[URBANTH-L]FUNDING: Ph.D. Opportunities (Tourism, Festivals, Cultural Heritage), Leeds Metropolitan University

[Angela Jancius]

Ph.D. Opportunities, Leeds Metropolitan University

Leeds Metropolitan University is currently recruiting 100 PhD students as
part of our centenary celebrations for Leeds Metropolitan University's
presence in Headingley. So if you are an enthusiastic high achieving
individual who would welcome the opportunity to complete a full time funded
PhD in a vibrant and supportive research environment in one of the research
areas. For more information please visit
http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/research/100_phd_students.htm

The Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change (CTCC) is coordinating
applications in tourism as well as responsible tourism. Each studentship
will have a bursary of £12,300 per annum, together with payment of fees of
£3120 per annum and will be for a period of three years subject to
satisfactory progress. The closing date for applications is Friday 27th
October 2006.

Leeds Met PhD Studentships -Tourism

Research studentships in Tourism are being coordinated through the Centre
for Tourism and Cultural Change in the Faculty of Arts and Society by
Professor Mike Robinson.

Applications are welcome for the following research projects or for
proposals from the applicant that address the Centre's research themes set
out below, and for projects that cross the boundaries of any of the
identified research agendas:

1. Diaspora Communities, Cultural Festivals and Tourism

This project focuses on diaspora community festivals in contexts of
inter-culturalism, community cohesion, cultural change and tourism. Recent
work in this area has been in connection with Chinese community festivals
in British cities.

2. Tourism and Cultural Policies in European Union Accession States

This research project focuses on the connections and discontinuities
between cultural policies and tourism in the 'new' accession European Union
member states. The supervisory team have an established track record of
research in this area of research and appropriate links with collaborating
agencies.

3. The Role of the Archaeologist in Tourism Development

In various economies where archaeological remains are mobilised as heritage
attractions, or hold potential to be so, the archaeologist has a role to
play. However, the type and extent of such a role is varied in scope and
influence. This project will examine the changing role of the
archaeologist, and of archaeology, in the processes of contemporary tourism
development, policy and management and will have particular reference to
the Levant.

4. Tourism and Changing Ideas of Englishness

The variety of rituals, practices, materialities and discourses which feed
the intangible notion of Englishness is widely assumed as a major
attraction for international visitors. This project examines the contested
notion of contemporary Englishness as it is harnessed by various tourism
organisations and is received by an increasingly diverse and dynamic body
of tourists.

5. Music in the Tourist Experience

Music shares a close relationship with travel and tourism as forms of
expression, anticipation and representation and also as an attraction in
itself. This project examines the nature and extent of this relationship as
it unfolds within different settings, genres and groups.

6. The Politics of Festival and Event Tourism

Little is understood about the process of policy formation and change that
generates festival and event tourism as an important focal point for local
celebration and economic development.  This project will contribute to
understanding the exercise of power at a local level in the generation of a
particular kind of public policy.

7. SMEs and Tourist Destination Development

Numerous public policy interventions claim to support the development of
SMEs in the tourism sector.  These usually relate to skills and employment
issues or measures aimed at enhancing local supply chains. This project
will examine one of these policy fields, providing a significant
contribution to an under-theorised area of research.

Applications are also welcomed based on proposals to study in any of the
following areas relating to the broad and exciting research programme of
the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change. These areas include:

Heritage tourism - tangible and intangible heritage; Tourism and cultural
landscapes; Symbolic cultural economies and tourism; Tourism aesthetics;
Mobilisation of material cultures in tourism; Cultural tourism development;
Tourist behaviours, encounters, exchanges and contact zones;
Tourist/tourism narratives; Tourism and performance - ritual,
festivals/festivity, liminality and play; Tourism, the media and popular
culture; Tourism and visual culture - photography, film etc.; Ethics of
tourism - global mobilities, exclusion, development politics etc.

Leeds Met PhD Studentships - Responsible Tourism

The International Centre for Responsible Tourism is led by Professor Harold
Goodwin and Dr. Xavier Font, with links within the Leslie Silver
International Faculty and the Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change (led
by Prof Mike Robinson). This centre is at the forefront of action research
and consultancy to change industry behaviour and policy development.

Applications would be welcomed for the following specific research projects
or for proposals from the applicant that address the research agendas set
out for the research active staff listed below or for projects that cross
the boundaries of any of the identified research agendas :

1. Online market led responsible tourism development
Dr Xavier Font with support from Dr. Janet Cochrane and Prof. Harold
Goodwin have won a three year monitoring and evaluation of a World Bank
project delivering online bed booking system in developing countries that
aims to promote responsible tourism. As part of this project they have
identified the need for academic research on market-led responsible tourism
development, the specifics of which would be negotiated according to the
actual expertise and interest of candidates. The supervisory team have an
established track record of research in this area of research with a range
of international links and the guarantee from the International Finance
Corporation/World Bank and the service provider Worldhotel-link.com to
facilitate access to data.

2. Pro-poor tourism policy and micro-enterprise development

Tourism can be used as a policy tool to contribute to poverty alleviation,
particularly in areas where policy can be used to stimulate
micro-enterprise development in a responsible way. However, much research
is needed to ensure that policy responses are adequate and support
sustainable local economic development. Prof. Harold Goodwin (contributing
on pro-poor tourism) and Prof Rhodri Thomas (expert in small firms) are
hoping to attract a high level doctoral candidate to support their
international research and contribute to a range of projects, particularly
in least developed countries.

3. Corporate social responsibility in travel and tourism

Corporate Social Responsibility principles and practices should change the
way the travel and tourism industry operates. Key areas of interest are
social and environmental accounting, auditing and reporting; responsible
business behaviour and ethics (particularly implementation in large firms);
and responsible marketing. Projects linked to trans-national corporations
or outbound tourism most welcomed as these link to current projects from
Prof. Harold Goodwin and Dr. Xavier Font, including work done for the
Federation of Tour Operators, UNEP, EU and UNWTO amongst others.

4. Fair trade tourism certification

Fair trade certification aims to promote the rights of workers in
developing countries to make a fair living. Studying the feasibility of a
fair trade tourism label will wrestle with the challenges of implementing
WSSD goals in practice and considering the suitability of market-led
instruments to ethical consumption and sustainable production. The actual
scope of the project is open, drawing from the extensive expertise of Dr.
Xavier Font in sustainable tourism certification and particularly his
recent contract with the Fair Trade Labelling Organization to develop a
fair trade tourism standard and related work for UNCTAD. This is combined
with the hands on experience of Prof. Harold Goodwin to deliver actions
towards responsible and pro-poor tourism in developing countries.

Length of Studentship

Each studentship is for a period of 3 years full time study subject to 
satisfactory annual progress.

Opportunity for teaching experience

All PhD students will be expected to take advantage of the opportunity to 
engage with some teaching experiences in an area of their expertise. The 
maximum amount of teaching related activity that a student could be expected 
to undertake is 3 hours per teaching week for each semester. Teaching 
related activity would include preparation of teaching materials, delivery 
of seminars, practical, tutorials and lectures as appropriate to the 
expertise and experience of the student.


Contact:

Professor Mike Robinson
Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change
Faculty of Arts & Society
Leeds Metropolitan University
The Old School Board
Calverley Street
Leeds LS1 3ED
UK

email: m.d.robinson at leedsmet.ac.uk
phone +44 (0)113- 283 8540
fax +44 (0)113- 283 8544
www.tourism-culture.com