Postdoctoral researcher MAKEBELIEF - Meertens

The ERC project MAKEBELIEF: The Religious Politics of Theme Parks investigates how in the 21st century, immersive media are mobilized to ‘imagineer’ religion. In order to do so, the project provides a comparative analysis of religious theme parks and museums in the Netherlands, China, Turkey and the United States. The Meertens Institute offers a position within this project for a postdoctoral researcher  MAKEBELIEF: Imagineering Religion and Religious Heritage in the Netherlands (0.7 fte) for 3 years

What you will be doing

You will work as postdoctoral researcher in an interdisciplinary team of researchers. Your research will focus on the use of immersive media to ‘imagineer’ religion and heritage in the Netherlands. In particular you will be tasked with researching how themed environments, including theme parks and museums, attempt to influence how people think and feel and how these attempts to influence people are experienced, embraced or contested by audiences. You will conduct ethnographic fieldwork in the Netherlands as well as participate in collaborative research endeavors with other team members.

What you will be contributing

- you will participate in a research team that conducts ethnographic fieldwork in theme parks, museums and heritage sites across the globe

- you will write academic articles within the scope of this project, focussing on religion and the use of immersive media in the Netherlands. Your contribution to the project will be your emphasis on how audiences experience attempts to imagineer religion and heritage

- you have a PhD in Religious Studies, Anthropology, Media Studies, or Cultural Studies (or similar disciplines). Candidates who have experience with ethnographic fieldwork are particularly invited to apply

- you have a working proficiency of Dutch

Application procedure

Please submit a CV, cover letter that includes a motivation on why you want to work on this project and a 1-page research statement outlining how you envision conducting research in this role. This should include your approach to key research questions, potential methodologies, and how your expertise aligns with the project’s objectives. We are particularly interested in understanding how you would execute your research and to which academic debates you aim to contribute within the scope of this position.

Application procedure

Please submit a CV, cover letter that includes a motivation on why you want to work on this project and a 1-page research statement outlining how you envision conducting research in this role. This should include your approach to key research questions, potential methodologies, and how your expertise aligns with the project’s objectives. We are particularly interested in understanding how you would execute your research and to which academic debates you aim to contribute within the scope of this position.

For more information

Please contact: Dr. Ernst van den Hemel, principal investigator of MAKEBELIEF and senior researcher at the Meertens Institute / NL Lab: ernst.van.den.hemel2@meertens.knaw.nl

About Meertens
The Meertens Institute, together with the International Institute of Social History and the Huygens ING, is part of the KNAW Humanities Cluster. This is a partnership in which research in the humanities (history, ethnology, literature, linguistics) is carried out using advanced methods, in which computer science plays an important role.

The Meertens Institute is a national institute for research and documentation of the Dutch language and culture, and language and culture in the Netherlands. It consists of the research groups Ethnology and Variational Linguistics, both of which hold leading positions in international research on everyday language and culture.

Terms of employment
Depending on education and experience the minimum salary is 4.537 and the maximum salary is 6.209 gross per month for a full-time appointment (scale 11 cao Nederlandse Universiteiten/KNAW). This is exclusive of 8% vacation allowance, 8.3% year-end bonus, travel allowance, internet allowance, home working allowance and pension accrual with ABP.

The KNAW offers its staff an excellent package of secondary benefits. A package that meets the different needs of employees depending on their stage of life, lifestyle or career ambitions. For example, by working an extra two hours a week, it is possible to increase the number of days off from 29 to 41 days a year (with full-time employment). 

For a complete overview of the terms of employment, please refer to the web page: werken bij de KNAW.

Applying for a Certificate of Good Conduct can be part of the employment procedure.

Diversity & Inclusion
The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.

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