PhD researcher position, University of Reading, UK

Dear colleagues,

I would be grateful if you could forward this email to potential applicants. We are seeking to appoint a PhD researcher within the project "Between Voice and Silence. Communicative norms in Diaries 1840-1990", funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The position in this history of communication project would be of interest for researchers with interests and experience in the areas of history and/or language studies and/or linguistics. It involves work in the Great Diary Project archive in London. For the full job advert, see here: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DBG087/phd-studentship-in-language-and-history.

In this project, we (Melani Schroeter, Department of Languages and Cultures, University of Reading & Theo Jung, Department of History, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany), will consider how current norms that favour communication and problematise silence have come about. Our project investigates the historical development of such norms from a bottom-up perspective. We will study diaries written between 1840 and 1990, focussing on ordinary people's reflections of communicative opportunities and constraints, and observing the communicative norms underlying such reflections as well as their change over time in the light of broader socio-cultural developments.

Best wishes,
Melani Schroeter

Dr Melani Schroeter (she/her)  ||  Professor in Discourse Studies ||  Head of Department || Departmental Director of Postgraduate Research || University of Reading  ||  Department of Languages and Cultures || Miller Building || Pepper Lane, Whiteknights || Reading RG6 6EE || UK