The School of Art History and Cultural Policy at University College Dublin is pleased to announce a generously funded Ad Astra PhD studentship in Art History, supervised by Dr Sean Leatherbury. The award is open to both EU and non-EU candidates, and includes a full tuition fee waiver, stipend of €18,000, and research funds. The award is for a maximum of four years of full-time PhD study.

Dr Leatherbury is interested in receiving proposals within the broad areas of Roman, Late Antique, or Byzantine art. He is especially interested in PhD projects that engage with one or more of the following themes and topic areas: 

• the transformation of material and visual culture in the Mediterranean world from the Roman period to late antiquity (c. 300-800 CE)
• cross-cultural and/or inter-faith engagements in material and visual culture (pagan/polytheist, Jewish, Christian, Muslim)
• material-visual properties of texts, especially inscriptions
• floor and wall mosaics 
• the so-called ‘minor arts’ in late antiquity (e.g. glass, silver, textiles, jewelry)
• Roman and Late Antique theories of the image

Projects focused on the art and architecture of the eastern Mediterranean (modern Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and neighbouring countries) are particularly encouraged, as are projects that engage with museum collections and cultural heritage issues, though any Roman, Late Antique, or Byzantine topic is welcome. The successful candidate will have a strong academic background in art history and/or classics, archaeology, or Late Antique and Byzantine studies.