1-2 full-time Doctoral Research Fellowships (SKO 1017) in Art History and Visual Studies are available at the Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University of Oslo.
Abut the Fellowships
These positions form part of the European Research Council-funded Consolidator project ECOART – An Ecological History of Eurasian Art: Natural Resources, Aesthetic Practices, and Early Modern Globalization, which will consist of a team of Principal Investigator Anna Grasskamp, three doctoral research fellows and two post-doctoral research fellows. The project investigates the artistic use and visual representation of geographical, geological, botanical, zoological, and climatic resources in Eurasia, a space dominated by European and Chinese economic spheres of influence, in an era of early modern globalization from 1500 to 1800. Funding for fieldwork, archival research, conference attendance and publications will be available to all members of the project.
Doctoral Research Fellowship in the Artistic Use and Visual Representation of Geological Resources
Doctoral Research Fellowship 1 is available for a dissertation project that focuses on the artistic use and visual representation of geological resources during a timespan within the early modern period from at least two of the following sites: Gujarat, Manila, Jakarta/Batavia, Yangon (formerly Dagon, and, under colonial rule, Rangoon), Guangzhou/Canton, Amsterdam. The focus of the dissertation will be a comprehensive investigation of the extraction, exchange, and artistic uses of one or more geological resources in local and global contexts across early modern Eurasia, for example through extant artifacts that implement mined goods as well as visual documentations of mining itself. The dissertation will tackle how selected geological resources informed aesthetic practices across Eurasia and how knowledge on minerals, clays, gemstones, or other mined goods was developed and articulated in art and artisanship. Possible examples include but are not limited to mined pigments like cinnabar and cobalt in art across Eurasia, for example in paintings on porcelain created in places that range from Jingdezhen and Guangzhou in China to Delft in the Netherlands; Sri Lankan rubies used by Indian, European, and Chinese craftsmen in the making of collectible and wearable objects, for example crowns; American-mined silver transported to India and China via Manila by the Spanish as currency to be partially melted and reused by silversmiths, for example in the crafting of elaborate pieces of jewellery.
Doctoral Research Fellowship in the Artistic Use and Visual Representation of Botanical Resources
Doctoral Research Fellowship 2 is available for a dissertation project that focuses on the artistic use and visual representation of botanical resources during a timespan within the early modern period from at least two of the following sites: Gujarat, Manila, Jakarta/Batavia, Yangon (formerly Dagon, and, under colonial rule, Rangoon), Guangzhou/Canton, Amsterdam. The dissertation will examine the artistic use and representation of widespread botanical resources like pine timber, which was used in sculptures and the crafting of furniture, or site-specific ones like the resin of the Asian lacquer tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum), a key component of painted, carved, and inlayed lacquerware sculptures, paintings, and artifacts. The dissertation project will explore how selected botanical resources informed aesthetic practices across Eurasia and how knowledge about plant- based artistic materials shaped artistic and artisanal epistemologies. Possible examples include but are not limited to Indian indigo dyes used in batik and paintings on textiles across Eurasia; amber from Asia and Europe used in Eurasian artifacts, e.g., Chinese snuff bottles; the resin of the Asian lacquer tree used in lacquerware sculptures, paintings, and artifacts made in East Asia and Southeast Asia (and which were imitated in Europe).
How to Apply
The application must include:
- 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, including a complete list of publications)
- Transcript of records of your Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Applicants with education from a foreign university must attach an explanation of their university’s grading system
- Documentation of Language requirements (if applicable)
- Project description, including a detailed progress plan for the project (3 – 5 pages, maximum 14,000 characters. See Template for project descriptions)
Please note that all documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.
Educational certificates, master theses and the like are not to be submitted with the application, but applicants may be asked to submit such information or works later.
The application with attachments must be delivered in our electronic recruiting system, jobbnorge.no.
Visit Here to Apply
Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.