Funded PhD Studentship: ‘Cold War Socialism, Non-Alignment and Anti-Colonialism in the Yugoslav Press, 1961 – 1979’

‘Cold War Socialism, Non-Alignment and Anti-Colonialism in the Yugoslav Press, 1961 – 1979’: AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership (CDP) PhD Studentship Ref: 5853

Deadline 5 May 2026

About the award

Supervisors

Dr Ljubica Spaskovska University of Exeter – Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Milan Grba, the British Library

The University of Exeter and the British Library are pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded Collaborative Doctoral Studentship from 1 October 2026 under the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Scheme.

The project Cold War Socialism, Non-Alignment and Anti-Colonialism in the Yugoslav Press, 1961-1979 proposes an innovative investigation into Yugoslavia’s multifaceted role during the Cold War, specifically its involvement with the Non-Aligned Movement and anti-colonial efforts.

This project will be jointly supervised Dr Ljubica Spaskovska and Professor James Mark at the University of Exeter and by Milan Grba and Savka Andic at the British Library.  The student will spend time with both the University of Exeter and the British Library and will become part of the wider cohort of AHRC CDP funded PhD students across the UK.

The University of Exeter and the British Library are keen to encourage applications from a diverse range of people, from different backgrounds and career stages, and particularly welcome applications from Global Majority students and those currently underrepresented in doctoral student cohorts.  

The Research Project

The project centres on Yugoslavia’s global role in the Cold War, emphasizing its advocacy of non-alignment, anti-colonialism, and support for newly independent nations and liberation movements. The project will draw upon the recently digitised and largely unexamined Joint Translation Service (JTS) bulletins, a sole archive housed at the British Library. The project’s core purpose is to apply advanced digital methods and interdisciplinary research to the Joint Translation Service Archive, uncovering fresh insights into Cold War socialism and anti-colonialism from a Yugoslav perspective, and aiming to understand how Yugoslavia, a founding Non-Aligned Movement member, forged a ‘third way’. The student will be engaged in creating a fully digitally searchable Joint Translation Service resource, deriving new datasets, and helping to establish a global network of Non-Aligned Movement-related archives with a view to creating a digital repository. The successful applicant would be able to build upon this and develop their own specific approach and themes. In addition to the focus on the JTS archive, applicants could potentially bring this material into dialogue with other archives and primary materials.

Continue reading “Funded PhD Studentship: ‘Cold War Socialism, Non-Alignment and Anti-Colonialism in the Yugoslav Press, 1961 – 1979’”

Digital Research Tips for Dissertations in Imperial & Global History

Image from Journal of a Residence in the Burmhan Empire, and more particularly at the Court of Amarapoorah [Edited by H. C. M. Cox.], p. 328. Courtesy of the British Library.
Image from Journal of a Residence in the Burmhan Empire, and more particularly at the Court of Amarapoorah [Edited by H. C. M. Cox.], p. 328. Courtesy of the British Library on flickr.

Marc-William Palen
History Department, University of Exeter
Follow on Twitter @MWPalen

It is that time of year again. The semester begins; students scramble to find digital archives for research papers; supervisors seek to steer them in the right direction. In contrast to a decade ago, online archival options are now overwhelming. To help wade through the sea of digital archives, over the past couple of years we have offered some suggestions for digital research in imperial and global history, included below. Any other new digital archives that those researching topics in imperial and global history might find useful?
Continue reading “Digital Research Tips for Dissertations in Imperial & Global History”

Over 1 Million Historical Images Made Available by British Library

Marc-William Palen

[London, 1857] Image taken from page 464 of 'The eventful voyage of H.M. Discovery Ship “Resolute” to the Arctic Regions in search of Sir J. Franklin. ... To which is added an account of her being fallen in with by an American Whaler after her abandonment ... and of her [from the British Library Images Collection]
[London, 1857] Image taken from page 464 of ‘The eventful voyage of H.M. Discovery Ship “Resolute” to the Arctic Regions in search of Sir J. Franklin. … To which is added an account of her being fallen in with by an American Whaler after her abandonment … and of her [courtesy of the British Library]

Need some new visual resources for next term’s imperial or global history class? The British Library has now made available over 1 million images dating from the 17th to the 19th century. Continue reading “Over 1 Million Historical Images Made Available by British Library”