Modern Sinophone Australia

'Modern Sinophone Australia' is an innovative research project designed to map the cultural productions of modern Australia's Chinese language-speaking populations. It aims to shed light on a vast and under-researched body of Chinese language resources produced in Australia and beyond that bear witness to the cultural life and presence of Sinophone Australians in modern times. In doing so, it will highlight their implications for our understanding of modern Australian cultural identity as a whole.

The team invites applications from candidates who are able to write Chinese texts into the history of Australia, Australia into the world of Chinese cultural production and both into Global modernism. As one of 13 projects supported by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Postgraduate Research Scholarship program in 2022, scholarships are available for PhD candidates who can contribute to the project.

The project team is led by early career scholar and Chinese Studies expert Dr Josh Stenberg (School of Languages and Cultures), and includes Modernist text scholar Associate Professor Mark Byron (English) and historian of Chinese-Australian communities Dr Sophie Loy-Wilson (History).

About the project

The project aims to connect existing research strengths in Transatlantic Modernism and Sinophone (Chinese language texts not necessarily from the PRC) Studies with as yet unrealised scholarly resources, literary texts and aesthetic traditions in Australia.

For 20 years, ‘New Modernism Studies’ has sought to expand the horizons of scholarly work to include areas outside of North America and Western Europe – just as Sinophone studies has sought to examine both mainland China and literary production outside its borders. Australian historians have worked hard to liberate the nation from the monocultural and monolingual mode. Chinese language cultural production in Australia has received limited attention of any kind, and has not been examined under the lens of modernism or with theoretical resources introduced by the Sinophone.

Opportunities for PhD candidates

PhD candidates who join the project via the Postgraduate Research Scholarships will benefit from supervision by the skilled and experienced 'Modern Sinophone Australia' project team.

The team's existing collaborative links with institutions and scholars across Australia, in East Asia and the Sinophone world provides meaningful opportunities to mentor the next generation of scholars and to provide opportunities for exchange, project collaboration and research funding across several national schemes.

Each member of the team engages in research that explores these questions directly or implicitly. The team has the linguistic abilities to work with a variety of materials, and the expertise to deal with a variety of literary and cultural forms as well as historical texts. By virtue of these backgrounds, we are able to accommodate exciting research projects working across our fields – enriching the fields of Modernism Studies, Sinophone Studies and Australian History, and helping to position the University of Sydney as a location where such projects can flourish.

Aim of the study

‘Modern Sinophone Australia’ aims to harness significant opportunities in Sinophone Studies, Modernism Studies and Australian history: namely, to connect existing research strengths in Transatlantic Modernism and Sinophone Studies with as-yet unrealised Chinese language scholarly resources, literary texts and aesthetic traditions in Australia.

Benefits

The team has a strong track record of timely and high-quality supervisions together and separately. The disciplines of History and English as well as the School of Languages and Cultures excel in and strongly support transnational research incorporating new and diverse visions of Australian culture. There is thus optimal structural support for such a project. This focus will give the University of Sydney a unique profile in Australia, in our immediate region and globally – aligning with the University’s strategic goals to develop partnerships that enable our research to make a difference, locally and globally, and to promote understanding across institutional barriers.

The team spans three disciplines and three schools in the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, providing a basis for further expansion in response to desirable project proposals that deepen or extend the project’s current parameters. The team has significant supervision experience in the focus areas of the project proposal, forming a unique source of guidance and mentoring for the next generation of scholars in the three fields.

PhD application criteria

Applicants are invited to submit a proposal for PhD research that aligns directly with this project.

Prospective candidates may qualify for direct entry into the PhD program if their research proposal (see above) is accepted and they satisfy at least one of the criteria listed below:

Bachelor's degree with first- or second-class honours in an appropriate area of study that includes a research thesis based on primary data not literature review
Master's degree by research in an appropriate area of study that includes a research thesis that draws on primary data
Master's degree by coursework, with a research thesis or dissertation of 12,000–15,000 words that draws on primary data not literature review, with a grade-point average of at least 80 per cent in the degree.
demonstrated appropriate professional experience and alternative qualifications in the field of study.

For more information on applying for a PhD, refer to the course details for Doctor of Philosophy (Arts and Social Sciences).

Please also refer to guidelines for preparing a research proposal.

Funding

A number of scholarships are available to support your studies:

These scholarships will provide a stipend allowance of $35,629 per annum for up to 3.5 years. Successful international students will also receive a tuition fee scholarship for up to 3.5 years.

For other scholarship opportunities refer to FASS Research Scholarships (Domestic) or FASS Research Scholarships (International).

Contact

For further details about the PhD project, contact: Dr Josh Stenberg (josh.stenberg@sydney.edu.au)