The Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH), one of the six research schools of the Faculty of Humanities, currently has a vacant postdoctoral position as part of the NWO-project Maritime archaeology meets cultural history: The Texel shipwreck BZN17 in context, led by Dr Helmer Helmers.

The NWO-project "Maritime Archeology Meets Cultural History: The Texel Shipwreck BZN17 in Context" investigates the recent, spectacular find near Texel in the context of British royalist travel to and from the Dutch Republic between 1640 and 1661. The discovery of the Texel wreck BZN17 recently attracted worldwide attention. Unique objects retrieved from the wreck, some related to the British royal House of Stuart, made international headlines, exciting professional archaeologists, historians and general audiences alike. This project seeks to promote a new engagement with early modern material culture in general, and those unique objects found in the wreck in particular, using cultural historical sources and methodologies.

Within this project, two  postdoctoral researchers will conduct archival research in the UK and the Netherlands, establishing a historical context as well as basic facts regarding the owners of both goods and ship. Subsequent co-operation with researchers of materiality will further our understanding of how the history of Anglo-Dutch mobility and displacement of exile affected material culture, and how individual and group identities were shaped through that culture on both sides of the Channel. A pilot study for a transdisciplinary European project, this project seeks to build a bridge between maritime archeologists and cultural historians, in association with experts from the Conservation, Heritage and Museum sectors. Research outcomes will be widely disseminated through international media and exhibitions. This  postdoctoral research position, which focuses on the Dutch context, will begin on 1 November 2017

The  postdoctoral researcher will study the Texel find in the context of royalist travel in the mid-seventeenth century by researching Dutch archival, manuscript sources and Dutch printed news.

The tasks of the researcher include:

• contributing to the project database on English royalist travel to and from the Dutch Republic;
• writing one peer-reviewed scholarly article in a major journal;
• contributing to an exhibition catalogue;
• participation in project meetings.

The successful applicant must have:

• a PhD in cultural history or a related field in the Humanities
• (maximum of 2 years of experience post PhD);
• a research and publication record commensurate with career stage;
• specialist knowledge of mid-seventeenth-century Dutch history;
• research experience in Dutch archives;
• a thorough command of early modern Dutch handwriting and English;
• an interest in maritime history and/or archeology and material culture;
• a strong cooperative attitude and willingness to engage in collaborative research.

The postdoctoral researcher will be appointed for 19 hours per week for a period of 12 months at the Department of Dutch Language and Culture of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Amsterdam. The intended starting date of the contract is 1 November 2017. The gross monthly salary (on full-time basis) will range from € 3.238 to € 3.475 depending on experience and qualifications, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities.

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

Research at the Faculty of Humanities is carried out by six research schools under the aegis of the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research.