The Department of European Ethnology at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich have released three postings for postdoctoral/doctoral positions allocated to the research project ‘Social Sketches and the Formation of Ethnographic and Sociological Knowledge (1830-1860)’, a research group funded by the German Research Foundation which investigates early sociographic journalism (“social sketches”) in relation to the formation of sociological, ethnological, and ethnographic knowledge. More information on each of these positions can be found below:

1 Postdoctoral Position/2 Doctoral Positions in the subject areas of history of knowledge and Hispanic studies

Description:

  • The position/s is/are allocated to the research project ‘Social Sketches and the
    Formation of Ethnographic and Sociological Knowledge (1830-1860)’. The research
    group is funded by the German Research Foundation (Emmy Noether Programme). It
    investigates early sociographic journalism (“social sketches”) in relation to the
    formation of sociological, ethnological, and ethnographic knowledge and aims at
    establishing a cross-genre and transnational historiography of the systematization of
    social observation and thought.
  • The researcher(s) will contribute to the main project focusing on the sub-project
    ‘The Social Sketch from the (Post-)Colony (ca. 1830-1860)’. The subproject
    investigates how nineteenth-century sociographic journalism (periodismo
    costumbrista) was adapted within the social, political, and cultural settings of
    knowledge production in the Spanish (post-)colonies and how the sketches were
    involved in the construction of society and national identities in light of a colonial
    past. The researcher(s) shall deal with at least two (post-)colonial contexts of sketch
    production to develop a comparative perspective and to gain a broader insight into
    cross-Atlantic transfers and global structures of knowledge production.
  • The duration of the positions is 30 months; payment is according to a 100%
    postdoctoral or 50% doctoral position on the German TV-L 13 scale.

Requirements: 

  • Ph.D. or M.A. in European ethnology, sociocultural anthropology, Hispanic studies,
    history, or a related field.
  • Research experience in nineteenth-century Spanish and Latin American history and
    culture.
  • Readiness to work with conceptual and methodological tools from cultural
    anthropology, history, and sociology.
  • Proficiency in English and Spanish is expected, and knowledge of French and German
    is welcomed.

1 Postdoctoral Position/2 Doctoral Positions in the subject areas of history of knowledge and visual studies.

Description:

  • The position/s is/are allocated to the research project ‘Social Sketches and the
    Formation of Ethnographic and Sociological Knowledge (1830-1860)’. The research
    group is funded by the German Research Foundation (Emmy Noether Programme). It
    investigates early sociographic journalism (“social sketches”) in relation to the
    formation of sociological, ethnological, and ethnographic knowledge and aims at
    establishing a cross-genre and transnational historiography of the systematization of
    social observation and thought.
  • The researcher(s) will contribute to the main project focusing on the sub-project
    ‘Social Sketches and Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture’. This sub-project
    concentrates on the sketches’ visual-illustrative components and investigates their
    representational modes on both a visual level and in their interaction with verbal
    forms, and thereby combines methods of iconographic analysis, visual anthropology
    and knowledge history. In a second phase, the sub-project should elaborate
    transcultural case-studies on the sketches’ visual characteristics in the context of a
    novel significance of visual culture in (urban) society.
  • The duration of the position(s) is 36 months; payment is according to a 100%
    postdoctoral or 50% doctoral position on the German TV-L 13 scale.

Requirements: 

  • Ph.D. or M.A. in European ethnology, sociocultural anthropology, visual culture
    studies, or a related field.
  • Research experience in visual culture studies, or art history with a specialization in
    nineteenth-century illustrations.
  • Readiness to work with conceptual and methodological tools from cultural
    anthropology, history, and sociology.
  • Proficiency in English and French is expected, and knowledge of Spanish and German
    is welcomed.

1 PhD Position in the subject areas of the history of social research and German studies.

Description:

  • The position is allocated to the research project ‘Social Sketches and the Formation
    of Ethnographic and Sociological Knowledge (1830-1860)’. The research group is
    funded by the German Research Foundation (Emmy Noether Programme). It
    investigates early sociographic journalism (“social sketches”) in relation to the
    formation of sociological, ethnological, and ethnographic knowledge and aims at
    establishing a cross-genre and transnational historiography of the systematization of
    social observation and thought.
  • The researcher will contribute to the main project focusing on the sub-project ‘The
    Social Sketch in the German-Speaking Countries (ca. 1830-1860)’. The sub-project
    should present an in-depth investigation of sociographic journalism texts (and
    illustrations). In a second phase, it investigates the relations between social sketches
    and other genres and corresponding dispositifs of the emerging social sciences in the
    German-speaking countries and beyond. The doctoral researcher may select her/his
    main topics and questions within this broader frame.
  • The duration of the position is 36 months; payment is according to a 50% doctoral
    position on the German TV-L 13 scale.

Requirements: 

  • Master’s degree in European ethnology, sociocultural anthropology, or a related
    field.
  • Interest in the history of (social) science and knowledge, microhistory, and discourse
    analysis.
  • Proficiency in German and English is expected, and knowledge of French and Spanish
    is welcomed.

Application: 

To apply for any of these positions, please submit your application in English as a single pdf file by October 31, 2017 including a cover letter, CV and list of publications (if applicable), one writing sample (e.g. a published work, a chapter from the Master’s thesis) and copies of university degrees to: Anna.Kuprian@vkde.fak12.uni-muenchen.de

Successful candidates are expected to begin between January and May 2018, or as soon as
possible thereafter.

Enquiries and questions may be directed to research assistant Anna Kuprian
(Anna.Kuprian@vkde.fak12.uni-muenchen.de).