“My aim is to bring new voices into the narrative”
As I outlined in my previous blog, I am undertaking a DPhil, another name for a PhD, and in my case it is a Collaborative Doctoral Award (CDA), sometimes known as a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership. This is a type of funding and training model for a doctorate, and my award is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Clarendon Fund. I started in October 2024, so am currently in my second year.
The question I have most often been asked to date is “What is a CDA and what does this actually mean?” This blog hopes to better explain how a CDA differs from a regular a PhD, and what my experience has been so far.
What is a CDA?
A Collaborative Doctoral Award offers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between the academic sector and the heritage sector. They are doctoral research studentships between a Higher Education institution and an external cultural (such as historic houses, museums, libraries, and archives). The research costs for my project are funded through the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership (OOC DTP) which facilitates CDAs with the Open University, Oxford, and Cambridge.
What makes a CDA different from a traditional PhD?
CDA projects are jointly proposed by the University and the external partner prior to your involvement, although there is room for the successful candidate to shape their response to the project brief. The project is essentially pre-designed and it is collaborative from the start. You are not just working on research in a heritage organisation; you are working with them. CDAs offer the opportunity for the exploration of research in areas that the institution needs and can truly benefit from.
However, I have also been asked, “is this really your project?” I would say yes. When I applied, I was drawn to this project because it aligned with my interests in women’s history, the medieval and early modern periods, and built heritage – it was a perfect fit for me. Since starting, I have been able to shape the direction of the research by pursuing themes that speak to my interests, and methodologies that reflect my voice as a researcher.
What are the benefits of a CDA?
The idea of a CDA is to encourage the development of collaboration and partnerships, which can provide support in the form of knowledge and expertise, and resources. In my experience, this has definitely been the case. The Charterhouse is a unique place with a tangled and exciting history. The expertise of those on site has been unequivocally helpful in unpicking the Charterhouse’s past, so that I can pursue my research aims with a strong foundational knowledge. Similarly, this is helpful with navigating the archive collections, and I hope as I move forward I can continue to collaborate in this way.
The Charterhouse kindly provides me with a London base when I am visiting the archives. It is a 15-minute walk away from The London Archives, so is very conveniently located for my research. I also often join the almshouse residents, known as Brothers, for lunch in the Great Hall, and attend events with the staff, volunteers, residents, Friends of the Charterhouse, Governors and more. Discussing my research with a range of audiences is both formative for my idea-making, but also useful for my communication skills.
Spending time with the residents has also been hugely beneficial. They have an excellent knowledge of the Charterhouse and its history, and the conversations that I have with them about different parts of my research are always really useful. They are also very supportive of my work and ask many questions. As PhDs are generally quite solitary in nature, this community and the encouragement it provides can be very affirming. Similarly, discussions with the residents help me to organise my own thoughts, and their questions give me new ideas to find out the answers to.
What does my day-to-day look like?
The best part of working on this DPhil project is that every day looks different. Some days, like most doctoral students, are spent fully in the library, with my nose in one of the many books on my reading list. I am reading on a variety of topics such as monasticism (in particular the Carthusians who inhabited the Charterhouse), gender, space, almshouses, and more.
Other days are spent in The London Archives looking at the Sutton’s Hospital collection – the most centralised archive of the Charterhouse. This can range from using my palaeographic skills to transcribe 16th and 17th century texts, including letters, financial records and minutes associated with the almshouse phase of the site, to translating the Latin texts associated with the earlier medieval monastery.
The most unique days are spent visiting and staying at the London Charterhouse. The site is vast and beautiful, and as I learn more about its history, different areas of the site have a new sort of resonance for me. Staying on the site allows me to fully immerse myself in the subject of my study. This is a rare opportunity that most doctoral students do not get, and I feel incredibly lucky every time I visit. I attend different events and talk to as many people as possible, to learn different ideas and interpretations of the site, and this all helps to inform my research.
What do I hope to add to the pool of scholarship on the London Charterhouse?
The existing scholarship on the Charterhouse offers a rich and comprehensive institutional history of the site which typically is divided into three main phases: Carthusian monastery 1371-1538, private mansion 1545-1611, and charitable organisation 1611-present. My CDA project aims to consider the experiences and involvement of women across all three periods (ending in 1750).
I have approached this project with an open mind, ready to let the archives guide its direction. That openness has led to the discovery of numerous connections between women and the Charterhouse through benefaction, familial ties, domestic roles and more.
Now my aim is to illuminate archival records which have been underused or, in some cases, never examined before. Hopefully, I can bring new voices into the narrative which will be a welcome addition to the Charterhouse’s scholarship.
Victoria Sands