Popular Music Studies within Arts, Culture and Media
Popular Music Studies is a core emphasis of research and teaching within the music track of the Arts, Culture and Media (ACM) program. This track offers BA courses in music and popular music history and theory as well as interarts courses which foreground the prominent role of (popular) music and media practices within culture and society. MA seminars highlight popular music within a variety of contexts and fields such as music and politics, gender and sexuality, technology, sound design, mobility studies, and globalization. The BA program in Arts, Culture and Media attracts some 100 to 150 students each year from all over the world. Students combine an arts specialization within music, film or theatre with a secondary arts specialization and with a professional framework of analysis and criticism or arts policy and cultural entrepreneurship. Our innovative interdisciplinary and interarts framework attracts forward thinking students interested in exploring the interconnections between various arts worlds and practices. Our popular music staff research topics range from European popular music within music video and film, to jazz performance and curatorial practices within digital media, to popular music, national identity and populism, to the unorthodox aesthetic affordances of music technology, and the role of the voice and sound design within music and theatre.

Job description
The Faculty of Arts is seeking one full-time Lecturer (Assistant Professor, in Dutch: Universitair Docent) in Popular Music, Sound and Media Cultures. Candidates should have a demonstrable record of excellence in teaching, experience in researching popular music, and exhibit knowledge of a range of analytical perspectives such as critical musicology and/or ethnomusicology and/or music sociology and/or practice-centred research approaches. Areas of specialization are not predetermined but one or more of the following are especially of interest: hip hop, electronic dance music, rock, popular musics within and beyond the Anglo-American context, or music industry studies. We also welcome scholars specializing in music and technology within digital platforms such as modern production techniques, or the affordances of music technologies within other media such as video game sound and music, interactive and VR music videos, and AI music. Knowledge of the interrelations between popular music, new media and other arts disciplines and fields including arts criticism, film studies, theatre and performance art, and media studies is also valued.

The candidate’s research should indicate an interest in, and familiarity with a variety of contemporary theoretical approaches including critical race theory, post-colonial theory, sound and media studies, music and affect, and/or critical musicology. The candidate should also be knowledgeable of analytical models especially attuned to the most pressing issues and opportunities surrounding popular music, sound and media cultures. Research on understanding the relations between popular music institutions and local and global music scenes and communities is welcome, as are projects investigating music’s role in processes of identity formation within performance and reception contexts.
Research is conducted within the Groningen Institute for the Study of Culture (ICOG) and its Research Centre Arts in Society, specifically the Music, Sound and Culture research group. ICOG and the Faculty of Arts provide ample support in applying for bids with national and international funding agencies. There is also an annual travel budget for conference participations and other research-related activities.

Specific tasks:

● teach and supervise students in the department’s undergraduate and graduate programmes, specifically popular music and interarts related courses as well as in the specialization of Popular Music, Sound and Media Cultures in the MA program of Arts & Culture
● participate actively in curriculum development, design and administration of course modules
● generate high-quality research in above mentioned fields
● external grant acquisition
● participate actively in international research networks
● participate in the activities of the interdisciplinary research centre Arts in Society and (one of) its theme groups (such as ‘Music, Sound and Culture’, ‘Art, Medium and Moving Images,’ ‘Narrative in/and Art,’ or ‘Arts, Culture and Cognition’)
● performing administrative and organizational duties.

In addition to a number of basic requirements set by the University of Groningen, such as excellent social and communication skills, presentation skills, coaching skills, a results-oriented attitude, and excellent command of English (at least CEFR B2/C1 level for reading, listening, writing and speaking), we are looking for candidates who have a PhD in one of the above-mentioned fields and,

in the area of teaching:

● have relevant teaching experience at a university level; are excellent teachers, as demonstrated by creative, innovative and meaningful approaches to teaching and learning described in the teaching statement
● have gained the University Teaching Qualification or are prepared to do so within a year
● are prepared to foster inclusive learning environments
● are demonstrably able to make concrete contributions to the design and development of course units, partly by actively linking teaching to research.

In the area of research:

● have or are in the process of establishing an excellent international research profile or set up their own innovative research line and have published with internationally recognized journals and publishers
● have success with or the motivation and potential (through documented record of e.g., past applications) to acquire third-party funding on the national or international level (future research plans to be described in the research statement)
● have international experience and a relevant national and international academic network
● are able to supervise students (all BA, MA and PhD levels).

In the area of management and organization:

● have excellent command of English (at least CEFR B2/C1 level for reading, listening, writing and speaking)
● are expected to have or gain understanding of the Dutch language (CEFR B2 for reading and listening, and CEFR B1 for writing and speaking) within two years
● are willing to contribute to the development of the department’s research and educational programmes
● are able to make a constructive contribution to interdisciplinary collaboration and a collegial atmosphere within the department
● have demonstrable administrative, time-management and organization skills.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

- a salary, depending on qualifications and work experience, with a minimum of € 3,807 (salary scale 11) to a maximum of € 5,922 (salary scale 12) gross per month for a full-time position
- excluding 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% end-of-year bonus and participation in a pension scheme for employees
- a contract combining 60% teaching tasks with 40% research-time. Favourable tax agreements may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The appointment will initially be on a temporary basis for 18 months with the possibility of becoming a permanent position following a positive ‘Results and Development’ assessment. The candidate is expected to live and work in Groningen.

The conditions of employment comply with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU). For more detailed information about working conditions and working for the University of Groningen, please check: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/new-staff/

Starting date: 1 January 2023

Faculty of Arts

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Balanced study and career paths in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 36,000 students and researchers to develop their own individual talents. Belonging to the best research universities in Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.