The Faculty of Humanities is looking for an assistant professor Global Digital Cultures. This is a five-year fixed-term position at the Media Studies Department, with research embedded in the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA)

The ideal candidate for this position will be able to teach introductory courses at the BA level, as well as more specialized courses at the MA level in Media Studies and potentially other departments in the faculty. The candidate's teaching expertise and research vision should connect to one, or more, of the three core domains of the university-wide research priority area Global Digital Cultures. First, Consumption & Participation concerns the global variety of daily cultural practice of digital platform and mobile app users. Second, Production & Labor focuses on the (re-)organization of production and labor relations around digital platforms and mobile apps across the world. Finally, Security & Citizenship explores how digitization enables new modes of public expression and collective action in different political-cultural regions, while simultaneously facilitating ubiquitous data-driven forms of surveillance. All domains aim to also include non-Western digital cultures.

Tasks include:

• coordinating, delivering and developing BA and MA courses within the Media Studies Department and potentially other departments in the faculty;
• supervising BA and MA theses, as well as PhD research;
• making an active contribution the UvA Research Priority Area Global Digital Cultures;
• conducting scholarly research within ASCA, leading to international, peer-reviewed publications and other forms of research output;
• acquiring external funds for research projects;
• integrating new research insights into teaching;
• making an active contribution to the development and implementation of pedagogical innovation;
• performing administrative and management tasks.

• PhD degree, or a set defense date before the start of the contract, in Media and Culture or a related field;
• outstanding experience in research and outstanding research skills, evidenced by publications in international, refereed academic journals and academic books;
• demonstrable ability and ambition to obtain external research grants;
• proven affinity with interdisciplinary research within and beyond the humanities;
• several years of teaching experience at various levels of university education;
• demonstrable didactic abilities and/or training, evidenced the Dutch University Teaching Qualification(UTQ/BKO), or willingness to acquire this within the first two years;
• experience in an academic position where research and teaching are combined;
• experience with new methods of teaching (especially the use of digital technology and electronic learning environments);
• sound knowledge of ICT developments in the field;
• willingness to develop in an interdisciplinary capacity to be able to participate in multiple areas of the faculty's curriculum;
• teaching and admin duties require native or near-native fluency in Dutch and English; appointments are subject to the candidate’s proficiency in both, or their undertaking to acquire thorough knowledge of Dutch and English as speedily as possible; non-native Dutch speakers must achieve an active and passive command of Dutch within two years. Passing the state examination for Dutch as a Second Language (NT2), programme II, is a prerequisite for a permanent employment contract.

Fixed-term contract: 5 years.

The contract is temporary for a period of five years. The start of the contract is scheduled for 1 August 2020.

The scope of the employment contract is 38 hours per week (1.0 FTE). The UFO profile of assistant professor applies to this position (salary scale 11/12, depending on relevant work experience). The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities applies.

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 Media Studies

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

The Faculty of Humanities offers assistant professors the opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers at research institutes that - partly as a result of their interdisciplinary approach - are world-renowned. Moreover, you will be teaching in a dynamic context in which new teaching methods are being developed.

The Media Studies department of the Faculty of Humanities offers both depth and diversity in its approaches to the study of media, with a wide range of academic offerings and research interests. It is the largest department of Media Studies in the Netherlands and is consistently highly ranked in international rankings. 

Your research will be part of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), one of six research schools within the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR), ASCA is home to more than 110 researchers and more than 120 PhD candidates. ASCA members share a commitment to studying culture in all its forms and expressions within an interdisciplinary framework, and to maintaining a close connection with contemporary cultural and political debates.