International Postdoctoral Opportunity – Arab Media and Digital Media in the Global South
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (#IAS_NUQ) is seeking outstanding candidates for two postdoctoral fellowships focused on (1) research and program development on Arab Media and on (2) Digital Media in the Global South.
Founded in 2020 by a team led by NU-Q Dean and CEO Marwan M. Kraidy, the Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University in Qatar (#IAS_NUQ) produces and promotes evidence-based storytelling focused on the histories, cultures, societies, and media of the Global South. From our Arab location, our inclusive vision of globality recognizes the diversities and inequalities that shape the societies we inhabit and study. We harness traditions from the liberal arts, media, communication, and journalism to forge multi-disciplinary and multi-modal approaches to knowledge that are locally relevant and globally resonant.
We synthesize deep expertise, interdisciplinary inquiry, and creative media-making to stimulate critical conversations about enduring questions and emerging challenges that confront the Global South and its enmeshments in global structures and flows of people, goods, words, images, and ideas. Our core commitments are to amplify NU-Q faculty and student scholarship and media-making, to boost undergraduate research, mentor students who plan to pursue advanced graduate degrees, and forge pathways to the professoriate locally and globally. To these ends, #IAS_NUQ hosts fellows (undergraduate, postdoctoral, faculty) who work on individual or collaborative projects, produce multi-lingual and multi-modal #IAS_NUQ_Press scholarship, and organize lectures, screenings, and workshops.
#IAS_NUQ Fellows work in our state-of-the-art NU-Q campus in Education City, Doha. Opportunities for local collaboration abound with the proximity of many universities, libraries, museums, and media.
THE POSTDOC AT #IAS_NUQ
#IAS_NUQ Postdoctoral Scholars integrate primary sources and linguistic and regional expertise in theoretically inflected, historically informed, comparative, translocal, and transnational scholarship and media-making focused on the Global South. Candidates incorporating non-Western theories, sources, and contexts, are especially welcome. Our research and reading groups have focused on Arab media, critical security, southern digitalities, youth and media, and epistemologies of the Global South. We recommend that applicants familiarize themselves with our mission and research themes.
#IAS_NUQ Postdoctoral Scholars work on their own research, collaborate with members of the community, and contribute to #IAS_NUQ program development. They may be asked to teach one undergraduate course per year depending on needs and interests. They present and publish a piece of scholarship or media-making with #IAS_NUQ Press. Fellows are provided a competitive stipend and research fund, housing, health insurance, a workspace, a computer, and library access. In addition, #IAS_NUQ will subsidize relocation expenses.
For the “Arab Media” postdoc, we are interested in candidates whose work focuses on Arab media and information in their broader political, social, and cultural contexts. Since this position entails program development connecting Arabophone, Francophone, and Anglophone scholarly communities, knowledge of Arabic and English is a requirement, and a working knowledge of French is highly desirable. An active research agenda on Arab media is a requirement. This candidate will work directly on a research program development funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and led by Dean Kraidy.
For the “Digital Media in the Global South” postdoc, we are interested in candidates whose work focuses on digital culture, critical data and infrastructure studies, and activism and social change, in their broader political, social, and cultural contexts in Africa, Asia, or Latin America, and other marginalized contexts worldwide. Applicants focused on Arab digital media are actively encouraged to apply. Knowledge of language(s) relevant to research context required.
All our postdocs are residential fellowships. #IAS_NUQ strives to be an inclusive community of scholars driven by intellectual curiosity and exchange and rooted in the life of Northwestern University in Qatar, partner institutions in Education City, Doha, and Qatar. To foster mentoring and collaboration at all levels, we expect Postdoctoral Scholars to be fully engaged in the life of the institute. Postdoctoral Scholars are therefore expected to work at our world-class facilities on the NUQ campus in Education City at least four days a week. #IAS_NUQ Postdoctoral Scholar appointments are renewable for up to three years contingent on meeting program requirements and successful yearly progress review.
ELIGIBILITY
We welcome applications from scholars who would have completed their PhD by summer 2023.
APPLICATION
A complete application consists of:
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Cover Page – Include your name and contact information, dissertation supervisor name and contact information, defense date (if degree not awarded), and 100-word project abstract.
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Research Proposal (not to exceed 1,000 words) – Include research questions, topic significance, theoretical framework, methodological design, clear description of primary sources and necessary language skills, and work plan with projected date of project completion.
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Statement of institutional fit (not to exceed 250 words) – Explain how your project aligns with #IAS_NUQ’s mission, fits with one or more of our research themes, and contributes to interdisciplinary knowledge. Please refer to our mission and themes listed on our website. In addition, for the Arab Media postdoc, please explain (50 words) administrative experience.
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CV (not to exceed two single-spaced pages, minimum font size 11) – List degrees, peer-reviewed publications, academic non-peer-reviewed publications, creative and public scholarship, invited talks, conference papers, other relevant qualifications, specific research, and language skills.
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Project bibliography (not to exceed one single-spaced page, minimum font size 11) – Include primary and secondary sources.
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Letters of recommendation – Three are required, including one from the dissertation supervisor, stating unequivocally expected date of PhD defense (if degree not yet awarded).
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Up to two publications (not to exceed 50 pages in total) – Published peer-reviewed articles preferred.
TIMELINE
All materials except reference letters must be sent as a single PDF document to ias@qatar.northwestern.edu by February 1, 2023. Because of the volume of applications, we are unable to read drafts of submissions. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Applicants should arrange for their letters of recommendation to be sent to the same address by the same date. We expect to contact finalists for phone interviews by February 15 and make final decisions in March.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you have additional questions, please email us at ias@qatar.northwestern.edu. Kindly do not contact #IAS_NUQ staff individually.
This posting was originally shared by The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South at Northwestern University Qatar.
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