PhD candidate Forensic culture in England, 1930-2000 (1.0 FTE)

The Department of History and Art History seeks to appoint a PhD student for the project 'Forensic Culture. A Comparative Analysis of Forensic Practices in Europe, 1930-2000' (FORCe), funded by means of an ERC Consolidator grant awarded to Dr. Willemijn Ruberg. 

The PhD candidate will be working on the following sub project: 'PhD project 3: Forensic culture in England, 1930-2000'.

This PhD project will analyse the impact of scientists, doctors and psychiatrists as expert witnesses in English court cases in the period 1930-2000, in particular in criminal cases of rape, murder and infanticide. It focuses on the techniques used to produce knowledge, the relationship between science and the judiciary, the representation of forensic science in the media and the role gender plays in all of these aspects. The project will largely be based on primary source research (e.g. legal records, scientific journals, newspapers). It forms part of the project 'Forensic Culture. A Comparative Analysis of Forensic Practices in Europe, 1930-2000' (FORCe), which compares the forensic cultures of four countries (the Netherlands, England, Spain and Russia) in regard to legal system, political regime, the availability of knowledge and technology, media representation of forensic experts and norms on gender and sexuality. Overall, the project will gauge the influence of culture on forensic practices.