UEA & The British Museum

Eleanor Stinson is currently undertaking a Collaborative Doctoral Award co-designed by the University of East Anglia and the British Museum. Her doctoral research is concerned with the continental influence on English coinage and Royal administration in the 12th century.

Eleanor says: “After not achieving funding for my own research project, the opportunity to be part of one already funded by the CDA came at just the right time, giving me the chance to work on something new and challenging which drew on my previous experience. Although I had never worked exclusively with coins before, this project has shown the value of broadening the definition of historical sources to include material evidence like coins. Having multiple supervisors from both UEA and the British Museum who each have a different specialism is really valuable as it gives me the benefit of a broad range of advice which is helping me to develop a well-rounded thesis. Additionally, the chance to spend time in the Museum where I am doing a placement is teaching me the skills I might need for a career in the heritage sector after my PhD. I definitely feel as though being part of a CDA project has expanded my skills as a historian which may not have happened in quite the same way if I had pursued my initial research project.”

Stephen Church (Professor of Medieval History at UEA and Eleanor’s supervisor) says: “It has been an extraordinary experience working with the British Museum in designing and supervising Eleanor's PhD thesis. I am interested in what coins have to tell us about twelfth-century political history, but I have neither the expertise to undertake the work on the physical remains myself nor the time to work up that expertise. I do, however, understand the historical sources, so the collaboration between myself and Gareth gives Eleanor a unique opportunity to develop both historical and numismatic skills to straddle the two disciplines. We have also been fortunate in having a second supervisor in David Bates who has been willing to offer his unrivalled experience in French archives and documents to Eleanor. Eleanor's thesis would not have been possible without the CDA. I should add that Eleanor's thesis also feeds into my own research agenda. Having failed to get an ERC grant in which coins would have played a part, I have been able to fund one part of the wider project through the CDA with CHASE.

For any potential supervisors thinking about proposing a CDA project I would offer one piece of advice. The CDA funding model is not one which traditionally Arts graduates have looked to for their PhDs. We got a very good shortlist for our CDA by contacting those in the field in other universities and asking them to seek out former master's students who were interested in doctoral work but who had been unable to find a suitable topic at the point that they graduated. Eleanor was working at the British Library and her former MA supervisor at Cardiff told her about the funding opportunity. I don't think she would have applied without that prompting.”