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Bloomsbury Colleges Studentship: Cultural Appropriateness and Food Security in Wandsworth

Background

Project title: Difference and Universality: Cultural Appropriateness and Food Security in the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Birkbeck's School of Social Sciences invites applications for a (full-time or part-time) Bloomsbury PhD Studentship in partnership with the UCL Institute of Education and the London Borough of Wandsworth. 

Project details

  • The successful candidate will conduct qualitative research into culturally appropriate food provision in Wandsworth as part of the Council’s planned Food Strategy. They will also have opportunities to observe and participate in the process of designing policies and services on culturally appropriate food in Wandsworth. 
  • Applicants with prior academic degrees or research experience at the confluence of food studies, public policy, politics of education, urban sociology and/or the medical humanities are especially welcome. 
  • The successful candidate will work with a senior supervisory team from Birkbeck’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Institute of Education with the aim of making a transformative contribution through their PhD to the knowledge and practice of culturally appropriate food provision in south London.

Value and length of funding

  • The length of this studentship will be three years full time or five years part time. The studentship will cover fees at the home rate and maintenance at the level recommended by the Research Councils.

Supervision

Key references

  • Guthman, Julie (2008) “If They Only Knew”: Color Blindness and Universalism in California Alternative Food Institutions’ The Professional Geographer, 60:3, 387-397. 
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022) ‘Cultural Food Preferences in Food Service’
  • Collins, Randall (2005) Interaction Ritual Chains, Princeton University Press. 
  • LeGrand, Julian (1991) Equity and choice: An Essay in Economics and Applied Philosophy, Routledge. 
  • Parham, Susan (2018) ‘From the Agora to the Modern Marketplace: Food Markets as Landscapes of Business and Pleasure’ in Joshua Zeunert and Tim Waterman (eds) Routledge Handbook of Landscape and Food, Routledge. 
  • Rothstein, Bo (1998) ‘The autonomous citizen and the future of the universal welfare policy’ in Just Institutions Matter, Cambridge University Press. 
  • Singh Lalli, G. (2023) ‘Can culinary capital be (re) produced in school?’, Cambridge Journal of Education, online first, August 2023. 
  • Zelizer, Viviana (1988) ‘Review: Beyond the Polemics on the Market: Establishing a Theoretical and Empirical Agenda’ Sociological Forum, 3: 4, 614-634. 

How to apply

  • Candidates should submit an online application for the MPhil/PhD Politics programme, starting in the 2024/25 academic year.
  • With their programme application, candidates should upload the following supporting documents:
    • CV
    • 500-word statement outlining their suitability for this studentship.
  • When completing the online application form, you will be asked whether you would like to be considered for a funding scheme. Please ensure that you answer ‘yes’ to this question, and specify ‘Bloomsbury Difference and Universality studentship’. Applications that do not include this detail may not be received.
  • Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview with Professor Alex Colas and Prof Gary McCulloch by the end of February 2024.

Closing date for applications

  • Closing date for applications: Friday 16 February 2024 (23.59pm)

More information