The faculty is establishing a Chair of Hindu Spirituality and Society, focusing on the key question of how learning and philosophy drawn from Hindu tradition and practice can make valuable contributions to today’s multireligious society.  

The professor holding this chair will primarily focus on the practices – and more specifically, the managerial practices – of professionals in business and not-for-profit organizations, and on the question of which aspects of Hindu learning and tradition can make valuable contributions in dealing with the contemporary issues encountered by spiritual counsellors, teachers and managers, among others. Engaging with crucial debates in the academic literature on spirituality and society, the professor will establish and maintain connections with concepts and practices from relevant traditions and schools of thought. In doing so, the professor will take a highly interdisciplinary approach to the educational content and teaching methods within the field of specialization. Collaboration is therefore essential, not only with the Hindu community in the Netherlands and Suriname in particular, but also with economists and other academics at VU Amsterdam and beyond. Cooperation with researchers in India will be instrumental in the success of this newly founded chair.

In addition to academic research, the professorship involves a teaching commitment. The educational focus will not only be on students at the university, but will also include professionals in the field. Examples include teaching on Master’s programmes such as Spiritual Care and Leadership, as well as providing postgraduate continuing education and professional development for spiritual counsellors, administrators, managers and others. This will also generate social knowledge transfer, as reflected by the sharing of knowledge in widely read publications, in the faith community and in society as a whole. Last but not least, the professor will enrich dialogue and cooperation with the other professional training programmes for religious offices and with the faculty in its entirety.

• hold a doctorate in the field
• be an authority in the research area of Hindu spirituality and society
• have demonstrable teaching experience, a University Teaching Qualification (preferably a Senior Teaching Qualification), or make a commitment to obtain these qualifications in the short term
• have experience in supervising PhD students and a proven ability to provide leadership to a Chair and a research group
• have a proven track record in communicating academic knowledge effectively to the general public
• if not a Dutch speaker, be willing to achieve an appropriate command of Dutch in the near future.

We would like our department to reflect our diverse student population and therefore especially encourage international, female and ethnic minority candidates to apply.

The chair is a part-time appointment of 0.4 fte, initially for a duration of 5 years.

You can find information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment via https://www.vu.nl/en/employment/ like:
• remuneration of 8,3% end-of-year bonus and 8% holiday allowance;
• a minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment;
• discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance).

The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and depending on experience, range from a minimum of € 5441 gross per month up to a maximum of € 7921 gross per month (salary scale H2) based on a fulltime employment.

http://www.vu.nl/en/index.asp

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is a leading, innovative and growing university that is at the heart of society and contributes actively to new developments in teaching and research. Our university has ten faculties which span a wide range of disciplines, as well as several institutes, foundations, research centers, and support services.

Its campus is located in the fastest-growing economic region in the Netherlands (the Zuidas district of Amsterdam), and provides work for over 4,500 staff and scientific education for more than 23,000 students.

Diversity is a core value of the VU. We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalization contribute to the quality of education and research. We are therefore constantly looking for people who contribute to the diversity of our campus through their background and experience.

The Faculty of Religion and Theology is the leading academic centre of expertise on religion in society. Its students, lecturers and researchers focus on the major questions in society and in religious communities. They study religious traditions, sources and contemporary expressions of the religious experience. The faculty practices ‘engaged scholarship’ as expressed in cooperation with governments and partners in civil society on themes such as war and peace, sustainable development and inter-religious dialogue. We are the most comprehensive theological faculty worldwide, with ten seminaries that encompass all world religions and many Christian denominations.

Working at our faculty means contributing to excellent research and education through personal commitment, philosophical/religious involvement and social responsibility. We currently employ around 100 people.