Research Degree Opportunity

Project Summary

One fully funded project on the study of “Research-Creation in the early Middle Ages: the example of Hibernicus Exul” is available. This Joint PhD project will be primarily based at the University of Melbourne with a minimum 12-month stay at the University of Toronto.

Applications will close once a suitable candidate is identified, and interested students are encouraged to submit as early as possible.

Degrees Available for this project

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Available Scholarships

The successful applicant will receive a scholarship package which includes a tuition fee waiver, living allowance, health insurance, and relocation support.

Project Details

The pivotal role played by Irish scholars in preserving and transmitting ancient learning during the early Middle Ages is well known even beyond the academy, thanks to popularising works such as ‘How the Irish Saved Civilization’. Yet, a great deal of work remains to be done on individual Irish figures working in continental Europe during the eighth to tenth centuries in order to establish the Irish contribution more rigorously. The shadowy figure known as ‘Hibernicus Exul’ (‘the Irish exile’) provides an ideal test-case for this work: the author of thirty-eight Latin poems, on scholarly, political, and comic topics, his works appear in a single manuscript, Vatican Reg. Lat. 2078. This is an important and influential poetic anthology from the heart of the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of intense cultural and intellectual activity in eighth- and ninth-century Europe during which the literature and learning of the ancient Graeco-Roman world was rediscovered. Concerted efforts were made to standardise and widen access to educational systems, with significant consequences for the intellectual history of Western Europe.

The recruited PhD student will write the first monograph-length study of ‘Hibernicus Exul’, setting his work in the context of the manuscript, addressing the controversial question of his possible identification with the better- known Carolingian scholar Dúngal, and demonstrate how the poet exemplifies the nature of medieval Irish literature, which simultaneously aims to educate and to entertain, and can in many ways be seen as a predecessor of today’s Research-Creation.

The successfully chosen student will work with Principal Supervisor, Sarah Corrigan, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne, and External Co-Supervisor, Cillian O’Hogan, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto.

Please note the additional requirements listed below when submitting your Expressions of Interest.

Additional requirements

• Statement of research interest [max. 1000 words]
• MA in a related field, or equivalent, to be completed by the programme start date.
• Evidence of at least six semesters of Latin, or equivalent, with grades of B+ or higher, or equivalent

Anticipated project start date

August 31, 2027

Submit your expression of interest here: https://forms.your.unimelb.edu.au/wf2epQL

View complete details here: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/opportunity/1657-research-creation-in-the-early-middle-ages–the-example-of-hibernicus-exul.

Source : The University of Melbourne