The Jackman Humanities Institute (JHI) at the University of Toronto, in partnership with the Digital Humanities Network, offers a twelve-month Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities, with a project that fits the JHI’s annual theme, “Labour”.
From the labour of childbirth to the travail of making a living, human beings are labouring animals who derive meaning and experience meaninglessness in work. Historically, human creativity has long flourished both through and against labour-saving technologies. In a globalizing and climate-changing world, rising nationalist movements call for the fortification of borders that would stop seasonal flows of labour, while women call for pay equity and harassment-free workplaces to allow for the freedom to work in peace. In a world of increasingly precarious labour, thanks in part to automation, what does the future of work portend for both people and the planet? What forms of resistance are possible when workers face both the irrelevance of their labour and its exploitation?
The Digital Humanities Network builds research and teaching strengths at the University of Toronto through programming, mentorship, and advocacy. We define digital humanities broadly, to include both critical praxis and the analysis of digitality. As of 2020 our primary focus is on critical digital humanities, a version of DH that places anti-racist, decolonial, feminist, and queer/trans/non-binary work at its core, and which understands our current historic shift in digital technology as an opportunity for social and political transformation. At the University of Toronto, Critical Digital Humanities foregrounds creative praxis, co-creation, public engagement, and community-based research.
The JHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will have an established track record in their own discipline and/or the digital humanities. They will pursue their own research while at UofT, while working to foster the Digital Humanities Network.
The JHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will draw upon their disciplinary expertise and upon training provided the JHI, DHN, and UofT Libraries to connect and strengthen DH projects across the tricampus university. Specifically, depending on their own skillset and research interests, the JHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will spend 15 hours per week as a member of the DHN Executive Team, where they will:
While working with the DHN, the Fellow will also be part of the JHI scholarly community and will participate in weekly JHI fellows lunches every Thursday from the beginning of September to the first week of May.
The JHI DH Postdoctoral Fellowship is a twelve-month position, from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 supervised by Professor Elspeth Brown (Director of the DHN and Professor of Historical Studies) and Alison Keith (Director of the Jackman Humanities Institute and Professor of Classics and Women’s Studies). The JHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow may seek additional research supervision from within UofT according to their own interests. They will have access to equipment and collaborative digital working space at JHI. This fellowship award provides an annual stipend of $56,275 (CAD) plus benefits. The incumbent is welcome to seek up to two one-semester courses as a sessional instructor with the appropriate unit(s) at the University of Toronto. The JHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will be expected to pursue their own research relevant to the JHI’s annual theme of Labour.
Applicants must have completed their doctorate within five years of the beginning of the fellowship on 1 July 2022. Applicants who will defend their thesis before the end of May 2022 are eligible, but a letter from their supervisor or Chair may be requested. Any award will be conditional on a successful defense. Applicants who received their Ph.D. prior to 1 July 2016 are ineligible. Applicants who are graduates of doctoral programs at the University of Toronto are eligible. This position is not open to those who hold a tenure-track position.
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate excellence in teaching and research and have an established track record in the digital humanities, with a focus on critical DH. They will understand the history, development, and current state of the field; be able to assess institutional processes and policies; be willing to work with a range of scholars in and outside of their own field; desire to learn and pursue research in an interdisciplinary, collaborative environment; and be committed to open source development and open access scholarship.
The JHI Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities is open to citizens of all countries. The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. Engagement as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto is covered by the terms of the CUPE 3902 Unit 5 Collective Agreement.
The competition is located at https://redcap.utoronto.ca/
All documents must be compiled into a single file in .pdf format. For further information about formatting and length, please see the FAQ sheet below.
You will also be asked to provide the names and email addresses of two referees, whom we will contact to request letters of reference. Your referees will receive an automated request for their letters, which will be due on 7 December 2021. Please ask your referees to watch for our request email.
If you SAVE your file without clicking SUBMIT, you will be able to edit your application and replace your application document until you click SUBMIT or the deadline passes. Please submit your application before the deadline. If you SAVE, you will receive a secret number that will enable you to re-enter your application. Please record this number; JHI staff will not have access to this information.
All applications must be submitted by 30 November 2021 at 11:59 p.m. (EDT). Faxed, emailed, and paper applications will not be considered.
About the fellowship: contact Professor Elspeth Brown at dhn.director@utoronto.ca
About the application process: contact Dr. Kimberley Yates at jhi.associate@utoronto.ca
