PhD Position on Speculative Fiction and Imaginaries of the Future

Are you looking for a challenging position in a dynamic setting? The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) currently has a vacant PhD position as part of the Future Modernities and Non-modern Futures project led by principal investigators Irene Villaescusa Illán and Elio Attilio Baldi. ASCA is one of the five Research Schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR).

The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis invites applications for a fully funded 4-year PhD position in Literary and Cultural Analysis with a focus on Speculative Fictions. The position is funded by a starting grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands, and led by Dr Irene Villaescusa Illán and Dr Elio Attilio Baldi.

You will be part of ASCA and of either the Literary Studies and Linguistics or Modern Languages and Cultures department, where you will do some teaching in your second and third year. ASCA is a research community devoted to the comparative and interdisciplinary study of culture (in all its forms and expressions) from a broad humanities perspective. ASCA is home to more than 120 scholars and 160 PhD candidates and is a world-leading international research school in Cultural Analysis. ASCA members share a commitment to working in an interdisciplinary framework and to maintaining a close connection with contemporary cultural and political debates.

Within ASCA, you can join one or more ASCA research group(s), including but not limited to the World Literature and the Environment group, the Peripheries Project, the Crisis, Critique and Futurity group, the Literature in the 21st Century group and the Geomediations research group. These groups bring together researchers to work on interdisciplinary questions concerned with world literatures, ecocriticism, gender, critical theory, philosophy, and decolonial thought.

What are you going to do?

You will be a part of a research project which explores how speculative fiction (and its many textual forms) contributes to conceptualizations of the future. The project leaders work respectively in (Italian) literature and language (with an expertise in science in literature, science fiction and speculative fiction) and Hispanic literatures and cultural analysis (with an expertise in ecofeminism) and are developing a research project on past and peripheral imaginations of the future that envision less ‘futuristic’ futures for both (human) animals and the planet. You will develop a PhD project of your own choosing and are encouraged to think creatively in terms of research design within the scope of Speculative Fictions.

We welcome proposals that adopt a transnational approach (beyond national literary traditions) and/or in diasporic, postcolonial contexts (for example Italian-American, Afro-Caribbean and the Black Mediterranean) to speculative fictions. We invite interested candidates to prepare short proposals (details below) that could examine one or a combination of the following:

• different approaches to future science and technology
• (past) imaginations of the future and the environmental crisis
• philosophical notions of nature-culture, human and non-human relations (posthumanism)
• ecofeminist philosophies and social practices
• more than human futures: intersections between food, animal, gender and environmental studies
• indigenous epistemologies and other literatures (saberes ancestrales, natural narratives, geoliterature)
• reconsiderations of modernity and (post-)coloniality
• the future and genre (science fiction, utopia, dystopia, apocalyptic literature, cyberpunk, solarpunk, fiction about and beyond AI)
• decolonial methods to literary studies and decolonizing the future
• translation, translingualism and transculturation
• afrofuturism
• techno-orientalism
• non-capitalist futures

Tasks and responsibilities

• submission of a PhD thesis within the period of appointment;
• participating in meetings of the project research group, as well as in the organization of a conference in Amsterdam;
• publishing one single-authored, peer reviewed article and a co-authored article or chapter within the larger project;
• presenting intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
• organising knowledge dissemination activities;
• (co-)teaching courses at BA-level in the second and third year of the appointment (maximum 0,2 fte per year);
• participation in the Research School and Faculty of Humanities PhD training programmes.

What do you have to offer?

You are intellectually curious and passionate about research, are eager to develop your academic skills and able to work independently but also willing to collaborate with other researchers. You are also mature, kind, reliable and generous.

Your experience and profile

Candidates need to have the following qualifications:

• a completed Master's degree in languages and literatures (Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, etc.), comparative literature, area studies  or a related discipline.
• excellent research skills demonstrated by an outstanding Master's thesis and a record of participating in academic conferences or workshops. Publications, including in graduate journals, are a plus.
• a strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research;
• enthusiasm for communicating academic research to non-academic audiences;
• a good command of English, in speaking and writing.

Please mention your experience working/studying/living in different countries and your motivation to come to or stay in Amsterdam. Being able to research speculative fictions in multiple languages is a plus.

Please note that if you already hold a doctorate/PhD or are working towards obtaining a similar degree elsewhere, you will not be admitted to a doctoral programme at the UvA.

What can we offer you?

We offer a temporary employment contract for the period of 48 months. The first contract will be for 16 months, with an extension for the following 32 months, contingent on a positive performance evaluation within the first 12 months. The employment contract is for 38 hours a week. The preferred starting date is 01 February 2025.

Your salary is in the first year of the employment contract € 2,872 and in the last year a maximum of € 3,670 gross per month on the basis of a full working week of 38 hours. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8,3% year-end allowance. Favourable tax agreements may apply to applicants moving from abroad. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

What else do we offer?

• PhD candidates receive a tuition fee waiver;
• PhD candidates have free access to courses offered by the Graduate School of Humanities and the Dutch National Research Schools;

• excellent possibilities for further professional development and education;
• an inspiring academic and international work environment in the heart of Amsterdam;
• an enthusiastic and professional academic team.

About us

The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 42,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.

The Faculty of Humanities provides education and conducts research with a strong international profile in a large number of disciplines in de 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.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the position or the department, please contact during office hours:

• Dr. Irene Villaescusa Illán: i.villaescusaillan@uva.nl  Assistant Professor Literary and Cultural Analysis
• Dr. Elio Attilio Baldi: E.A.Baldi@uva.nl  Assistant Professor in Transdisciplinary Literary Studies: Italian
•  +31 (0)627231111

Job application

If you feel the profile fits you, and you are interested in the job, we look forward to receiving your application. You need to apply online via the link below. We will accept applications until 27 September 2024.

Your application should include the following information:

• a motivation letter in which you demonstrate that you match the profile stated in the call and that you are able both to conduct individual research as well as to work in a team (500 words).
• full academic CV, including:
  • Full address and contact details
  • Previous education
  • Professional information (previous academic (or other relevant) employment)
  • Conference presentations and publications, if applicable
  • Grants/honors
  • Language proficiency
• a list of all Master-level modules you have taken, with an official transcript of grades.
• a research proposal of 1000-1500 words, showing how you would approach the PhD project and including an account of the context(s) and/or objects which you would explore, the theoretical framing, a set of clear research objectives, and the method(s) you would employ.
• the names and email addresses of two references, including your MA thesis advisor, who may be approached by the selection committee.

Please submit the required information by uploading it in 1 pdf in the required field ‘CV’.

The first round of interviews will be held in the second week of October 2024.

The UvA is an equal-opportunity employer. We prioritise diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We value a spirit of enquiry and perseverance, provide the space to keep asking questions, and promote a culture of curiosity and creativity.

No agencies please.