This PhD studentship will explore early modern chocolate between the late sixteenth and eighteenth centuries: where the ingredients for this drink were grown and harvested; how they were sourced and imported; who purchased them and at what price. It will explore how ideas about chocolate, including its origins in First Nations (Native or Indigenous American) culture and its cultivation by enslaved women and men of African descent, influenced conceptions of race, nationality, and Black British history. Despite the prevalence and popularity of chocolate in the period, surprisingly little has been done to trace either its patterns of consumption or the ways it was imagined, intellectually and iconographically. Ingredients for chocolate – which was consumed as a hot beverage flavoured with chilli, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar – were sourced from around the globe, and the British public associated the drinks with exoticism and the ‘otherness’ of the empire, playing a key role in the ‘consumer revolution’ of the period.
To better understand the full nuance of chocolate’s presence and legacy in Britain, the student working on this project will undertake a project on the ‘long history’ of early modern chocolate, working in multiple archives and utilising many different types of historical evidence. This will include an investigation of the chocolate kitchens built at Hampton Court Palace, Kew Palace (HRP) and Dyrham Park (NT) which attest to the drink’s importance in the period, and provide important information about its consumption and cultural circulation. Dyrham’s rich collections, which include a notable painting of a cacao tree dating from the late seventeenth century, will help this student better understand the reception and marketing of chocolate in the period.
Research questions include:
- Where and how was cacao grown, harvested, and prepared?
- How can we recover and recognise the lives, expertise, and experiences of the people who knew, grew, and made it?
- How did chocolate leave the site of growth and production and come into the hands of British chocolate sellers and makers, including those who supplied the royal household?
- Was the chain of supply different for royal physicians and apothecaries, such as James Chase and Hans Sloane?
- Did the production and supply of chocolate ingredients affect the vessels in which it was served and the interiors in which it was consumed?
Details of Award:
CDP doctoral training grants fund full‐time studentships for 45 months (3.75 years) or part‐time equivalent. The studentship has the possibility of being extended for an additional 3 months to provide professional development opportunities, or up to 3 months of funding may be used to pay for the costs the student might incur in taking up professional development opportunities.
The award pays tuition fees up to the value of the full‐time home UKRI rate for PhD degrees.
Research Councils UK Indicative Fee Level for 2022/23 is £4,596.
Only the home fee level can be claimed from the UKRI training grant. But if an international student is selected to hold the award, the difference between the home and overseas fees (the fees gap) will be met from central Durham University funds.
The award pays full maintenance for all students, both home and international students. The National Minimum Doctoral Stipend for 2022/23 is £16,062 plus a maintenance payment of £550/year for collaborative students, and an additional allowance of £1000/year because the Historic Royal Palaces sites at which the student will be working are based in London.
Further details can be found on the UKRI website
https://www.ukri.org/skills/funding‐for‐research‐training/
The student is eligible to receive an additional travel and related expenses grant during the course of the project courtesy of Historic Royal Palaces worth up to £850/year for 3.75 years (45 months).
The successful candidate will be eligible to participate in CDP Cohort Development events.
The project can be undertaken on a full‐time or part‐time basis.
Eligibility:
This studentship is open to both Home and International applicants.
To be classed as a home student, candidates must meet the following criteria:
- Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
- Have settled status, or
- Have pre‐settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
- Have indefinite leave to remain or enter
Further guidance can be found here ‐ https://www.ukri.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/UKRI‐030221‐Guidance‐International‐Eligibility‐Implementation‐training‐grant‐holders‐V2.pdf
We want to encourage the widest range of potential students to study for a CDP studentship and are committed to welcoming students from different backgrounds to apply. We particularly welcome applications from underrepresented communities and from nontraditional academic backgrounds, as they are currently underrepresented at this level in this area.
Applicants should ideally have or expect to receive a relevant Masters‐level qualification, or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience in a professional setting. Suitable disciplines
are flexible, but might include Anthropology, Art History, or History.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest in the museum sector and potential and enthusiasm for developing skills more widely in related areas.
As a collaborative award, students will be expected to spend time at both the University and Historic Royal Palaces NB. All applicants must meet UKRI terms and conditions for funding. See:
https://www.ukri.org/funding/information‐for‐award‐holders/grant‐terms‐and‐conditions/
For more information and how to apply see How to Apply ‐ Durham University
You will need to apply for our standard PhD in History programme (V1A001) through the application portal and then specify later that you wish to be considered for the CDP Making Chocolate.
In the ‘How do you propose to fund your studies?’ section of the application portal, please select ‘other’ and enter ‘CDP Making Chocolate’. There is no need to submit a research proposal.