Netherlands : 2 PhD researchers Film and Media Studies

The research project The Nation and Its Other: The Emergence of Modern Popular Imagery and Representations will analyze the emerging mass-medial production and dissemination of popular imagery and representations in the late 19th and early 20th century, looking specifically at cinematographic images of the Nation and its Other. Two case studies will investigate (a) trans-nationally circulating popular images of the Netherlands of Dutch and foreign origins, and (b) representations of the Asian Other circulating in the Netherlands in the light of the Boxer Rebellion and the Russo-Japanese War, and with regard to the country's colonies in Asia.

The goal of the project is to contribute to our understanding of the modern globalized mediasphere and the cultural dynamics modern visual media have engendered by looking at the formative phase of modern popular mass-media imagery.

The project is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) in the programmatic research scheme. Project leader is F. E. Kessler (Utrecht University).

The PhD projects 1,0 fte

Project 1 (681001): Images of Dutch-ness in Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century Film and Popular Media.

This PhD-project will explore the range of descriptions, images and representations of the Netherlands in (non-fiction) films produced by various European production companies, but also in commercial travel guides (Baedeker etc.), encyclopedic articles, picture postcards and other media providing images that circulate transnationally at a large scale. Such images can be seen as generating, or at least contributing to, the formation of popular representations of a Nation for itself as well as for viewers and readers abroad, but also for tourists and travelers. The PhD research will be concerned not only with identifying the various forms of “Dutch-ness” constructed by these representations, but also how they are presented, performed, and circulated, and to what extent they are accepted, negotiated, appropriated or rejected by audiences then and now. This also raises questions about cultural ownership of such images and representations.

More information on this project can be found on the website of the Research Institute.

Project 2 (681002): Images of the “Asian Other” Circulating in the Netherlands in Late 19th Century and Early 20th Century Film and Popular Media.
 
This PhD-project will take as a case the representation of the Asian Other in the various types of media texts, in particular films, but also travelogues, tourist guides, encyclopedias etc. circulating in the Netherlands in connection with discourses on the Dutch colonies in Indonesia.  Specific attention will be paid to the way in which conflicts between Asians and European powers (more specifically the Boxer Rebellion and the Russo-Japanese War) bring forth a variety of positive and negative representations of the Asian Other, from exotic colonial subject to potential insurgent, from underdeveloped native to future economic and military competitor, from submissive servant to “yellow danger”. Also, the PhD project will take into account the processes of circulation, presentation and performance of the different forms of “Asian-ness” as well as the ways in which they are received, including the intricate issues of cultural ownership.
 

More information on this project can be found on the website of the Research Institute.

 
Qualifications

We are looking for talented and enthusiastic researchers with a (Research) Master Degree in relevant fields. You are expected
to be a team player who has scholarly interest in and affinity with early (non-fiction) film and popular visual culture;
to have abilities in creatively analyzing research material and in delivering tangible research results;
to have the discipline for working in accordance with a realistic working program leading to a dissertation;
to have a good command of both spoken and written English;
to have, or be willing to rapidly acquire, a good command of Dutch in order to be able to read relevant historical sources.

 
Terms of employment

We offer 2 PhD positions (1,0 fte each) with an 18 month contract, starting April 1, 2010. After a positive evaluation this contract can be extended with a maximum of two and a half more years (a total of four years maximum). Gross salary rising from € 2,042.- a month during the first year to € 2.612.- in the fourth year on a fulltime basis. We also offer a pension scheme, a holiday allowance of 8% per year and flexible employment conditions. Conditions are based on the Collective Labour Agreement of the Dutch Universities.

 
Further details

More information about the Research Institute for History and Culture can be found on the Institute's website.

For further information, contact Prof Dr F.E. Kessler, telephone +31 30 253 6388, e-mail: F.E.Kessler@uu.nl

 
How to apply

Your application (stating the vacancy number) should be accompanied by a curriculum vitae, a copy of your master or doctoral degree and a list of marks, the addresses of two referents, and a memorandum of a maximum of 1000 words in which you set forth your motivation for the specific project and your own ideas about how you will approach it.

Written applications should be sent to the Personnel Department, attn. Ms. Ingrid Wagenaar, Kromme Nieuwegracht 46, 3512 HJ Utrecht, The Netherlands. Please refer to the vacancy number 681001 or 681002, as well as to the medium where you found this advertisement.

E-mail applications should be sent in pdf or doc format to humanitiesjobs.gw@uu.nl, and should specify your name and vacancy number (681001 or 681002) in the message as well as in the topic, include a list of attachments in the message, and specify your name in every attachment.

Application Deadline : 15 February 2010

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Posted on 2010-01-31 05:17:56

The announced deadline for above scholarship is expired and new applications may no longer be accepted. The notice is available for reference purpose only.

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