Principal Supervisor: Professor Heike Bauer (Head of Research Innovation & Knowledge Exchange – Faculty of HSS, Humanities and Social Sciences Central, Birkbeck, University of London)
Co-Supervisor: Dr Karen Hiestand (Lecturer in Veterinary & Animal Ethics, The Royal Veterinary College)
Project Description
We are excited to announce the first Bloomsbury Scholarship collaboration between the humanities at Birkbeck and Animal Welfare and Science and Ethics at the Royal Veterinary College. This is an opportunity to complete a fully-funded doctorate in the interdisciplinary field of human-animal studies.
The project examines the rise of veterinary specialist care in the UK over the last three decades and its impact on veterinarians, pet owners and the animals in their care. ‘Specialists’ are practitioners with postgraduate qualifications in areas such as emergency and critical care, oncology or surgery. Their expertise opens up new treatment possibilities and referrals are now a common part of companion animal practice. Yet these clinical advances also bring profound ethical and practical challenges. While in popular culture clinical progress is celebrated, the veterinary literature is increasingly critical about the impact of ever-expanding interventions on animal welfare. Animal studies scholars in turn are problematising the unequal power relations between pet and owner when it comes to care. Furthermore, a 2023 landmark investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority into veterinary services for household pets raised concerns about the marketization of care, and there is public backlash against high veterinary bills, even if pets are now often considered family members with attendant expectations for medical treatment.
Aim & significance
The aim of this project is to provide the first study of this complex landscape. It asks: what is the history and impact of specialist veterinary care in the UK since the first referral clinic opened in 1998? How do these developments shape practitioner-client-animal relations today? And how do they impact companion animal welfare in and beyond the clinic?
Methodology
The project adopts an interdisciplinary approach pioneered in the emerging field of the veterinary humanities, which argues that dialogue between the humanities and social sciences is crucial to tackling veterinary issues. It brings together 1) cultural-historical methods to document the rise of specialist care and identify shifts in popular and critical discourses about veterinary practice & animal welfare; and 2) ethnographic methods to understand how vets and clients construct their realities, the meaning they take from them and how this shapes their decision making.
Why should you apply?
- This is a unique opportunity for candidates interested in innovative approaches to human-animal relations. Applicants will be able to shape the direction of the project in line with their own interests under guidance from the supervisors. They will have access to training and the rich research communities at Birkbeck and the RVC.
Subject Areas/Keywords:
Animal studies; animal history; animal welfare; animal ethics; veterinary humanities; humanities (History; English; Media Studies); social sciences (Sociology; Ethnography; Anthropology)
Further details about the project may be obtained from:
Principal Supervisor: Professor Heike Bauer – h.bauer@bbk.ac.uk
Co-Supervisor: Dr Karen Hiestand – kahiestand@rvc.ac.uk
Further information about PhDs at Birkbeck is available from:
https://www.bbk.ac.uk/prospective/research
How to Apply
- Please follow the online application process for the PhD in English and Humanities at Birkbeck clearly stating your interest in the ‘Bloomsbury PhD Studentship’ with Professor Heike Bauer,
- Please use the supporting statement in the application to outline why you are applying for this project, and why you are a suitable candidate for it.
- Queries about the PhD and training should be sent to Prof Heike Bauer h.bauer@bbk.ac.uk
Closing date for applications is:
Thursday 6th March 2025 at 17.00 (GMT)
The Bloomsbury Colleges 