The institute of Art History in the faculty of Arts and Humanities of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf invites applications for up to three positions, to be filled on 1 Oct 2023 or soon thereafter, as PhD Researcher (m/f/d)(65,00 %, pay grade 13 TV-L)in the ERC project „MEDMACH - ‚Machinery Rooms‘ of the Mediterranean, 1800-present: Images and Visual Archives of Movement and Acceleration”.

The employment is limited for a period of four years. It is a qualification position in the sense of the Act of Academic Fixed-Term Contract (Wissenschaftsvertragsgesetz -WissZeitVG), which is to promote the scientific qualification of the employee.

About the Project:
The aim of MEDMACH is to consider entangled histories of the Mediterranean after 1800 through images of movement: infrastructures and machineries of acceleration such as airports, train stations, motorway bridges, industrial ports, and engine-driven ships. These sites are often overlooked in overarching narratives of the region. The Mediterranean after 1800 typically appears either in decline or romanticized, therefore this ‘machinery room’ has never been at the center of attention.However, these sites of movement are connected to all the aspects which make the Mediterranean an emotive, politically relevant place today: migration, colonization and decolonization, the relation between Europe and the Islamic world, environmental and economic crisis. Conceptualizing the modern and contem-porary Mediterranean through its ‘machinery rooms’ of movement will slice through the divisions of fragmented national histories, and provide a basis for a differentiated, yet connective history.This history will be based on images and image archives: After 1800, images are increasingly made for distribution and circula-tion. They are entangled with the ambivalent notions of move-ment and acceleration. They are also ideal carriers of transnational and transregional knowledge. MEDMACH will work with a visual approach to establish a new, systemic historical understanding which is urgently needed in current debates on travel, transit, migration, environment, and cultural encounter.

On the position:
MEDMACH is an interdisciplinary five-year project led by Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Troelenberg, based at the Institute of Art History. Doctoral researchers are expected to contribute to the aims of the project by developing their own research agendas, and to contribute to the project’s management and scholarly activities. No teaching obligations are associated to this post. PhD projects can be supervised or co-supervised by Prof. Troelenberg either in Art History or Transcultural Studies.
We invite applications from the fields of art history, history, archaeology, from cultural or area studies related to the Mediterranean and its global connections as well as other relevant fields with a strong focus on visual and material studies.

Our requirements:
•a completed scientific university education (M.Sc. / M.A. /Diploma / Magister) in one of the above mentioned, whichqualifies for a PhD trajectory
•knowledge of the language(s) of the envisioned area of study
•fluent English (spoken and written); working knowledge ofGerman is welcome, but not required
•the capability to work in a collaborative team

The pay scale grouping will be, depending on the personal qualification of the applicant, up to pay grade 13 TV-L.
In principle, the employment can also take place part-time, if no compelling official reasons are opposed in an individual case.

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf aims at increasing the percentage of employed women. Applications from women will therefore be given preference in cases of equal aptitude, ability and professional achievements unless there are exceptional reasons for choosing another applicant. Applications from suitably qualified severely disabled persons or disabled persons regarded as being of equal status according to Book IX of the German Social Code (SGB – Soziales Gesetzbuch) are encouraged.

Your contact person in case of questions is Prof Eva-Maria Troelenberg; email: eva-maria.troelenberghhu.de.

Please submit your application documents (motivation letter, research proposal (max. 2500 words), specifying the relevance of this research for the aims of MEDMACH, relevant diplomas and certificates, CV including list of publications and academic achievements, contact information for two academic) citing reference no. 131.23 – 3.1 until 21.06.2023 in an single PDF document by email to:
tku-sekretariathhu.de