Research Assistant, CPHC (0.4FTE) (112018-484)

Category: Academic | Faculty/Division: Faculty of the Arts, Design and Media | School: School of Visual Communication | Department: School of Visual Communication | Location: Parkside | Post Type: Part Time | Closing Date: 20 Nov 2018 |   The School of Visual Communication is home to the Centre for Printing History and Culture (CPHC), led by Prof Caroline Archer-Parré. CPHC is a joint initiative between Birmingham City University and the University of Birmingham with membership from universities and heritage organization around the UK and beyond. CPHC encourages research into all aspects and all periods of printing history and culture, as well as providing education and training into the art and practice of printing.  For more information: www.cphc.org.uk. Summary This project aims to further our understanding of how, during the eighteenth century, skills were learned and shared across trades. To do this, it will use Birmingham as a case study—with particular reference to its printing, jewellery, japanning, and gun-making industries. The post-holder will create a detailed map of these trades. This is important because it will help us understand how craft and technology transfer shaped industrial change, extend our knowledge of how cities developed skill-sets (beyond the usual emphasis on individual achievement or specific businesses), and the role of craftsmen in that change. The approach developed by the post-holder will be capable of replication across trades, towns, and times, will improve understanding of craft and technology transfer and add to the historical discourse of printing in particular and manufacturing towns in general. Ultimately the results of this project will provide the foundations for a post-doctoral research-funding bid. What you will be doing Mapping Birmingham’s eighteenth-century printing, jewellery, japanning, and gun-making industries; Creating a bibliography of secondary sources; Developing a funding bid arising from the above mentioned research exercise; Provide committee services assistance to CPHC, including calling meetings, booking rooms, minute taking; Other administrative duties as necessary. Who we are looking for Doctoral or recent post-doctoral researcher; Good investigative skills; Experience of working in archives and libraries; Tenacity in locating secondary sources; Knowledge of either eighteenth-century Birmingham, material culture in general or printing, jewellery, japanning and gun-making history in particular or would be an advantage; Good writing and communication skills; Ability to work independently.