The Project Global Business of Slave Trade studies the main patterns of the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish slave trades in the Indian Ocean, Indonesian Archipelago, and the South China Sea. It will do so by examining in detail how and by whom were these commercial flows and operations organized, who gained and lost by being involved in these activities, and what participation in these commercial streams meant for the economies of these European Empires in Asia. The database project Exploring Slave Trade in Asia (ESTA) reconstructs the historical slave trade in the wider Indian Ocean, Indonesian Archipelago and East Asia.

What will be the Student Assistant candidate tasks?
The Student Assistant will work as part of the research team to:

• Enter and curate data on slave trade, business, actors, etc. in the ESTA database.
• Collect digital source materials.
• Create ground truth transcriptions and layout for Spanish, Portuguese and English digital colonial archival material (to train handwritten text recognition models).
• Annotate for entity (and event) detection;
• Assist in organizing project events and other tasks.
  

What are the Projects team looking for in the Student Assistant?
We are looking for a Student Assistant that would like to gain experience of working in an academic environment and learn how to work with traditional as well as more modern historical research methodologies. We are looking for a Student Assistant that is independent, motivated and social. You will work on dedicated tasks (such as data entry and transcription), but in a collaborative team setting.

You will need to have familiarity with early modern archival handwritten sources; and an affinity with social and economic history, Global and Colonial History and/or the History of slave trade and slavery. Experience with working with digital materials, as well as with Excel is a plus. A reasonable command of English alongside Portuguese and/or Spanish. Command of Dutch is a plus.

What does the Project and the IISH offer?
The Student Assistant will be integrated in the Research Department of the IISH. Through the projects, the Student Assistant will be involved with various research projects, including Globalise, Voices of Resistance, Resisting Enslavement and Hub of Global Labour Conflicts.

What do we need from you?

• University student doing a BA in History, or in another discipline relevant for the core research of the projects;
• Knowledge and affinity regarding the history of slave trade and slavery; or with the history of European colonialism (especially in Asia);
• Some experience working with data, digital material handwritten text recognition.
• Independent and social working attitude;
• Good command of English and one or more of the following languages: Portuguese, Spanish or another Latin-based language
  

How to apply to this vacancy?
You can apply to these Student Assistant positions by submitting the following documents:

• A Curriculum vitae
• A motivation letter
• A document with answers to the Projects’ questionnaire (please see questions below).
  

Guidelines to answer the Projects’ questionnaire:
Each answer should not exceed 100 words.

Core questions:

• Why do you want to be a Student Assistant at the IISH?
• Why are you interested in working on these projects specifically?
• What makes you the ideal candidate for this Student Assistant position?
• What skills, competences and experiences do you have that will benefit the development of the projects and enhance the projects team?
  

For more information about these Student Assistant vacancy, please contact Filipa Ribeiro da Silva (project leader and supervisor) at filipa.ribeirodasilva@iisg.nl. A more detailed description of the projects can be found through the links included above in this announcement, as well as under “jobs”/“vacatures”, at https://iisg.amsterdam.

The interviews will most likely take place on the second or third week of November.

Applicants will be assessed on the following criteria: a) familiarity with the scientific field and tasks; b) job motivation; c) originality; and d) compliance with the vacancy requirements.