Research scholarships

The aim of this project is to characterise the diversity and variability of grief experiences with a focus on grief in Autistic and LGBTQIA+ persons, thereby closing an important gap in current philosophy of grief.

About the scholarship

Supervised by:

• the project Lead CI Dr Regina Fabry (Macquarie University)
• CI Dr Marilyn Stendera (University of Wollongong).

The successful candidates will contribute to one of the following subprojects:

1. The normativity of grief

To date, the norms that govern grief remain understudied in philosophical grief research. Who is entitled to grieve the loss of a significant person? Who is grievable? What are ‘normal’ grief experiences? How is grief supposed to unfold over time?

The research conducted by the PhD candidate should analyse how normative structures, patterns, and practices prevent Autistic and LGBTQIA+ individuals from making sense of their grief experiences, which are often disintegrated and disunified.

Relevant research questions include, but are not limited to:

• What are prevalent normative assumptions about grief in Western and non-Western cultures?
• How do normative assumptions influence the phenomenology of grief?
• What is the relationship between normativity and marginalisation in the context of grief?
• How do socio-culturally shaped normative assumptions about grief inform scholarly, public and personal discourses?
• How does neuronormativity, which systematically undermines the lived experience and epistemic authority of Autistic persons, influence scholarly and folk conceptions of ‘good grief’?
• How does cisheteronormativity, which systematically undermines the lived experience and epistemic authority of LQBTQIA+ persons, influence scholarly and folk conceptions of ‘good grief’?

2. The relationality of grief

To date, philosophical grief research has focussed on cases characterised by the loss of a loved one (eg parent, partner, child, friend) with whom the grieving person shared a harmonious, non-conflictual relationship. However, how can cases of conflicted grief be theorised?

The candidate is expected to systematically investigate conflicted grief generated by negative or ambivalent relationships in the context of marginalisation.

Relevant research questions include, but are not limited to:

• What is conflicted grief?
• What are important phenomenological characteristics of conflicted grief?
• How does conflicted grief relate to marginalisation and other forms of structural oppression?
• How do Autistic persons navigate and negotiate conflicted grief?
• How do LGBTQIA+ persons navigate and negotiate conflicted grief?
• What are the implications of the analysis of conflicted grief for philosophical grief research?

Expertise in philosophy of mind and cognition, philosophy of cognitive science and phenomenology are preferred, but candidates with other areas of expertise will be considered.

Furthermore, an additional background in a relevant discipline (eg literary studies, cultural studies, history, psychology) is an advantage.

In line with the main aim of the ARC Discovery Project, suitably qualified Autistic and LGBTQIA+ persons and members of other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Availability

This scholarship is available to eligible candidates to undertake a direct entry three-year PhD program.

Components

The scholarship comprises:

• a tuition fee offset/scholarship
• a living allowance stipend.

The value of each stipend scholarship is $39,700 per annum (full time, indexed) for three years.

How to apply

Before submitting your application, submit an expression of interest to Dr Regina Fabry at regina.fabry@mq.edu.au.

Indicate in your application if you prefer to work on:

• the normativity of grief (Topic 1) – reference number 20268145
• the relationality of grief (Topic 2) – reference number 20268146.