What you will do

As the Community and Outreach Manager for GLOBALISE (https://globalise.huygens.knaw.nl), you will be joining a project dedicated to empowering researchers and the wider public to explore the early history of Dutch colonialism in Asia. Our mission centers on unlocking the UNESCO Memory of the World-listed archives of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). These archives provide detailed insights into the VOC’s activities and contain unique and invaluable information about the societies of early modern Asia and South Africa. In pursuit of our mission, we collaborate with researchers, citizen scientists, and various user groups to adapt and enhance our infrastructure.

You will directly oversee the involvement of Dutch volunteers in tasks such as tagging mentions of persons and locations in historical texts, reviewing transcriptions, and georeferencing maps. Additionally, you will collaborate with our network of international scholars to establish hubs in countries such as Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and South Africa for engaging local scholars, students, and citizen scientists. You will take care that these contributions are impactful and align with the project’s goals.

You will also lead the outreach efforts to expand the utilization of the GLOBALISE infrastructure beyond our current reach of scholars. This will involve identifying and exploring new routes to engage non-specialist audiences, particularly in Asia, through strategic communications and partnerships. Your efforts will focus on enhancing the project’s visibility and encouraging the adoption of our resources for research, cultural, and educational initiatives.

What you bring
You have a master’s degree in a relevant field such as History or Cultural Studies, ideally some prior experience in community engagement, and a curious mind for connecting historical research with diverse, global audiences. You have an interest in colonial and non-Western histories and are sensitive to the potential ethical complexities surrounding these topics when working with citizen scientists.

Your communication skills enable you to connect with a broad range of people, often from international backgrounds. Independence, initiative, and a proactive work style are amongst your strengths. Proficiency in English is a must, and knowledge of Bahasa Indonesia, or another relevant Asian language and/or Dutch is advantageous. A pre-existing network within our relevant communities will be considered a plus.

Fixed-term contract: 1 jaar.

Huygens Instituut

About the Huygens Institute
The Huygens Institute aims to enrich, broaden, renew and make widely accessible the research on history and culture of the Netherlands. We do this by digitally opening up historical and literary data and texts from various collections and sources, connecting them and analysing them in innovative ways - across the centuries and beyond Europe's borders.

Onderzoek

Joining GLOBALISE means being at the forefront of digital humanities research, and contributing to an innovative project together with a dynamic team of historians, data engineers, computational linguists, and developers. We offer a supportive and collaborative environment where your work will have a significant impact on creating more inclusive global histories.