Dr Mia Martin Hobbs seeks a PhD candidate for her DECRA project ‘Race, Gender, and Violence in Western militaries in the War on Terror’. In the wake of 9/11, Western militaries agreed that force alone would not defeat global terrorism. The US, UK, and Australian militaries set forth new doctrine outlining the need to build trust with local populations, and a core element of this doctrine was the diversity of their armed forces. Leaders were explicit about the necessity of diversity among the ranks, while rhetorical justifications for the War on Terror framed it as defending values of pluralism and equality. Military recruitment materials heavily promoted diversity, tying the individual empowerment of the soldier to the ‘liberating’ mission of the War on Terror. Yet the War on Terror was characterised by the weaponisation of race and gender by Western militaries, and the soldiers who diversified Western forces faced widespread sexual violence and racism within military institutions.

Dr Martin Hobbs will be conducting oral histories with women and minority veterans from the US, UK, and Australian militaries. The PhD candidate will conduct their own research on a related but independent topic, and coauthor research with Mia. Possible areas for the independent topic include (but are not limited to):

• Oral histories with women and minority veterans from other Western militaries (beyond US, UK, Australia)
• Histories of the civilian experiences of Western warfare in the War on Terror in particular war theatre
• Perceptions of race and gender among the wider ADF
• Transnational analysis comparing how the War on Terror was interpreted in different countries
• Histories of terror groups that emerged during the War on Terror
• History of a particular war theatre in the War on Terror

We are seeking a motivated and enthusiastic candidate who has the capacity to design their own research project and work both independently and collaboratively.

The successful candidate will be based at Burwood Campus in Melbourne.

The PhD will be of 3 years duration, with a tax-free scholarship of $37,450 per annum.

To be successful, you'll have:

Applicants must meet Deakin's PhD entry requirements, be enrolling full time and hold an Honours degree (First Class) or an equivalent standard Master's degree with a substantial research component. Please refer to the entry pathways to higher degrees by research for further information. The successful applicant will have an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in History or a related area.

The successful applicant will put forward an original 2-3 page proposal for a research project, described in brief in their cover letter. The proposal should include:

• Your idea for the project
• The originality of the project (e.g. where it fits with the wider literature)
• Ideas for historical sources for the project
• Relevant expertise (e.g. language skills, prior experience, related work)

Your key responsibilities will be to:

The successful candidate will achieve the research aims via a variety of research modalities including the development of an independent research project and producing high quality outputs including conference papers, co-authored journal articles, and a dissertation. The candidate will work closely with Dr Martin Hobbs on areas of common research to produced co-authored outcomes.

About us:

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To submit your expression of interest please submit a cover letter, research proposal, CV, university transcripts, and evidence of written and research capability (e.g. publications, masters’ thesis etc) to Dr Mia Martin Hobbs at mia.martinhobbs@deakin.edu.au by 31st May 2026.