Durham University, Interdisciplinary Scholarship, School of Medicine & Health

Lanterns events and the ritual construction of community

The Centre for Medical Humanities, School of Medicine and Health, and the Department of Anthropology offer a fully funded three year interdisciplinary PhD scholarship to investigate the role of ritual as a regenerative force in community arts and health projects in the North of England, focussing on schools-based lanterns projects at different stages of development. The project will be jointly supervised by Prof Jane Macnaughton in the Centre for Medical Humanities, School of Medicine and Health, and Dr Andrew Russell and Dr Sue Lewis of the Medical Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology.

Rituals are recognised in social anthropology as having important social, psychological and symbolic dimensions for participants. While the role of festive or celebratory rituals in the constitution, validation and contestation of public culture has been examined, rarely, if ever, has the creative, regenerative and health promoting potential of rituals constructed with the intention of enriching the social fabric of the community been considered. The community arts and health movement is a significant force for change in the field of health promotion, community capacity building and the (re-)generation of social capital and civic society. This research will thus contribute not only to research relevant to the medical humanities, but to the further development of cutting edge theory in the anthropology of ritual. The research will be of value to communities and community artists seeking to develop other examples of performative rituals for social ends, and to scholars and policy-makers working in the field of ritual studies, arts, health and social care.

Further details about this research opportunity are available from either Prof Jane Macnaughton (jane.macnaughton@durham.ac.uk) or Dr Andrew Russell (a.j.russell@durham.ac.uk). Further information about the work of the Centre for Medical Humanities and the Medical Anthropology Research Group is available on www.dur.ac.uk/cmh and http://www.dur.ac.uk/anthropology/research/marg/
respectively.

Applications must be made on line. Full details available from: http://www.dur.ac.uk/school.health/postgraduate/apply/

Closing date for receipt of applications: 14th August 2009