The scholarship
We seek applications from innovative Indigenous scholars in any discipline relevant to visual and/or print history to join the research team of the newly established Graphic Encounters research project based in the history department at La Trobe University. The project is dedicated to the study of Australian print-making depicting Aboriginal Australians from ‘discovery’ to federation (1770-1901). This historical period encompasses an era of intercultural encounters imagined within the graphic medium of prints, from engraving to lithography. Concurrently the many techniques in image reproduction refined over these same decades. We seek to document particularly the production of prints featuring Aboriginal Australians and their recurrence and dissemination within a transnational web of print media and print making. The PhD project may focus on the cultural, social, economic, geographic, or other dimensions of colonial print production and circulation during the period, and it is a requirement of the scholarship that the funded work contributes to the aims of the Graphic Encounters: Colonial Prints and the Inscription of Aboriginality research project. Our aim is to curate a major travelling exhibition and develop an online gallery resource, as well as convene an international conference, research publications and commentaries to facilitate access to published and unpublished prints for the period up to 1901.

About Graphic Encounters
The project is an Australia Research Council Future Fellowship with Dr Liz Conor as Chief Investigator, based in the History Department at La Trobe University.

Scholarship value and duration
One PhD scholarship is available for commencement in 2017 and will provide research training in Melbourne. Scholarship holders will be registered at La Trobe University, where Dr Liz Conor will provide research supervision and training and where the recipient will have the opportunity to engage in the History Program’s research events and culture. The entitlements and obligations of the award will match the La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarship. This includes a tax-free living allowance for a period of up to three years full-time with a remuneration of between $27,328 - $28,328 per annum. Applicants should have Australian permanent residency, an appropriate Honours 1 or high 2A (or equivalent) undergraduate degree, and a background in Australian history. The successful applicants will commence between 1 November 2017 and 1 March 2018.

Eligibility criteria
Applicants are invited from students identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. They must fulfil the criteria for PhD Admission and Scholarship at La Trobe University. Applicants must have completed a Bachelor degree with First Class Honours or equivalent in history, cultural studies or a relevant discipline, and be intending to enrol full-time in an approved doctoral program at La Trobe University.

Closing date
The mid-year scholarship round at La Trobe University (for commencement in July) closes on 1 February 2018. The scholarship may also be offered in subsequent rounds.