[Commlist] Fully Funded PhD Position, “Cinema’s Mediterranean Connections: Archives, Flows and Southern Epistemologies” (4 years, University of Groningen)

  Cinema’s Mediterranean Connections: Archives, Flows and Southern
  Epistemologies


    Job description

Fully-funded PhD position in Film Studies at the Faculty of Arts, 
University of Groningen (start date: October 2025). The project will be 
supervised by Dr. Sergio Rigoletto, Dr. Giuseppe Fidotta, and Dr. Miklos 
Kiss. All members of the supervising team are part of the Film and 
Contemporary Audiovisual Media theme group within the Research Center 
for Arts in Society (AiS) of the University of Groningen. Dr. Rigoletto 
and Dr. Fidotta will be daily supervisors of the project, while Dr. Kiss 
will act as promoter. The candidate will be affiliated with the Arts, 
Culture and Media program as well as the Groningen Research Center for 
the Study of Culture (ICOG) and the Graduate School for the Humanities 
(GSH).

The PhD Project
 From the camera operators of the Lumière Brothers’ film company 
traveling to Cairo and Jerusalem at the end of the 19th century, to the 
international networks of anticolonial solidarity that brought together 
European and North African filmmakers and film critics during the 
Algerian War of Independence, to the creation of transnational film 
programs such as EUROMED, cinema’s orientation towards the Mediterranean 
reveals a network of cross-border collaborations and filmmaking 
practices. “Cinema’s Mediterranean Connections” illuminates a 
constellation of transnational relations, journeys, and infrastructures 
that have shaped the history of cinema from its origins to the present. 
This constellation directs our attention to how ideas, labor, and 
resources move—or struggle to move—from South to North and East to West. 
By bringing into focus a set of formations and dynamics shaped by the 
histories of European colonialism and their aftermath, the constellation 
that this project seeks to map has the potential to reveal what the 
study of national cinema and a global cinema perspective may either 
obscure or neglect: a regional focus attuned to transnational lines of 
connection, commonality and conflict and to an understanding of cinema 
as a dynamic assemblage shaped by power differentials and an uneven 
distribution of resources.

While this project outlines a broad conceptual and historical framework, 
prospective PhD candidates are encouraged to develop their own working 
title, case studies, research questions, and thematic focuses within 
this larger scope. We welcome proposals that engage critically with the 
movement of films, filmmakers, and film cultures across the 
Mediterranean, addressing topics such as the role of film archives in 
shaping historical memory, the relationship between cinema, migration 
and displacement, the circulation of independent and activist 
filmmaking, the emergence and development of specific regional 
aesthetics, epistemologies, and infrastructures. Applicants may approach 
these or other themes through a variety of methodologies—including 
archival research, ethnography, industry analysis, and close readings of 
film texts—depending on the specific contours of their proposed projects.

Period of funding
1.0 FTE, 4 years


    Qualifications

  *

    A Research Master's or MA degree in Film and Media Studies or a
    cognate field.

  *

    Excellent academic writing skills in English.

  *

    Proficiency in at least one language relevant to the project.

  *

    Strong theoretical background in Global South, Postcolonial or
    Decolonial Studies.

  *

    Proficiency in research methodologies relevant to the project such
    as archival research, ethnography, production and industry studies.

  *

    Ability to work independently and collaboratively in an
    international research environment.


    Conditions of employment

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch 
Universities, the University of Groningen offers you

  *

    A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a
    maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the final year, based on a
    full-time position.

  *

    A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.

  *

    An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.

  *

    A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four
    years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months.
    After six months, an assessment will take place of the candidate’s
    results and the progress of the PhD project, in order to decide
    whether employment will be continued.

  *

    The PhD candidate is expected to conduct a total of 0.4 FTE teaching
    spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.

  *

    Excellent work-life balance.

  *

    Willingness to move and reside in the Netherlands.

The appointment will commence on 1 October 2025. We allow 3 months from 
selection in case of VISA applications.


    Application

Applications should be made in English and contain the following materials

  *

    A 1,500-2,000-word-outline of your own research proposal in the
    wider frame of this project.

  *

    A curriculum vitae.

  *

    Copies of Masters’ diploma and list of grades.

  *

    Copy of Masters’ thesis.

  *

    If available, a copy of one article, book chapter or other academic
    text that you feel best represents your work.

  *

    Contact details of two academic referees (no letters of
    recommendation are needed for the application process).

  *

    In case your ReMA/MA degree is not in English/Dutch, please include
    a language certificate.

You may apply for this position until 30 April 11:59pm Dutch local time 
(CEST) by means of the application form (here: 
https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B8QP 
<https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000B8QP> 
.

Interviews with selected candidates will be held between 25 May to 30 
May 2025.


    Information

For information you can contact:

  *

    Dr Giuseppe Fidotta, (g.fidotta /at/ rug.nl) <mailto:(g.fidotta /at/ rug.nl)>

  *

    Dr Sergio Rigoletto, (s.rigoletto /at/ rug.nl) <mailto:(s.rigoletto /at/ rug.nl)>

  *

    Maarten Schmaal, for questions regarding the submission procedure,
    (gsh-groningen /at/ rug.nl) <mailto:(gsh-groningen /at/ rug.nl)>

Please do not use the e-mail address(es) above for applications.

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