Thames Barge Stories - PhD opportunity
Posted: Friday 9th May 2025
Opportunity to apply for a Collaborative PhD with National Maritime Museum (Royal Museums Greenwich) and the Royal College of Art
‘Thames Barge Stories: Exploring the design and material culture of the Thames Sailing Barge c.1800-present’
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) part of Royal Museums Greenwich, and the Royal College of Art (RCA) are delighted to announce the availability of a fully funded four-year collaborative doctoral studentship from October 2025 under the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP) scheme.
‘Thames Barge Stories’ explores the design and material culture of Thames sail barges – commercial vessels unique to the Thames estuary – from their 19th-century heyday to the present. This practice-led doctoral project combines lens-based art practice with design history methodology to generate fresh perspectives on Thames barges, revealing object-centred microhistories of local, national and global trade networks and bringing new visibility to the diverse working-class communities who sustained them. In doing so, this project aims to enrich knowledge about NMM collections and reconnect contemporary audiences with the rich cultural heritage of the river.
Deadline – Monday 30 June 2025
For more details see:
- Thames Barge Stories: Exploring the design and material culture of the Thames Sailing Barge c1800-present
- AHRC Studentship advert
- An information webinar on the project will take place on Friday 16 May at 13.00-14.00 – register here if you would like to attend.
Image: File:Thames Barges-Canthusus.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
