Job Information
- Organisation/Company
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Department
- Faculty Languages & Humanities
- Research Field
- History » Contemporary history
- Researcher Profile
- First Stage Researcher (R1)
- Country
- Belgium
- Application Deadline
- Type of Contract
- Temporary
- Job Status
- Full-time
- Offer Starting Date
- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
- H2020 / ERC
- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
- No
Offer Description
The Faculty Languages and Humanities, History Department , is looking for a PhD-student with doctoral grant for the ERC Starting Grant project “FORAGENCY. Foraging, Fishing and Hunting as Agency in Colonial Central Africa (c. 1885- c. 1960)”. S/he will be joining a team of researchers who will study how communities in the Congo basin managed to counter, alleviate or minimize their encroachment by colonial actors through the maintenance and adaptation of vernacular, non-agricultural uses of the environment. The main questions to be addressed are: [1] Which techniques are mobilised for hunting, fishing and foraging? [2] Which strategies are used to trade and consume hunted and foraged products against colonial laws and values? [3] How are economic structures such as marketplaces and money mobilised outside of colonial capitalism? [4] Which knowledge is necessary to hunt, forage and transform natural products? These questions will be answered through four thematic sub-studies: on intoxicating substances; on hunted and foraged foodstuffs; on curative uses of nature; and on vernacular environmental agency. Each sub-study will consider the ecological interactions between four colonial cities and their hinterland: Kinshasa (Léopoldville), Brazzaville, Kisangani (Stanleyville) and Bujumbura (Usumbura). The study will combine archival research, the study of material culture, oral history and participatory observation.
The project will be coordinated by Benoît Henriet at the Department of History at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Although Brussels is the home base of the project, there will be several months of fieldwork required in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo and Burundi.
More concretely your work package, for the preparation of a doctorate, is as follows:
- You are responsible for the project’s sub-study on hunted, fished and foraged foodstuffs in colonial Central Africa (c. 1885-c.1960)
- You complete a PhD dissertation under the supervision of the project coordinator
- You play a role in the development of future research possibilities in the line of the project
- You contribute to other work packages and sub-studies by assisting with data collection or dissemination
- You assist the team with logistical and administrative support
- You contribute to the project’s visibility by (co-)authoring scientific publications, by participating to and helping organise scientific events, and by updating the project’s website and social media accounts
- You contribute to the activities of the research group Social History of Capitalism (SHOC)
Requirements
- Research Field
- History » Contemporary history
- Education Level
- Master Degree or equivalent
- You hold a Master’s degree with Honours/Magna cum Laude in History and/or African Studies by the time of appointment (at the latest for 1/09/2023)
- You are highly motivated by an early career researcher position, and you are seeking to join an international project team
- You have a background in at least one of the fields of the project: colonial history, history of sub-Saharan Africa, environmental history, historical anthropology
- Experience in methods such as archival research, oral history, ethnographic fieldwork, material culture research is highly appreciated
- You can demonstrate your scientific excellence through the quality of your master thesis and of your academic background
- Ideally, you already have a publication experience (book review, scientific blogpost/vulgarization work, peer-reviewed article)
- An affinity with one of the four cities studied in the project is appreciated
- You can provide a writing sample (master thesis, and publication if possible)
- You are willing to spend a significant time in the fieldwork sites
- You are willing to engage with new theoretical frameworks and methodologies
- You can work in a team that consists of the other ERC project members as well as the broader research group and department
- Proficiency in academic English and good communication skills are required.
- Passive knowledge of French is considered as an advantage
- Notions of Lingala, Swahili and/or Kirundi are considered as an advantage
- You are willing to play an active role in the project management and the development of future research opportunities in the line of the project
- You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.
- Languages
- ENGLISH
- Level
- Good
- Languages
- FRENCH
- Level
- Basic
- Research Field
- History » Contemporary history
Additional Information
At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.
As well as this, you’ll enjoy various benefits:
- Full reimbursement for your home-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, or compensation if you come by bike;
- Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
- The space to form your job content and continuously learn via VUB LRN;
- Excellent facilities for sport and exercise;
- Ecocheques;
- Delicious meals at attractive prices in our campus restaurants;
- An open, family-friendly work environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract).
Send to benoit.henriet@vub.be and at latest on 31 March 2023
- Your CV
- The highest degree you’ve attained (not applicable for VUB alumni).
- Letter of motivation, in which you clearly indicate your preference for one the project’s sub-studies (Intoxication in colonial Central Africa/ Hunted, fished and foraged foodstuffs in colonial Central Africa)
- A copy of your master thesis. If not completed yet, an abstract, the introduction and a full chapter
- If applicable: another writing sample
- The name, institution and email of two referees who may be contacted for recommendation if necessary
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available
- 1
- Company/Institute
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Country
- Belgium
- State/Province
- Brussels Capital
- City
- Brussels
- Postal Code
- 1050
- Street
- Pleinlaan 2
Where to apply
- benoit.henriet@vub.be
Contact
- State/Province
- Brussels-Capital
- City
- Brussels
- Website
- Street
- Pleinlaan 2
- Postal Code
- 1050
- benoit.henriet@vub.be