Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages

Job description

A Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (SKO 1352) is available at the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, at the University of Oslo. The Postdoctoral Research Fellowship is funded by the Norwegian Research Council and is associated with the research project “Word, Sound and Power: The Lyrical Making of African Diaspora Futures”, 334606. [Link to website] The candidate is expected to present a research project closely connected to the main project.

The research project Word, Sound, and Power: The Lyrical Making of the African Diaspora examines the ways writers and performers in the Anglophone African Diaspora have explored and reconfigured the relationships between music, literature, and futurity across the long 20th century. The project investigates how literary and musical artists from the African Diaspora/Black Diaspora have questioned distinctions between music and literature in ways that are forward-thinking, futuristic, and/or avant-garde. Word, Sound, and Power uses an interdisciplinary methodology that combines perspectives from literary studies, musicology, cultural studies, and related fields.

Word, Sound and Power takes a comparative approach to literary-musical experiments from the U.S., Caribbean, and Europe, looking at texts and performances from across the long 20th Century in order to arrive at new ways of understanding diasporic futures. The project’s theoretical ambition is to develop and augment research on “Afrofuturism” by both historicizing the term and by looking closely at a broad array of imaginary futures produced across the African Diaspora. Word, Sound and Power also wishes to develop a sharper and more thorough understanding of the impact of African diasporic practices on expanded conceptions of “literature” and the “literary”, and of the ways in which these practices trade upon the complex entanglements of the aesthetic and the political at work in the cultural formations out of which they emerge.

Start date flexible.

More about the position

The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the interdisciplinary part of the project. The call is open to applications from a broad area of fields, but applicants must have a substantial research interest in music. The project welcomes research proposals that study authors, novels, poems, lyrics, performances or other literary-musical experiments related to areas, genres, and topics such as, for example, but not limited to: dub poetry, jazz poetry, reggae, calypso, soul, funk, blues, spirituals, sonnets, folk, punk, slam poetry, hip hop, grime and other forms of new or emerging genres of experimental writing at the intersection of literature and music.

Proposals that use comparative methods and that think creatively about the intersections between music and literature will be prioritized.

The postdoctoral researcher will work independently with their own research and publish individually. They will also be expected to play an active role in the project group consisting of international academics in the field, to collaborate with the project leader, to contribute to the discussion and development of ideas, and assist in the organization of workshops.

The position is available for a period of 2 years. There are no teaching requirements.

The successful candidate is expected to become part of the research environment of the department and contribute to its development. The main purpose of postdoctoral research fellowships is to qualify researchers for work in higher academic positions within their disciplines.

Qualification requirements

• PhD or equivalent academic qualifications with a specialization in areas relevant for the project such as Musicology, Ethnomusicology, Cultural Studies, Literary Studies, Black Studies, African Diaspora Studies, Critical Theory, History, Sociology, African American Studies, Caribbean Studies, and Performance Studies
• The candidate's research project must be closely connected to the main project
• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English
• Personal suitability; the ability and desire to collaborate with project members

The doctoral dissertation must be submitted for evaluation by the closing date. Appointment is dependent on the public defence of the doctoral thesis being approved.

Further qualifications

In the evaluation of the applications, emphasis will be placed on:

• The research project’s scholarly merit, research-related relevance and innovation
• The applicant’s estimated academic and personal ability to carry out the project within the allotted time frame and contribute to the main project
• Good co-operative skills, and the ability to successfully join in academic collaboration within and across disciplines

We offer

• Salary NOK 544 400 – 626 300 per annum depending on qualifications
• A professionally stimulating working environment
• Membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities

How to apply

The application must include

• A 1-2 page application letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and motivation for the position
• Curriculum Vitae (with a list of education, positions, teaching experience, administrative experience, and other qualifying activities)
• List of publications
• Letter of recommendation from someone with thorough knowledge of your research
• Project description (appox. 3 - 5 pages, maximum 14,000 characters. See Template for project descriptions). The project description must present a feasible progress plan. It is expected that the applicant will be able to complete the project during the period of appointment

Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language. The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, jobbnorge.no.

The short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.

Formal regulations

See also Regulations concerning Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships.

Following the Freedom of Information Act (Offentleglova) § 25, Chapter 2, information about the applicant may be used in the public list of applicants even if the applicant opts out from the entry in the public application list.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Fellow period at the University of Oslo.

The University of Oslo has an Acquisition of Rights Agreement for the purpose of securing rights to intellectual property created by its employees, including research results.

The University of Oslo aims to achieve a balanced gender composition in the workforce and to recruit people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

Contact information

• Project Leader Louisa Layne, e-mail
• Head of Administration Karina Kleiva, e-mail
• HR Adviser Evian Nordstrand, e-mail (for questions on how to apply)

Apply for position