The Department of Arts and Culture of the Faculty of Humanities has a vacancy for a Special Professor Musical (Joop van den Ende chair).

The Special Chair Musical is a joint initiative of the Faculty of Humanities and the VandenEnde Foundation. The aim of the chair is to encourage academic research into the history and aesthetics of musical theatre, particularly musicals, in the Netherlands in an international context.

Founded in 2001, the VandenEnde Foundation is a family foundation that aims to contribute to the improvement and preservation of a diverse and high-quality cultural climate in our country. In addition, the Foundation aims to help younger generations grow up in an environment that is sensitive to and respectful of the arts and culture in their broadest sense.

Aside from providing financial support to young talent and enterprising cultural institutions, the Foundation also contributes financially to the upkeep and ongoing accessibility of cultural heritage in the performing arts. The musical is a particular point of interest in this respect. The VandenEnde Foundation believes in the merits of thorough academic research into this discipline. Through its endowment of this Special Chair, it hopes to promote knowledge sharing as well as the transfer of knowledge regarding musicals.

Because of its focus on musicals, this Special Chair bears the name of Joop van den Ende, who has done a great deal to develop and promote musicals in the Netherlands in his role as a cultural entrepreneur. The relatively brief history of musicals in the Netherlands, the analysis of this history, the analysis of the nature of musicals in the Netherlands and their international positioning are all subjects of research.

The research in the context of the chair will make a relevant contribution to the study of Musical, which is still relatively young. This contribution will include developing theories and carrying out research into the social and historical context of musicals, composition, lyrics, the materiality of performance practices and their institutional and cultural conditions. The focus of this research will be primarily on the Netherlands in an international context.

The establishment of this Special Chair will give a powerful boost to interdisciplinary research into the historical, current and future developments of musicals in the Netherlands in an international context.

The University of Amsterdam is a very suitable place for this. Within the Faculty of Humanities, and the Department of Arts and Culture in particular, there is a growing interest in the historical and current forms of musicals, including among younger students of Theatre Studies at both Bachelor's and Master's level. Furthermore, there is a keen interest in Musical among a growing number of international students of the dual Master of Arts programme in International Dramaturgy. The chair is not only a meaningful addition to the existing education and research offer at the UvA's Department of Arts and Culture, but also a key factor in bringing the discipline of Musical Studies to the attention of the Dutch arts and culture sector, which has hitherto devoted little research to the subject in spite of its undisputed cultural significance. In this respect, the chair is certain to provide a positive impulse to research into and education on musicals, a hugely important step in light of similar developments abroad. The efforts to preserve intangible heritage by means of Special Collections in the UvA's University Library (in particular the TIN collection) are of great significance for the intended relevance of the Special Chair, in particular with regard to the provision of access to musical archives. Finally, the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) offers an appropriate interdisciplinary research context for this Special Chair.

The Joop van den Ende Special Chair in Musical forms part of the Department of Arts and Culture under the auspices of the Theatre Studies capacity group, in close collaboration with the Musicology capacity group. The disciplines of Art History, Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Studies are also represented within the Department.

Teaching and research

In addition to Musical, the Special Chair primarily covers the fields of Theatre Studies and Musicology. The professor by special appointment will contribute to the study programmes offered in the field of Musical in the form of BA and/or MA modules. In addition to electives in the Bachelor's and (dual) Master's programmes, the professor's teaching duties will also include thesis supervision (visit http://studiegids.uva.nl for the Faculty's full curriculum). Furthermore, he/she will play a stimulating role in attracting and supervising PhD candidates, and will join various academic networks for relevant research.

The professor by special appointment will conduct research in the relevant field of study and publish the results in journals and the media in order to reach a wider audience. The research will be carried out at the interdisciplinary research school ASCA, which forms part of the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research, the Faculty's research institute.

Tasks

The professor by special appointment will be charged with the following duties:

• teaching in the field of Musical with a focus on the Netherlands in an international context;
• supervising theses;
• conducting research and supervising doctoral research projects;
• submitting (joint) applications for research grants;
• actively enhancing the chair's image and visibility through his/her actions within and outside the UvA;
• stimulating academic research and analysis of other disciplines and subjects within the performing arts in the Netherlands.

The professor by special appointment must satisfy the following job requirements:

• excellent research abilities, as evidenced by an academic dissertation, high-profile international academic publications and other activities;
• broad and demonstrable expertise in the field of Musical, preferably both in the Netherlands and abroad, and knowledge of and experience with digital research methods and valorisation. Candidates with little experience with musicals in the Netherlands should be prepared to immerse themselves in this subject upon appointment;
• a very good command of English and Dutch. Deficiencies in one or both of these languages must be eliminated within two years of appointment;
• good teaching skills (i.e. an enthusiastic, inspiring and appealing lecturer) in Dutch and in English, as evidenced by e.g. a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) obtained from a Dutch university (candidates who do not yet hold this qualification must obtain it after their appointment);
• good interpersonal and organisational skills and leadership qualities.

Fixed-term contract: five years.

In order to perform the duties associated with the position, the professor by special appointment should be available for an average of one day per week. Candidates must have acquired expertise in the field of Musical. Please note that this professorship by special appointment will not lead to employment at the UvA or the VandenEnde Foundation and does not come with a formal salary. However, to cover the costs associated with the performance of the duties, a sum of €20,000 per year is available to spend in consultation with the Curatorial Panel. It is also intended to enable the availability of the professor by special appointment.

The professorship by special appointment is not compatible with any form of employment at the UvA Faculty of Humanities. The professor by special appointment will be appointed for a period of five years at a time.

The professor by special appointment will be selected by the Curatorial Panel of the Special Chair. The Curatorial Panel, which may seek the assistance of one or more advisers during the application procedure, consists of the following members: Prof. K.E. (Kati) Röttger (representing the dean), Prof. J.E. (Julia) Kursell (representing the Executive Board) and Dr C.B.G. (Cees) Langeveld (representing the VandenEnde Foundation). The Curatorial Panel will recommend a candidate to the VandenEnde Foundation board. Appointment is subject to the final agreement of the dean of the Faculty of Humanities and the Executive Board. The application procedure may include a public trial lecture.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Humanities – Department of Arts and Culture

The Faculty of Humanities provides education and conducts research with a strongly international profile in a large number of disciplines in the field of language, history, and culture. Located in the heart of Amsterdam, the Faculty maintains close ties with many cultural institutions in the capital city. Almost 1,400 employees are affiliated with the Faculty, which has about 7,000 students. The Faculty of Humanities consists of eight departments.