Current placement opportunities

Doctoral Placement: Disability History and Heritage

Project: Traces of Resilience
Organisation: West Horsley Place

Duration: 3 months full time or an extended duration part time

Timing: The placement should be completed by the end of 2026; timeline to be agreed in consultation with the project team.

Location: Hybrid (remote working with optional on-site/archive research, subject to access requirements)

Project Description:

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a doctoral researcher to undertake a placement exploring historical representation and disability history at West Horsley Place, a Grade I listed medieval manor house and small, dynamic heritage site.

As the placement holder, you will contribute to Traces of Resilience, a live heritage research and engagement project led by the West Horsley Place Access Panel. The project seeks to identify, contextualise, and critically interpret the lives of disabled individuals connected to West Horsley Place and its surrounding locality. It responds to long-standing gaps in historical representation and aims to embed disability history within the public interpretation of the site through a co-produced exhibition and associated creative engagement.

The project is underpinned by current scholarship in disability history and critical heritage studies, particularly approaches that interrogate archival absence, historic terminology, and the ethics of representation.

Placement holder:

Responding to a research brief, you will conduct targeted archival and contextual research to inform the intellectual framework of the project and provide a rigorous evidential basis for subsequent community co-production.

This placement is intended to support high-quality, critical research rather than exhaustive archival completion, and explicitly recognises the interpretive significance of silences and absences within the historical record. You will gain the opportunity to see how research informs heritage practice in real time.

What you will do:

Undertake desk-based and archival research relating to disabled individuals connected to West Horsley Place and its locality
Analyse historic sources with attention to changing language, attitudes, and frameworks of disability
Identify key case studies, themes, and interpretive questions emerging from the research
Critically document gaps, silences, and ambiguities within the archive where relevant
Produce a written research report and annotated bibliography suitable for use by heritage professionals and community partners
Contribute to the early interpretive framing of a public exhibition and engagement programme
Engage in regular project meetings (online and in person) with the project team to ensure research findings fulfil the needs of the on-site team.
Participate in and share findings through an end-of-project workshop with academics and sector professionals
Participate in a knowledge exchange workshop with Access panel members and representatives from disability charities with the purpose of translating academic findings into accessible, community related themes

What you will gain:

Bespoke experience of conducting research to meet heritage sector need
First-hand understanding of how academic research informs heritage interpretation and practice
An opportunity to grow your networks across the academic and heritage sectors
A direct role in shaping interpretation, programming and practice at a dynamic and forward-thinking heritage site
On the ground experience of co-producing research-led outputs with input from diverse stakeholders

Person Specification

Essential

Have experience of conducting research to a high standard
Strong communication skills and experience
An understanding of the use of research in historical sites for diverse audiences

Desirable

Research interest or publications relating to disability history
Experience working with heritage organisations, museums, or public history projects
Lived experience of disability
Have an interest in working with or in the heritage sector

We particularly welcome applications from disabled academics and researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, in line with the project’s values and aims.

Access and Working Arrangements

The commissioning body is committed to inclusive research practice and is open to discussing reasonable adjustments, flexible working patterns, and alternative approaches to research and reporting.

Application Process

Please direct any questions about the role to Jo Ellison, Arts, Heritage and Learning Coordinator at West Horsley Place Trust jo.ellison@westhorsleyplace.org

To apply please send a CV and a 500-word statement outlining relevant skills and research interests to jo.ellison@westhorsleyplace.org.

Closing date: Sunday 16th May 2026

Interviews: Online interviews will take place on Thursday 28^th May 2026.