PhD (via MPhil route) Studentship "The National Football Museum as a ‘Cultural Institution’" 2017, University of Central Lancashire, UK

Project Title

The National Football Museum as a ‘Cultural Institution’

Project Description

The National Football Museum of England is one of the world’s leading sport museums and, as such, a museum prominently concerned with popular culture. Its collection has gained official recognition, from the Arts Council England, as being of ‘outstanding importance and value’. The National Football Museum has gained a standing within the UK museum sector that could not have been anticipated until recent years. It is now timely for the National Football Museum to be studied as a ‘cultural institution’. In taking on this brief, the proposed project will, inter alia, examine the Museum’s extensive collection and archive and, also, the National Football Museum’s organisational working in regard to such matters as acquisition, display and public education. The project will trace the development of the National Football Museum, over the last twenty years, from its origins at Preston’s Deepdale Stadium to its present location in Manchester’s Urbis Building. As indicated by the project title, the key aim is to present an understanding of the National Football Museum as a cultural institution.

Fieldwork for the project will be UK based, mostly undertaken at the National Football Museum sites in Manchester and Preston. Meetings with supervisors will be held on the Preston Campus of the University of Central Lancashire and at the National Football Museum, Urbis Building, Manchester. The lead academic supervisor at the University of Central Lancashire is Professor John Hughson. The National Football Museum supervisor is Dr Justine Reilly, Director of the Sports Heritage Network. The project will be transdisciplinary. Prospective doctoral candidates for appointment can be expected to have undergraduate and master’s level backgrounds in one or another of these academic areas: museum studies, cultural studies, cultural/social history, cultural sociology, cultural policy or socio-cultural sport studies.

Candidates should have (or expect to hold before commencing the studentship) a Master’s degree in a relevant subject area (or equivalent qualification) and an Honours degree I or 2.1 in a relevant subject area.

EU applicants require an English Language level of UKVI IELTs 6.5 (no sub-score below 6.0) or equivalent qualification.