Funding

Self-funded

Project code

AD&P9101024

Start dates

October, February and April

Application deadline

Applications accepted all year round

Applications are invited for a self-funded, 3 year full-time or 6 year part-time PhD project.

The PhD will be based in the School of Art, Design, and Performance and will be supervised by Dr Nik Wakefield, Dr Phoebe Rumsey, and Dr Matt Smith.

The work on this project will:

  • Explore new approaches to dance theatre that challenge existing modes of ecological theory and practice
  • Investigate how dance theatre can participate in work toward justice as well as collectivise and politicise relationships of production 
  • Integrate with community activist practices to connect with grassroots movements working toward structural change
  • Consider the inclusion of more than human (animal, digital, and machine) in dance, theatre, and politics

How might dance theatre propose forms of ecological justice? Might new practices and theories make creative ruptures in a social fabric composed around a conservative mode of sustainability which reinforces current unequal power relations? In particular, this project will consider the question of ecological justice through dance theatre, a somewhat niche mode of aesthetic production, because it is dance theatre that destabilises the primacy of either text or body in performance, allowing for work that can imagine alternative systems of knowledge and social space. The ultimate goal of the work would be to understand how to see the more than human world as interconnected in a political collective with humanity, and compose material relationships of justice.

 

Fees and funding

Visit the research subject area page for fees and funding information for this project.

Funding availability: Self-funded PhD students only. 

PhD full-time and part-time courses are eligible for the UK Government Doctoral Loan (UK and EU students only).

Bench fees

Some PhD projects may include additional fees – known as bench fees – for equipment and other consumables, and these will be added to your standard tuition fee. Speak to the supervisory team during your interview about any additional fees you may have to pay. Please note, bench fees are not eligible for discounts and are non-refundable.

 

Bench fees

Some PhD projects may include additional fees – known as bench fees – for equipment and other consumables, and these will be added to your standard tuition fee. Speak to the supervisory team during your interview about any additional fees you may have to pay. Please note, bench fees are not eligible for discounts and are non-refundable.

Entry requirements

You'll need a good first degree from an internationally recognised university (minimum upper second class or equivalent, depending on your chosen course) or a Master’s degree in a related area. In exceptional cases, we may consider equivalent professional experience and/or Qualifications. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0.

 

We’d encourage you to contact Dr Nik Wakefield (Nik.Wakefield@port.ac.uk) to discuss your interest before you apply, quoting the project code.

When you are ready to apply, please follow the 'Apply now' link on the Art and Design: History, Theory and Practice PhD subject area page and select the link for the relevant intake. Make sure you submit a personal statement, proof of your degrees and grades, details of two referees, proof of your English language proficiency and an up-to-date CV. Our ‘How to Apply’ page offers further guidance on the PhD application process.

When applying please quote project code: AD&P9101024