipend for the normal full-fee paying period. The stipend will be paid at the current Research Council rate (£14,777 in 2018-2019). The scholarship may be awarded to a UK and EU or international applicant.

Applicants should apply for a PhD place via the University of St Andrews standard application process. In addition, they should submit a research outline of a maximum of 500 words directly to Professor Mark Harris (mh25@st-andrews.ac.uk) and Dr Bernhard Struck (bs50@st-andrews.ac.uk).

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 25 May 2019.