PhD Studentship: Above and BeyONd: developing and evaluating new approaches to access for Opera North

Expressions of interest are invited for the following Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Northern Bridge Consortium Collaborative Doctoral Award in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, Newcastle University.

Details of the CDA, including how to submit an expression of interest, are given at this link: http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/applyforastudentship/cda/

Above and BeyONd: developing and evaluating new approaches to access for Opera North

Inclusion is core to Arts Council England’s current Let’s Create Strategy and to Opera North’s ambition to build new audiences and sustain existing ones.  But captioning opera performances – multi-layered performance texts including music and sung text alongside other modes of communication that include costume, set, lighting, gesture and movement – presents particular challenges in terms of what can be captioned and what is ‘lost in translation’.  Building on the company’s sector-leading work on access, this project examines what can and should be captioned and explores how best to do so to support understanding and pleasure for all audiences.

The successful student will benefit from extensive access to Opera North’s practice and process and to state-of-the-art thinking on captioning/titling and developing accessible performances, with opportunities to develop, test and reflect on innovative methodologies for titling and access in dialogue with both academics and arts practitioners and in ‘real world’ performance contexts.

Full details of the project can be found at:

http://www.northernbridge.ac.uk/media/sites/teaching/northernbridge/RobinsonJo_NCL_OperaNorth.pdf

Deadline for expressions of interest: 20^th February 2023. 

Informal enquiries very welcome to Professor Jo Robinson (jo.robinson2@ncl.ac.uk)

Person Specification – Essential Criteria:

• Meets Newcastle University’s PhD entry requirements (A 2:1 honours degree or above, or international equivalent, in English Literature or a related field. We also usually expect a master’s degree, or international equivalent, at merit or above in English Literature or in a related field).
• Willingness to engage with academic and non-academic audiences.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to communicate with a wide range of different audiences.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise workload and work to deadlines.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Meets UKRI eligibility requirements.

Person Specification – Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of working with non-academic partners on research/impact.
• Experience relevant to the project.

Expression of interest to include a 1-page statement outlining your interest in and motivation for the project, and the personal qualities, life experiences and critical insights you would bring to it; and a 2-page CV including your academic qualifications.

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