AHRC CDP Studentship Topics to start in October 2015 A review of

AHRC CDP Studentship Topics to start in October 2015
A review of the worldwide effects and impact of Spanish Influenza, 1918-1919, based on
IWM’s medical collections
This project will study the huge and far-reaching impact of the Spanish Influenza pandemic of
1918-1919 which killed some 50-100 million people worldwide, focusing particularly on its effects
on Britain and her former Empire. It would look at the medical history of this pandemic using the
IWM’s collections which provide a record not only of the experiences of the patients who suffered
from influenza but also of the personnel, doctors, nurses and orderlies who were treating them.
Likely avenues of enquiry include the factors behind the spread of the influenza, notably
contemporary medical knowledge of the causes of the epidemic; the practical constraints that the
lack of antibiotics and vaccines placed on treatments; and the effects of the close congregation
of large numbers of men and animals and a long, debilitating war. Overcrowded military bases
and insanitary urban areas on the Home Front also provided a breeding ground for the flu
epidemic.
It is hoped that the project would look not just at the effects on the troops of catching influenza, in
terms of surviving the illness and the experience of being a patient but also at the social and
cultural impact on Britain and her Empire, including the psychological pressures and tensions
exerted during wartime. What was the attitude of the troops and the local population and did this
change as the pandemic progressed? The project will also consider how ethics and the ‘cultural
values’ of the era impinged on the ability of the medical authorities to treat the local population
and control the spread of the pandemic which threatened to undermine civil society and popular
support for the government. How well did the medical and civilian authorities which were already
stretched to the limit cope with the growing emergency and the additional pressures of dealing
with the pandemic during wartime when censorship and national security conflicted with medical
needs? What are the implications for dealing with future pandemics?
Contemporary Art and Conflict at IWM
IWM has been commissioning, collecting and exhibiting contemporary art since the late 1970s,
however it has recently become a more prominent focus within our exhibition programme and
collecting ambitions. In 2013-14 we staged a significant exhibition showcasing our contemporary
collection at IWM North and in 2013 we launched IWM Contemporary at IWM London, a
programme of exhibitions and events by leading artists and photographers whose work is a
response to war and conflict. The programme has an emphasis on responses to contemporary
conflicts, but occasionally finds contemporary relevance in conflicts of the past. The programme
launched with Omer Fast’s film 5,000 Feet is the Best.
Given this reinvigorated focus, we hope that this project will help to provide a theoretical analysis
or framework to inform our long-term thinking for the IWM Contemporary programming strand.
We would be interested in theoretical perspectives on contemporary art in relation to
contemporary conflict. A possible focus could be the changing nature of conflict, and how this
and its geopolitical and philosophical implications, are reflected in international contemporary art
practice. We are looking for a broad thematic approach, rather than a focus on a particular
conflict, medium or artist. Some reflection on the significance and impact of displaying
contemporary art within the specific environment of IWM and how this might differ from a
conventional gallery context would be welcome, for example the project might critically assess
the programme to date, look at ways it might develop, possibly including a particular case study,
or investigate a specific theme and how it might be addressed in the programme. The project
could also link to a major exhibition on Contemporary Art and Conflict that we are currently
preparing for IWM London in Autumn 2017.
The IWM and Public Memory of the Second World War
This project will examine the politics of Second World War display and audience engagement
and interpretation at IWM. Its overall aim is to explore the changing landscapes of remembrance,
commemoration and memory of the Second World War in Britain in both a recent-historical and
contemporary context.
The project will trace the successive phases of permanent and temporary exhibitions that have
taken place at IWM since the end of the conflict in 1945. It will deliver a critical analysis of the
IWM’s programme of Second World War exhibitions, events and related public activities. In
documenting the evolving process of Second World War display over the last 50 years, the
project will uncover how memory and commemorative practices have changed alongside myriad
cumulative cultural influences. This analysis draws from, and engages with, existing work both on
the development of museological pedagogy, as well as debates concerning the heritage and
commemoration of war.
By analysing each decade of exhibition and audience- development activity, the project traces a
history of public engagement with the Second World War. It is also provides an opportunity to
explore the future direction and meaning of the landscape of remembrance and commemoration.
As the national war museum and a leading commemorative site, the IWM continues to play a
fundamental role in channelling and interpreting this emerging field of cultural memory. The
proposed project will, therefore, also undertake an examination both of the IWM’s own
preparations of new, permanent Second World War galleries.
This studentship follows on from the previous Collaborative Doctoral Award on ‘Remembrance,
Commemoration and Memory: Negotiating the Imperial War Museum’s First World War
Exhibitions, 1964 – 2014’, which began at IWM in 2011. This partnership with the University of
Exeter contextually analysed the museum’s permanent and temporary First World War
exhibitions over a fifty year period. It is intended that this studentship will follow a similar
trajectory but with reference to the Second World War, and that the student will be able to
support IWM’s future programming in a similar capacity.
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Application forms and guidelines are available to download from our website:
www.iwm.org.uk/collections-research/research-programmes/doctoral-awards.
The application will provide an opportunity to elaborate on the strengths of the proposal, and any
shared research interests. The deadline for completed applications is 5pm on Friday 28
November 2014, after which they will be judged by a panel selected by IWM.
To register your interest and if you have any queries, please contact Emily Peirson-Webber,
Research Manager on 020 7416 5461 or email: [email protected].

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