Dr Rob Collins & Historic Environment Scotland

The most sophisticated frontier system ever built by the Romans and also one of the briefest occupied, the Antonine Wall WHS offers a uniquely high-resolution insight into the Roman Empire at its height. The proposed PhD addresses key objectives identified in the Antoine Wall Research Strategy (2020), exploiting a rich body of largely un-synthesised legacy data. An integrated analysis of small finds and ceramics from sites will illuminate how the multiple constituent structures and spaces of the Wall were used, addressing fundamental questions about the activities that took place within them and the make- up of frontier communities.

Prof. Daniel Siemens and the Berlin Wall Foundation

This project analyses the connection between politics, collective and individual memory by exploring a collection of life story interviews with former border soldiers of the GDR. In light of onging debates about the shortcomings of the unification process and the disregard of East German experiences, it will bring the voices of men which have no recognition in debates about the commemoration of the GDR to the fore. The project will explore how they perceived their military service and how their interpretations changed with the judicial scrutiny and political and media debates about the “coming to terms” in unified Germany.

Dr Fionnghuala Sweeney & Dr Bruce Baker and the National Library of Wales

The project examines an unstudied aspect of black history and literary culture, namely the emancipatory writing and activism of Moses Roper, the first African-American fugitive to flee to the UK and publish his autobiography there. It considers the ways in which Roper laid the groundwork for an emancipatory politics and grass-roots activism given shape by national and regional contexts, and by tapping into non- conformist religious networks rather than organized anti-slavery. As significantly, it examines how Roper mobilized the Welsh and English language press in his campaigning, and how therefore black fugitive writing took shape and went native within Welsh print culture.

Prof. Annie Tindley and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

Clandeboye Estate is one of the few landed estates in Northern Ireland that has been in the same family ownership since the seventeenth century and much of its extensive archive relates directly or indirectly to the evolution of the landscape and the communities that lived and live on it. This project will draw on the layers of historic maps and archives to produce a deep map: a three dimensional spatial and historical narrative of the estate’s rich legacy. It will create a freely-available digital resource that will enable anyone, whether they are online, in the field or in the archive, to understand the history of the place. This PhD offers an opportunity to explore in detail the evolution of the landscape and use that to develop new interpretations of the Irish past and inform planning for its future.