American Studies Early Career Visiting Scholarship

American Studies at Northumbria University is offering a short Early Career Visiting Scholarship during Semester 2, 2017. This Scholarship forms part of Northumbria’s American Studies program.

Scene from the San Antonio, Texas, Stock Show, 2014.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The successful candidate will have been awarded (within the last 3 years) a PhD in any aspect of American culture, history, or literature, but will not yet hold a permanent full-time academic post. The Visiting Scholar will have a growing research profile and teaching experience and will be able to demonstrate exceptional promise in their chosen field. We welcome applicants with research interests in any aspect of American Studies, but particularly in US politics.

During their 2-day visit, successful applicants will:

 •  Deliver a research presentation to the American Studies Research Seminar.

 •  Lead a workshop on theory or methodology for Northumbria postgraduate students working in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

 •  Participate in at least one formal undergraduate teaching session (lecture or seminar). American-themed modules running in Semester 2 may include: ‘Introduction to American Studies ’, ‘The West in US History and Mythology’, ‘Modernism and Modernity’, and ‘American Gothic’.

 •  Receive a £500 honorarium to cover accommodation and travel expenses.

How To Apply
To apply, please download the online application form and submit to Dr Julie Taylor at Julie.taylor@northumbria.ac.uk

Application Deadline
Deadline for applications is 7 November 2016

General Enquiries 
Informal enquiries are welcome – for further details please contact

Dr Henry Knight Lozano henry.knight-lozano@northumbria.ac.uk

Dr Julie Taylor Julie.taylor@northumbria.ac.uk

The American Studies Newsletter, 2015

Haven't had a chance to look at the the 2015 American Studies Newsletter? Download it here and find out about all the exciting things happening at Northumbria University, past, present, and future.  The Newsletter includes interviews with an undergrad and a grad student, the latest about grant success, conferences that have taken place and those planned for 2016, and information about a visiting scholar.  See also important updates on staff, new publications, and more.  

Prof Brian Ward writes in his intro to the Newsletter:

In 2014-2015, the American Studies programme at Northumbria University continued to enhance its reputation as home to one of the UK’s most impressive constellations of researchers and teachers in US history, literature, and popular culture. As you’ll see from the features in this latest edition of the newsletter, during the last year we have published an im- pressive array of books and articles, given countless talks at schools, conferences, and universities around the globe, hosted a couple of major international conferences, participated in a wide range of media work in television, radio, and online, been involved with a variety of public events that have showcased our expertise on everything from US religion and politics, to the impact in Britain of American popular music.

Meanwhile, Northumbria graduate students, whether doing MAs or PhDs on American-themed topics, are now a major and respected part of the American Studies landscape in Britain—a status exemplified by the election of doctoral student Megan Hunt as the postgraduate secretary for the admirably named HOTCUS (Historians of the Twentieth Century United States). Moreover, with the arrival of our third undergraduate intake in 2015, we also now have students in place at all three levels of the American Studies BA, while undergraduates majoring in history and literature continue to flock to US-themed modules. As ever, one of our priorities this year is to do all we can to make sure that those students have a thoroughly enjoyable educational experience and that they emerge from Northumbria with the kinds of skills, knowledge, attitudes and aptitudes that will set them up well for employment or further study. American Studies students at Northumbria do not only get the opportunity to learn about the US, its history, politics, and cultures, from a cracking team of world-class teacher-researchers, they also get to develop the kinds of analytical and communication skills that are invaluable in any number of careers. Another priority is to work even more closely with schools and colleges to make sure that they and their students are aware of the attractions of American Studies as a degree programme, and the many advantages of doing it at Northumbria. >>>read on

Alison Garden, Early Career Visiting Scholar to Give Talk on "Black and Irish Atlantics"

Alison Garden is the Early Career Visiting Scholar in American Studies at Northumbria University for 2015. 

Alison's PhD thesis, funded by the AHRC, explored the fiction of the contemporary author Colum McCann. Alison is currently teaching Scottish literature at the University of Edinburgh and English literature, film, and critical theory at the University of Stirling. In 2015, she will take up a Postdoctoral Fellowship at University College Dublin, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Next week at Northumbria Alison will be deliver a paper, based on her larger work, “Black and Irish Atlantics: Reading Seamus Heaney in Kwame Dawes and Natasha Trethewey,” at 5:30pm on Tuesday 17 March, Lipman 033.