::fc-announce:: university of amsterdam seeks new media & digital culture professor

[Geert Lovink]

(in case anyone is wondering, i am not applying and i am not in the  
commission either... best, geert)

http://www.uva.nl/vacatures/object.cfm/objectID=A27F3C72-E7D7-4E4D- 
AB86D857D39A829F

The Faculty of Humanities undertakes teaching and research with a  
strong international orientation in a large number of disciplines  
within the field of language and culture. The faculty is situated in  
the centre of Amsterdam and maintains close contacts with many cultural  
institutions in the city. It employs almost a thousand staff members  
and its courses are attended by approximately 6,500 students.

Professor of New Media and Digital Culture 

1. Field of study and nature of the chair

The duties associated with this chair comprise teaching and research in  
the field of the new media and digital culture. The chair will be part  
of an academic and cultural network within the city of Amsterdam. This  
network includes the Waag Society for Old and New Media, De Balie  
(Centre for Culture and Politics), the Mediagilde and the Netherlands  
Institute for Media Arts (NIM), as well as the other parts of the UvA  
concerned with information studies, the Hogeschool van Amsterdam and  
the institutions of higher education in the arts, such as the Rietveld  
Academie, the Rijksacademie and the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten.

2. Place of the chair within the Faculty of Humanities

The Faculty of Humanities comprises six departments: History,  
Archaeology and Area Studies; Art, Religion and Cultural Sciences;  
Media Studies; Dutch Studies; Language and Literature; and Philosophy.  
Each department is composed of sections comprising one or more  
professors and a number of other academics working in the relevant  
field.

The chair in New Media and Digital Culture will form part of the Media  
and Culture section. This is one of the two sections in the Media  
Studies department. The other section is Archive and Information  
Studies. The Media and Culture section encompasses existing chairs in  
Film, Television and Journalism, and will incorporate the new chair in  
New Media and Digital Culture. The organisation of the Media Studies  
department is based on the available teaching and research expertise,  
with teams being responsible for different parts of the various BA and  
MA programmes.

3. Teaching

Teaching activities will focus principally on the BA degree course in  
Media and Culture, the MA degree course in New Media, and the  
research-based MA degree course in Media Studies. A number of minors  
and electives are also on offer.

4. Research

Research activities will be directed at the study of New Media and  
Digital Culture. The new professor’s own research will be part of the  
programme of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), the  
Institute for Culture and History (ICG) or the interfaculty Institute  
for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC).

Requirements

5. Profile
The occupant of the Chair in New Media and Digital Culture will hold a  
doctorate on some topic within the field of the new media and digital  
culture or in a related discipline. Her/his previous studies,  
publications and teaching career will provide evidence of a sound  
knowledge and broad understanding of the field of study. In addition,  
she/he must be familiar with current ideas and trends within the field  
of study and with current debates on multidisciplinarity and  
interdisciplinarity.

The new professor will possess a demonstrable ability to reflect on the  
basic tenets of the field of study and on the research methods in use  
within it, enabling him/her not only to play a role in unifying the  
various technological, philosophical, art historical, information  
science and historical tendencies, most of which are already  
represented in the present team, but also to create a distinctive image  
for the university’s courses and research in this area. In addition,  
she/he will have an affinity both with the relationships between  
her/his particular field of study and the other specialisms represented  
within the Media Studies Department, such as film, television,  
journalism and archive administration and information studies, and with  
relevant disciplines outside the department, such as art history,  
philosophy, communication studies, etc.

The successful candidate will have wide experience of university  
teaching and of supervising doctoral and other students. In addition,  
she/he must be able to demonstrate a familiarity and affinity with  
relevant ICT developments in the field of education and research.  
She/he will preferably have access to an existing national and  
international network in the relevant field. International experience  
will be seen as an advantage.

Where teaching is concerned, the new professor will be responsible for  
developing and maintaining a high-quality contribution to the Media and  
Culture programme which is attractive to students. She/he will ensure  
that teaching programmes respond to society’s demand for graduates  
capable of participating in the popularisation of academic knowledge.  
It is essential that she/he will be willing to cooperate with a wide  
variety of teaching units both within the faculty and at other  
institutions of higher education (including art colleges). In view of  
the faculty’s policy that all academic staff should be capable of  
flexible deployment, and given the wide relevance of the study of new  
and more traditional media to other courses within the faculty, the new  
professor must be prepared to teach outside her/his direct field of  
academic interest.

Candidates will be expected to have had experience at all levels of  
university education of all the forms of teaching employed at the UvA  
(seminars, lectures, and supervision of dissertations/theses and work  
experience placements) and also of the methods of assessment associated  
with each of these. They must possess teaching and educational skills  
of a high order and have an approachable personality and manner. They  
will also be expected to have a fluent command of both Dutch and  
English; any appointee lacking this level of linguistic competence will  
be expected to acquire it within two years of taking up the post.  
Finally, the new professor must be well-informed about the future  
employment opportunities open to the section’s students.

The importance that the faculty attaches to this chair is reflected in  
the standards set for candidates in the research field. They must be  
able to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the field by reference both  
to past publications, including articles in national and/or  
international academic journals and anthologies, and contributions to  
the wider public debate.
 
In addition, it is assumed that the professor will undertake new  
research, including both individual projects and larger-scale projects  
involving partners outside the section, the Media Studies department  
and the faculty. She/he must be capable of recruiting the necessary  
indirect government or private sector funding for this. The supervision  
of doctoral students and postdocs will be among her/his duties;  
candidates will be expected to possess experience relevant to the  
exercise of these responsibilities. The professor will be expected to  
maintain close contacts with the field, or to be in a position to  
establish such contacts.

The appointee will have administrative responsibility for her/his own  
field of study. First and foremost this will require inspiring and  
supportive team leadership. By encouraging staff and providing positive  
criticism, the new professor will help improve the quality and  
effectiveness of the university's teaching and research. Ways of  
achieving this will include holding regular team meetings with the  
staff of the section and conducting performance and job evaluation  
interviews.

In addition, she/he must be prepared to undertake general  
administrative and organisational duties both within and outside the  
faculty. Demonstrable practical experience of administration and  
management is highly desirable.

More information

Further information can be obtained from the secretary of the selection  
committee, Ms J.H.J. Kuiper, tel. + 31 20-525 2006, e-mail  
j.h.j.kuiper at uva.nl or from the chair, Prof. F.P.I.M. van Vree, tel. +  
31 20-525 2980, e-mail F.P.I.M.vanVree at uva.nl.

Appointment
The initial appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of no  
more than two years. Subject to satisfactory performance, this will be  
followed by a permanent appointment. The gross salary will be in  
accordance with professorial scale A (between EUR 4,517 and EUR 6,592  
per month on a full-time basis).

Job application
Please submit your letter of application in Dutch or English by 6 June  
2005, accompanied by a curriculum vitae and list of publications. The  
application should be addressed to the Universiteit van Amsterdam,  
Faculty of Humanities, to the attention of the secretary of the  
selection committee, Ms J.H.J. Kuiper, Media Studies department,  
Turfdraagsterpad 9, 1012 XT Amsterdam, and should be sent in an envelop  
marked "strictly confidential".

The selection will be in the hands of a committee headed by the acting  
Chair of the Media Studies department, Professor F.P.I.M. van Vree.  
Following an assessment procedure and a trial public lecture, the  
committee will make a recommendation to the Dean of the Faculty of  
Humanities.