Context of the chair

You will work in the Department of Literary Studies and Linguistics, specifically in the capacity group Literary and Cultural Analysis (LCA). This capacity group currently consists of one professor and 15 to 20 lecturers, associate and assistant professors. Combining perspectives from Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Literary and Cultural Analysis is dedicated to research and teaching on contemporary culture, the arts, and literature at the intersection of politics and philosophy. We try to make sense of and reflect on works of literature, art, and (popular) culture in close relation to contemporary debates and developments. We draw from and develop theories rooted in experience (gender and queer studies, disability studies, affect and memory studies), environment and world (environmental humanities, post- and decolonial studies, world literature, infrastructure studies, media archeology) and interdisciplinary analysis (cultural studies, comparative literature, continental philosophy). Central to our research and teaching programmes is the hands-on engagement - through concept-driven close readings - with concrete cultural objects from Global Norths and Global Souths: visual art; films; poems; novels; fashion; television series; art installations; social media; and performances; but also culturally significant phenomena such as social movements and environmental or technological transformations. The fundamentally interdisciplinary character of LCA’s teaching and research makes it a highly dynamic group that collaborates closely with other capacity groups and departments.

Teaching

You will primarily teach in the BA Literary and Cultural Analysis, the MA Comparative Literature and the research MA Literary Studies. You will also be involved in teaching in the MA Comparative Cultural Analysis and the research MA Cultural Analysis, and other programmes in the Faculty of Humanities that engage with post- and decolonial literatures and theories, such as the BA English Language and Culture and the Language, Culture, and Region Studies programmes. We expect you to actively contribute to developing curricula (most notably that of the research MA Literary Studies), particularly with regards to making them more inclusive and diverse. All teaching in the abovementioned programmes is in English (except in the Language, Culture and Region Studies programmes) and the courses involve international classrooms. You are expected to teach and supervise BA and MA theses in English, and to work towards proficiency in Dutch if not currently fluent (see below).

Research

Your research will be situated within the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), one of the five research schools of the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR).

ASCA is home to more than 110 researchers and more than 120 PhD candidates, and conducts world-leading research in Cultural Analysis. ASCA members share a commitment to studying culture in all its forms and expressions within an interdisciplinary, theoretically grounded framework, and to maintaining a close connection with contemporary cultural and political debates. ASCA encourages collaborations with researchers from other research schools, faculties and universities, as well as with non-academic institutions and communities.

Your research aims to find innovative ways of bringing insights from comparative literature and post/decolonial theory with a focus on the Gobal South to bear on one or more of ASCA’s five thematic constellations: mediality, arts & aesthetics, globalization & migration, identities, and cultural & social critique. You will develop broad interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers outside ASCA, from the Faculty of Humanities, the University of Amsterdam and beyond, with the aim of submitting individual and/or consortium grant proposals to national and international funders such as NWO (Dutch Research Council) and ERC (European Research Council).  

You will provide international visibility and inspiring leadership to ASCA’s research in the important, growing area of post/decolonial theories and literatures by setting up and coordinating a research group in this area, supervising PhD candidates and consolidating collaborations with partners like the Amsterdam Museum, The Black Archives, and the Research Center for Material Culture. You will also initiate collaborations with relevant professors (by special appointment) and research groups in other research schools within the Faculty of Humanities, specifically AHM (Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture), ASH (Amsterdam School of Historical Studies) and ARTES (Amsterdam School for Regional, Transnational and European Studies), within the University of Amsterdam (most notably in the context of the new Research Priority Area Decolonial Futures, bringing together researchers from the Faculty of Humanties, the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Faculty of Law) and beyond. 

Leadership

You are committed to fulfilling administrative and managerial roles and to contributing to a sensitive, inclusive and socially safe environment. You will be responsible for the Human Resource Management of a portion of the LCA staff members, in close collaboration with the other Professor, Prof. Esther Peeren. You are furthermore willing and able to take on administrative responsibilities at departmental and/or faculty level (such as head of department, programme director, research school/institute director).

Your tasks and responsibilities:

• conducting innovative, interdisciplinary research with international visibility in the field of Post/Decolonial Theories and Literatures with a focus on the Global South;
• maintaining an international, interdisciplinary research network;
• pursuing external funding for research from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the European Research Council (ERC) and other funding bodies;
• providing research-led teaching in the BA Literary and Cultural Analysis, the MA Comparative Literature and the research-MA Literary Studies, as well as other programmes;
• supervising BA and (research-)MA theses;
• contributing to curriculum innovation and improvement, with a specific focus on making teaching programmes more inclusive and diverse;
• setting up/consolidating collaborations with non-academic partners;
• supervising PhD candidates;
• mentoring junior researchers in the context of an active research group within ASCA;
• taking part in committees and working groups, and carrying out senior administrative and management tasks at the level of the capacity group LCA, the Department of Literary Studies and Linguistics and the Faculty of Humanities.

Please visit the UvA website for all requirements and the complete vacancy text.

The appointment will be permanent. The gross salary will normally conform to professorial scale 2, between €6,099 and €8,881 gross per month (€85,117 - €123,943 per annum, including 8% holiday pay and an 8,3% end of year payment) on a full-time basis (38 hours per week) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU). In certain cases, however, different terms of employment may be offered.

Curious about our organisation and attractive fringe benefits such as a generous holiday arrangement and development opportunities? Here you can read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

Faculty of Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities provides education and conducts research with a strong international profile in a large number of disciplines in the field of language and culture. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the faculty maintains close ties with many cultural institutes in the capital city. Research and teaching staff focus on interdisciplinary collaboration and are active in several teaching programmes.