Open Call: Online PhD School

In 2019, the Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies (CTDPS) at the University of Cape Town launched an innovative, five-year research project, Reimagining Tragedy from Africa and the Global South, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The project is led by Mark Fleishman with Mandla Mbothwe, and aims to understand how tragedy has been refigured in the post-colonial theatre and how the tragic as a concept might be used as a lens through which to examine the current moment in the global South outside of the theatre. 

As part of this project and in association with the African and Caribbean Performance working group of the International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR), we will be hosting an online PhD School that aims to create a community of PhD candidates in conversation about research methodologies, best practice models of research, ethics and supervision, while giving participants the space to present their research in its current phase. The PhD School aims to encourage enriched conversation about research in Theatre Studies, Performance Studies, Performance as Research, regardless of the specific topic or content of the research but prioritizing a global South perspective. Participants can look forward to seminars by seminal guest speakers from around the world as well as workshops with peers and more experienced researchers. 

For the first event we will be hosting a three-day online workshop on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of December 2021. Participants must commit to a three-hour session on each of these days. We will endeavour to find times for the sessions that suit all participants wherever they are located once we know who has signed up for the event. The programme for the event includes a session on methodologies with Dr Sruti Bala from the University of Amsterdam; an elevator pitch session on your own research project with other PhD candidates and an experienced researcher; and a workshop session on decolonizing performance research with Dr Mbongeni Mtshali from the University of Cape Town. 

If you are interested in participating and you are: 

• Registered at a university for a PhD 
• Beyond the application/proposal phase of your PhD study 
• Engaged in research from a global South perspective (even if the institution of study is not located within the global South) 

Then, please email the following as one PDF document as soon as possible but by no later than 28 November 2021 to raezeen.wentworth@uct.ac.za

• A letter of motivation, including a brief outline of what your research is about 
• A complete and up-to-date curriculum vitae 

The first 30 eligible applications will be selected for participation.