The Arts of Belonging: Migration, Environment and Well-Being

The University of Aberdeen is an internationally recognised centre for excellence for research addressing the global challenges of energy transition, environment and biodiversity, social inclusion and cultural diversity, health, nutrition and wellbeing, and data and artificial intelligence. Our interdisciplinary research crosses the broad themes of understanding across these global challenges and you can find out more about the University of Aberdeen’s five interdisciplinary challenge areas here. 

In 2024 we are continuing to build a cohort of interdisciplinary postgraduate research students at the University of Aberdeen through the announcement of nine new Interdisciplinary PhD Studentships. Students will join a cohort of fourteen Interdisciplinary Research Fellows and three interdisciplinary postgraduate students appointed in 2023 and 2024, benefiting from a range of challenge-led activities and cross-discipline interactions, which will provide the students with unique opportunities to develop their skills and their interdisciplinary thinking. 

Project Description:

Media and the creative industries play a vital role in representing and shaping the issues of climate change (Callison 2014) and forced migration (Halabi 2022). Forced migration represents a “discontinuous state of being” that offers a “potent and enriching motif of modern culture” (Said, 1990). This interdisciplinary project will engage with the environmental and political dimensions of displacement, examining how the arts and creative methodologies explore the embodied, relational, lived elements of the migrant experience. Uneven global vulnerabilities to displacement result from intersecting experiences of imperialism, political conflict, capitalist development, environmental degradation and climate change (Sultana, 2022). For many populations, the risk of displacement from climate collapse is the latest in a long line of push factors in histories of settlement and forced migration (Whyte 2018). This project seeks to understand the role of cultural production, artistic expression and/or the media in navigating these histories and possible futures.

Candidates will be expected to develop their own research project within these themes, integrating analysis of creative expression that might include film, television, press and digital media, artificial intelligence, literature, audio and visual arts, and experimental media. We also welcome proposals that employ and develop original creative research methodologies. Candidates are invited to determine the geographical and cultural context(s) in which to ground their research, provided it fits into the scope of these themes. The candidate is expected to embed their research in a specific community context and consult with stakeholders throughout the project. We encourage projects that explore these issues in the context of Scotland; comparative topics and other multi-local approaches are also welcome.

This project will be broadly interdisciplinary and draw on research frameworks and methodologies from a range of disciplines that might include: Indigenous studies, migration studies, queer theory, gender studies, cultural studies, media and communication studies, literary studies, sociology, geography, history, anthropology, STS, art and design, and music, in addition to interdisciplinary fields such as the environmental humanities, digital humanities, and medical humanities. 

Possible topics include:

• Intersecting experiences of colonial dispossession and environmental displacement
• Involuntary migration and climate/environmental justice
• Embodiment and counter-topographies of belonging
• Social-ecological imaginaries of just futures
• Critical environmental and racial justice perspectives on displacement
• Geographies of displacement and dispossession
• Ecological displacement, more than human communities and territory loss
• Urban imaginaries of migration and belonging
• Media and Arts engagements with the making and re-making of space
• Cultural Mapping, Participatory Mapping or Spatial Imaginary mapping of place
• Critical-creative research approaches to displacement

Candidate Background:

Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, Geography, Literature, History, STS, art and design, performance and cultural studies, media and communication studies, music, as well as interdisciplinary fields such as environmental humanities, digital humanities, race and ethnic studies, immigration studies and medical humanities.

Applicants should hold, or expect to achieve a minimum of a 2.1 UK Honours degree (or international equivalent).Candidates with a 2:2 at undergraduate level may be considered if they hold a Commendation or Distinction at masters level or have significant commensurate experience.

We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities, and are committed to having a diverse, inclusive team.

Informal enquiries are encouraged, please contact Dr Nour Halabi (nour.halabi@abdn.ac.uk) for further information.

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APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

• Formal applications can be completed online: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/pgap/login.php
• You should apply for Geography (PhD) to ensure your application is passed to the correct team for processing (the programme applied for may not be representative of the programme which will be offered to a successful candidate, this is for administrative purposes only)
• Please clearly note the project title and lead supervisor in the respective fields on the application form
• Your application must include: A personal statement, an up-to-date copy of your academic CV, and clear copies of your educational certificates and transcripts.
• Pease provide two academic references with your application.
• Please note: you DO NOT need to provide a research proposal with this application
• If you require any additional assistance in submitting your application or have any queries about the application process, please don’t hesitate to contact us at pgrs-admissions@abdn.ac.uk