About the Project
This practice-led PhD project overlays a combination of artistic, geographic, cultural, philosophical, and participatory research methods investigating the current state of water issues in Scottish managed woodlands and wetlands. It attends to these environmental aspects in a holistic and profoundly inter-connected manner, scoping the water, land, and peatbogs, flora and fauna, and more-than-human dimensions. Data from water quality samples, ornithological information from collaboration with wildlife and land charitable organisations, and a substantial collection of photographs, drawings, sound recordings, samples of lichens, mosses, and soils will facilitate the representation and interpretive analysis which moves far beyond statistical information.
Using a deep mapping method (Modeen and Biggs, 2020), this compilation of information, assisted by collaborative shared expertise, allows for connections and observations to be gathered that support pilot restoration projects within a community, as well as the creation of artworks that serve an educational function.
This research will be undertaken by a candidate trained in both art and environmental issues, ideally with some place-based theoretical background. S/he will be expected to write to a high standard, to be able to conduct site study visits, organise community projects, and undertake practical and theoretical research.
The work in this project is responsive to complex dynamics within fragile, overlapping ecosystems. The aims of this research are to:
a) examine through fieldwork and site visits, examples of water management in various managed woodlands and wetlands, observing land and water entanglements
b) understand how the efforts to monitor, restore, and regenerate these sites are undertaken, observing consequences and results, for the land itself as well as for humans and other-than-humans
c) to consult broadly across organisations, charities, experts, communities, volunteers and legislators, to determine how environmental knowledge is acquired and transmitted, and how restorative actions are planned and shared
d) to document these findings through various representations, including but not limited to photography, drawings, sound recordings, performative actions, video, art in any media, installations, interventions, and social collaborative gatherings.
We invite proposals for projects at the intersection of art and geography, with a particular emphasis on ecology and regenerative actions, with place-specific methods; and (co-)produced with multiple methods which combine qualitative and creative information.
Proposals could explore this work with pilot projects in ecological restoration and conservation, as well as through complexly interwoven representation. This research will help contribute to an active, participatory imagining of the future, and continued engagement with that possible future. Where combined perspectives, observations, and experience are allowed to intersect in sited research, as facilitated by deep mapping, the impacts of discovery and interconnected agency will emerge.
The objective of this research is to counter misuse of critical wetlands, linking with other indicatives, creating better spaces for specific environments and their imbricated complexities of water, land, animals, and plants, which will connect deeper knowledge and more imaginative interpretations for a more balanced future.
For informal enquiries about the project, contact Professor Mary Modeen, m.modeen@dundee.ac.uk
APPLICATION PROCESS
Step 1 – Applicants are recommended to make contact as early as possible ahead of the deadline with the lead supervisor and (1) send a copy of your CV and (2) discuss your potential application and any particular needs.
Step 2 – After discussion with the lead supervisor, formal applications can be made via the following form: REGNR8-I Scholarship Application 2024.docx. Please use this form instead of the register of interest form below.
QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants should have first-class, or an upper second-class (2.1) Honours degree AND a Master’s degree in discipline(s) relevant to their selected topic.
English language requirement: IELTS (Academic) overall score must be at least 6.5 (with not less than 5.5 in reading, listening, speaking and 6.0 in writing). The University of Dundee accepts a variety of equivalent qualifications and alternative ways to demonstrate language proficiency; please see full details of the University’s English language requirements here: https://www.dundee.ac.uk/guides/english-language-requirements
