Programme on the Study of the Humanities in Africa of the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape: Masters, Doctoral and Postdoctoral Award Announcement for 2015

Programme on the Study of the Humanities in Africa of the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape

Masters, Doctoral and Postdoctoral Award Announcement for 2015

The Programme on the Study of the Humanities in Africa (PSHA) at the University of the Western Cape invites suitably qualified candidates to apply for masters, doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships for the 2015 academic year. The PSHA is an exciting research programme based in the Centre for Humanities Research (CHR) dedicated to redefining Humanities research globally, and in and about Africa. It is backed by generous grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The PSHA emphasises critical reflection on the humanities and African modernities. The postdoctoral awards are aimed at fostering critical dialogue in an academically engaged and supportive environment on the key themes of the programme.
In 2015 the PSHA will continue its broad humanistic inquiry by inviting applications in the following three research platforms:

• Aesthetics and Politics
The platform is concerned with critically investigating the relationship between the arts and the post-apartheid. Aesthetics and politics names an area of renewed inquiry in which foundational concepts and categories in the humanities on and in Africa are rethought through their encounter with visual arts and photography, music and sound, puppetry and performance, literary and cinematic forms
• Migrating Violence
Through the figure of the migrant we wish to understand how violence in Africa remains embedded in the unreformed particularities of colonial citizenship. This project addresses itself then centrally to more general dilemmas of citizenship in the postcolonial world, where political modernity is the product of a colonial encounter.
• Postcolonial Transactions of Knowledge.
This platform encourages scholarship that rethinks foundational categories of culture, identity and nation through exploring contestations surrounding notions of postcoloniality and cultural sovereignty in Africa.

SELECTION PROCESS

Selection of candidates will be based on the strength of academic achievement and commitment to the intellectual outlines of the PSHA and the CHR. Successful candidates will become Fellows of the CHR. Those selected to this prestigious fellowship programme will be required to participate in a reading programme with other recipients of the grant and faculty members.
Successful candidates will be required to be present on campus during the relevant academic semesters unless granted leave by the fellowship board. All Postdoctoral fellows will be required to produce at least one peer-reviewed journal article, which when published should contain appropriate acknowledgement of the University of the Western Cape. Postdoctoral Fellows are also required to show substantial progress towards publication of a monograph. The Centre for Humanities Research at UWC, to which fellows will be affiliated, offers a supportive scholarly environment for pursuing research. The CHR hosts a weekly seminar series where prospective candidates can present their research and solicit valuable feedback from an interdisciplinary forum of academic staff and graduate students. Through the PSHA, the CHR also convenes regular reading groups, an annual Winter School and a colloquia. Fellows are required to actively participate in the seminar series, reading groups, winter school and colloquia. The centre provides office accommodation and access to the UWC – Robben Island Museum Mayibuye Archive collection. Through participation in the Centre’s activities and programmes, postdoctoral fellows will contribute to the shape of graduate studies by making available, through participation in the Centre’s programmes and through publication, the most recent scholarly discussions and debates in the Humanities and related fields.

FELLOWSHIP AWARDS

In 2015, the Programme will offer fellowships at the masters, doctoral and postdoctoral level in disciplines associated with the humanities. The fellowships are valued at R90 000, R120 000, and R180 000 respectively. The awards cover a monthly stipend, travel costs, accommodation and basic research expenses.

APPLICATIONS

Doctoral and postdoctoral applicants are required to submit a letter in which they provide a motivation, a eight page description of their research project, a plan of work on the project, a two page statement on how the specific research project enhances the study of the humanities in Africa, a curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation from academic referees (to be sent directly to the CHR), a writing sample consisting of an extensive research project or publication, preferably in a peer reviewed journal, and a copy of their academic transcript. They will be selected by a panel of core faculty associated with the PSHA.
Candidates applying for the master’s fellowship should supply a three to four page proposal on planned research, a chapter from an honours long paper, a letter of motivation, curriculum vitae, academic transcript, three academic letters of reference and a brief one page statement of interest in the broader study of the humanities.
The fellowship cannot be held concurrently with other fellowships without permission of the Director of the CHR and all recipients of grants will be required to fulfill the obligations of the programme.
South African applicants are especially encouraged to apply.

Closing date: Applications and referees' letters must reach the Selection Panel on or before 1 December 2014. The Selection Committee may interview applicants. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Applications must be posted to Ms. Lameez Lalkhen, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535. No electronic applications will be accepted. However enquiries and referees letters may be electronically sent to [email protected]
Telephonic enquiries may be directed to (+27) (0)21-959-3162.

Professor Premesh Lalu
DIRECTOR
Centre for Humanities Research
University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, South Africa
Phone: 021-9593162 (from outside SA: 27+21+9592225)
Fax: 021-9591282 (from outside SA: 27+21+9593598)