Scholarship: Funded PhD Project - Cultural Labour, Public Support, and the Arts

Funded PhD Project - Cultural Labour, Public Support, and the Arts
Deadline: 20.11.2022
More information here.

About this project
Shape public policy around arts funding

Are you interested in cultural public policy? The University of South Australia – Australia’s University of Enterprise – is offering a unique project-based PhD in our Creative People, Products and Places Research Centre (CP3) , in partnership with Vitalstatistix.

This project will investigate how Australian artists and cultural workers have previously used public funding to finance their practice and labour, specifically looking at historical precedents of financial resourcefulness and use of public support. This project will provide an overview of the way in which artists have used various forms of public funding (i.e., the Dole, Intermittents du Spectacle, PhD stipends and other scholarships etc.) to fund their cultural labour. We are particularly interested in examining artists’ and cultural workers’ resourcefulness in their ability to fund their labour in creative ways.

Initially, we will look at current schemes adapted for funding cultural labour and then consider previous or existing pilot schemes not focused on culture which might have directly impacted arts and cultural workers. Then, we will examine other related ideas for supporting cultural sector employment (job guarantees or public works projects), and other related schemes such as cooperatives or shared ownership models. Finally, we will investigate the extent to which schemes not specific to culture have already or might benefit the cultural sector.

You will be based within CP3, which has a strong track record of industry and stakeholder engagement, and many pre-existing industry partners in South Australian music and creative industries. Your supervisory team are all experienced in the use of qualitative data collection, archival research, policy and textual analysis.

Our industry partner, Vitalstatistix, will give this project a strong industry engagement element, and there will be possibilities for you to take up a placement with them. Vitalstatistix is a vibrant home for contemporary art and community life, based on the Port River, Yerta Bulti, Kaurna Country in Port Adelaide, South Australia, at the heritage-listed Waterside Workers Hall. Vitals champions Australian artists who are creating transformative, multidisciplinary art and progressive public dialogue. Valuing experimentation and public engagement, the organisation works across theatre, dance, performance art, sound, social practice and more, offering artists and audiences an innovative site for important ideas and outstanding arts experiences.

The project will draw upon and strengthen pre-existing projects and the supervisory panel’s links to advocacy groups, policy thinktanks and international cultural policy bodies. You will become part of a highly collaborative and well-connected research team, with rich opportunities to build an important professional network.

What you’ll do

In this project-based research degree, you will interview artists and cultural workers, carry out textual analysis of relevant policy documents, and review the current literature on cultural funding, both in Australia and abroad. As well as traditional academic publishing outlets, you will be encouraged to engage with the community more broadly via public talks, public interest publications, and writing for popular media outlets such as The Guardian, Schwartz Media, The Conversation, Kill Your Darlings , and others.

There will be opportunities for you to engage with local advocacy groups and policymakers, so as to better inform cultural policy and funding activities in Australia (and abroad). Upon completion you will have a strong suite of skills in conducting research, analysing policy, managing projects, critical thinking, and editing and proofreading. You will also be adept at data analysis and synthesis and budget management.

Importantly, you’ll have a competitive experience bank of working in an industry and workplace setting via the internship. You will build a strong professional network that will position you well for employment after graduation.

Funding is available for attending and presenting at national and international conferences, and conducting research fieldwork (face-to-face interviews, as well as travelling to substantial archives such as the National Library, NSFA, etc).

Where you’ll be based

You will be based within UniSA’s Creative People, Products and Places Research Centre (CP3), which is an internationally recognised interdisciplinary research centre undertaking high quality collaborative research into culture and creativity.

Building upon the strong base of world class cultural studies informed research into cultural and creative industries (CCIs), CP3 is concerned with the creative ecosystem of art, media, writing and culture, including its communities, economies, publics, institutions, and values.

CP3 focuses on the people who make and participate in art, media, and culture, on how products are made and valued, and on the spaces and communities in which this creative ecosystem takes place.

Supervisory Team

Financial Support

This project is funded for reasonable research expenses. Additionally, a living allowance scholarship of $28,854 per annum is available to Australian and New Zealand citizens, permanent residents of Australia. Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants will be eligible to receive an increased stipend rate of $45,076 per annum. A fee-offset or waiver for the standard term of the program is also included for this group. For full terms and benefits of the scholarship please refer to our scholarship information .

Eligibility and Selection

This project is open to applications from Australian or New Zealand citizens, and Australian permanent residents or permanent humanitarian visa holders. International applicants are not invited to apply at this time.

Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria for entrance into a PhD.

Applicants should also submit a research proposal outline (approximately 2500 words). A template to help guide this proposal is available here . Informal enquiries can be made to sam.whiting@unisa.edu.au or justin.oconnor@unisa.edu

The successful applicant is expected to study full-time and to be based at our Magill campus in the east of Adelaide.

Essential Dates
Applicants are expected to start in a timely fashion upon receipt of an offer. Extended deferral periods are not available. Applications close on Sunday 20 November 2022.

News, ScholarshipHelene Heuser