Funded PhD Studentship: Co-Creating Culture: Community, Representation, and History at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry (Warwick Collaborative Fellowship)

The University of Warwick, in collaboration with the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, invites applications for a fully funded 3.5-year PhD studentship to explore co-creation in civic theatre. The project investigates how co-creation, as an emergent method and process, seeks to build reciprocal partnerships between arts workers and local communities for the purpose of promoting social justice and challenging notions of who has knowledge, expertise, and the right to be seen and heard in cultural organisations. 

The Belgrade has placed co-creation at the heart of its role as a civic theatre, with an ambitious aim to "make the local community part of every show at the Belgrade." Spotlighting four productions—Big Aunty (2023),I, Daniel Blake (2023), Romeo and Juliet (2025), and Nanny of the Maroons (2027)—the project will discover how this commitment to co-creation shapes the values that drive the theatre's culture. It will particularly address Nanny of the Maroons, a retelling of Jamaican revolutionary leader Queen Nanny's history involving over 1,000 community participants drawn from the West Midlands Black Creative Network, Coventry Caribbean Centre, and other local groups. Employing mixed methodologies such as participant observation, interviews, and surveys, the project will ask: What does co-creation mean for artists, participants, audiences, and locals? How can co-creation offer alternatives to models in which creative professionals exclude or exploit the local communities in which civic theatres are embedded? What challenges and learnings arise from co-creation, and how might the Belgrade's experience inform wider arts policy and practice? 

The student will be supervised by Dr Matthew Franks (English and Comparative Literary Studies) and Professor Nadine Holdsworth (Theatre and Performance Studies), and benefit from integrated support within Warwick's arts and humanities research environment and the Belgrade's professional networks, including Creative Director Corey Campbell and other staff members. The student will be able to determine whether to receive their doctorate from the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies or the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies.

Eligibility:

We welcome applications from candidates with:

• MA degree or equivalent in literary studies, theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, or a related discipline
• Demonstrated interest in co-creation, theatre and performance, and/or Caribbean history
• Experience with, or enthusiasm for, ethnographic and/or practice-based research
• A commitment to interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship

Applicants from underrepresented and global majority backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply. The position is open to UK Home students, subject to University of Warwick admissions requirements.

How to Apply:

To apply, please submit the following materials in a single PDF:

• CV (maximum 2 A4 pages)
• Personal statement (maximum 1,000 words)
• Academic writing sample (MA dissertation chapter or similar)
• Names and contact details for two referees (at least one academic; the other may be academic or vocational) 

Please send your application to M.Franks@warwick.ac.uk; N.Holdsworth@warwick.ac.uk with subject "WCF Belgrade" 

For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Matthew Franks and Professor Nadine Holdsworth.

Funding Details

This studentship is supported by a Warwick Collaborative Fellowship and includes:

• Full tuition fees (at Home rate, £5,006 for 2025-26) for 3.5 years
• UKRI-level stipend (£20,780 for 2025-26, to rise each year)

Deadline for applications: Monday 1^st September 2025 (midday UK time)

Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held via video call in mid-September.

Start Date: On or after 6th October 2025 (no later than 5th January 2026)

Advert information