Full Professor in Media and Culture

The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam seeks a distinguished scholar for a full professorship in Media and Culture (1.0 FTE) with particular focus on media and the environment. Far-reaching changes to traditional media-industrial structures and media culture’s unprecedented enmeshment with politics and the living world demand new modes of inquiry and a rethinking of received conceptual categories. We offer the opportunity to lead a motivated team, closely cooperate with colleagues from other chair-groups of the Art & Culture cluster and beyond, and be part of a vibrant, friendly and interdisciplinary community. Teaching within our BA, MA, and RMA programmes is systematically research-driven and focuses on media and culture, media aesthetics, media and the environment, the interstices between media, art, architecture, and design, the influence of digitisation processes on media and cultural theory and history, and new developments in media production, distribution and exhibition.

We are looking for a colleague with a strong research agenda and a clear vision on the future of media studies. In particular, we welcome candidates with innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to the critical, theoretical or historical study of: media infrastructure and (audiovisual) media technology; archives, memory and historiography; materiality, eco-media and sustainability; data, platforms and politics; tech industries and governance, or more-than-human entanglements of media, politics and aesthetics. Close affinities with the study of art, design, architecture or visual and material culture are an asset.

As the Chair of Media and Culture, the professorship plays a leading role in research, teaching and public outreach. It carries principal responsibility for media education within the bachelor's programme in Media, Art, Design and Architecture, and in the Comparative Arts and Media Studies specialization within the master’s programme in Arts & Culture. In addition, the Chair holder will supervise PhD candidates and participate in related programmes within the faculty, such as the research master’s specialisations Environmental Humanities and Critical Studies in Art and Culture.

We expect the successful candidate to initiate and stimulate research initiatives, including through international collaborations, and pursue external research funding. Apart from this, the Chair holder will fulfil organizational and managerial tasks and, together with other Chairs and staff, cultivate the curricula, bolster the unique profiles of the programmes, and continue strategically improving their national and international visibility and presence in societal debates.

Requirements:

The successful candidate:

• holds a PhD in Media Studies or a related discipline
• actively engages in interdisciplinary research, particularly at the intersection of media, culture, and the environment
• has a leading international scientific reputation and network and demonstrates excellence in research, evidenced by a record of peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals and academic presses
• has an established track record of securing external research funding
• has extensive teaching and student supervision experience at all levels including doctoral
• has a Dutch University Teaching Qualification (BKO) and, preferably, a Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) or is willing to acquire them
• has proven experience in outreach and collaboration with societal partners, cultural institutions, or community organisations (such as film/media archives and museums, cinemas/film festivals, artist collectives, production companies, television broadcasters, or similar)
• has the leadership skills necessary to lead a talented academic team
• has experience in administrative roles, including departmental leadership or committee involvement
• contributes to the strategic planning and development of academic programmes and curricula
• is fluent in Dutch and English, or willing to quickly acquire B2-level Dutch or C1-level English proficiency

Salary Benefits:

We offer:

• a salary of minimum € 6.648,00 (H2) and maximum € 9.680,00 (H2) gross per month, on a full-time basis. This is based on UFO profile Professor 2. The exact salary depends on your education and experience.
• a full-time position for 1 FTE. Your employment contract will initially last 1 year and will be changed into permanent upon successful evaluation.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and regulations. Some examples:

• a full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
• 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
• possibility to save holiday hours, for sabbatical leave
• discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance);
• optional model for designing a personalized benefits package

De Boelelaan 1105