The European Training Network “Participatory Memory Practices. Concepts, strategies, and media infrastructures for envisioning socially inclusive potential futures of European Societies through culture” (POEM) invites applications for 13 PhD fellowships with international focus to be funded by the Marie-Skłodowska-Curie ITN Action as part of the H2020 Programme of the European Commission. POEM is a consortium of high profile universities, acknowledged memory institutions, civil society organizations, and SMEs located in Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the UK.
Short programme description
Diverging forces across European societies, most visible in both the contemporary nationalist movements and Islamist radicalization, demand a socially inclusive public memory. Its implementation calls for new strategies, practices, and infrastructures for staging and empowering membership and contribution of people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds for past and future development in Europe. To reach this goal, research needs to develop a comprehensive understanding on concepts, practices, and media infrastructures that facilitate the partaking of people from various backgrounds in the heritage building work of memory institutions (libraries, archives, and museums). The Innovative Training Network “Participatory Memory Practices. Concepts, strategies, and media infrastructures for envisioning socially inclusive potential futures of European Societies through culture” (POEM) will provide this comprehensive knowledge by studying in practice theoretical approaches on how connectivities are built by 1) institutions, 2) people and groups, and 3) media infrastructures for a socially inclusive, participatory heritage work and what facilitates or hinders collaboration. Therefore, a new generation of professionals will be trained through an innovative training programme and supervised by peer networks of transdisciplinary knowledge to act as change agents, brokers, and problem solvers in this contested field of heritage work. The comprehensive transdisciplinary composition of the consortium involving universities, memory institutions, civil society organisations, and SMEs from public and private sectors will therefore provide the POEM fellows with transdisciplinary knowledge on cultural and social analysis as well as on transferrable skills with respect to the changing socio-technical, organisational, legal, economic, and ethical issues to address future challenges for participatory memory work.
Keywords
Public memory, cultural heritage, social media, digital media, ethnography of infrastructures, empowerment, social entrepreneurship, open knowledge, participatory design, digital heritage, digital museology, co-creation Number of fellowships available 13 PhD fellowships
Key dates
15.03.2018: Deadline for online application for PhD fellowships
18.05.2018: Recruitment event at the University of Hamburg, Germany*
01.10.2018: Start date of PhD projects
Host for PhDs
University of Hamburg (Germany), Aarhus University (Denmark), Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus), University of Glasgow (UK), Uppsala University (Sweden), Ashoka UK (UK), Museum Europäischer Kulturen in Berlin (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Germany).
Career Stage
Early stage researcher, i.e., postgraduate with 0-4 years of academic research experience at the date of recruitment
Research Fields
Critical Heritage Studies, Critical Data Studies Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Design Anthropology, Digital Cultures, Digital Anthropology, Digital Heritage, Digital Humanities, Digital Museology, European Ethnology, Human Computer Interaction, Information Behaviour, Information Studies, Media Anthropology, Media Studies, Memory Studies, Museology, Museum Studies, Participatory Design, Science and Technology Studies, Social Anthropology, Software Studies, Visitor Studies, Visual Anthropology, Visual Sociology.
The ETN-POEM is explicitly committed to the principle of equal opportunities. Qualified women are especially encouraged to apply. Severely disabled applicants will be preferentially considered in case of equivalent qualifications. Please note that individual host institutions may have their own additional application requirements.
For further information please refer to the project website: http://www.poem.uni-hamburg.de/.
* Travel expenses will be covered for applicants from EU countries; shortlisted candidates from overseas will be invited to join by videoconference.