Application deadline: Monday 31st of October, 2022.
General information
Laboratory: UMR5600 EVS (https://umr5600.cnrs.fr/fr/accueil/)
Location (administrative base): Lyon
Contract type: Postdoctoral Research Contract
Contract length: 18 months
Employment start date: 1st of January, 2023
Type of work: Full time
Remuneration: Between 2675 and 3805 euros per month (before tax), depending on experience
Diploma sought: PhD
General objective
Based on archives kept in the Netherlands (Leiden, The Hague), London (Kew and the British Library) and to a lesser extent in France (ANOM), the successful candidate will examine hill stations in the colonial era from a perspective combining urban and tourism studies in South and Southeast Asia (Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, French Indochina, British India, Ceylon). Fieldwork missions in India, Indonesia or Malaysia may be considered.
The successful candidate will be integrated into the ANR Urbaltour (URBanisations subalternes dans les montagnes TOURistiques d’Asie du Sud et du Sud-Est) funded by the French “Agence Nationale de la Recherche” (https://anr.fr/Project-ANR-21-CE22-0008).
Detailed description of responsibilities
- Step 1: Compiling and analysing secondary literature to achieve a state of the art on the subject.
- Step 2: Identification of the relevant archival documents and estimation of their volume. Establishing a calendar of the subsequent archival work.
- Step 3: Consultation and analysis of the selected documents, focusing on those relating to the urban planning and attendance of hill stations.
- Step 4: The successful candidate will contribute to the four main axes of the project:
- Constitution and analysis of the documentary corpus based on British, Dutch and French archives of hill stations in the selected territories.
- Collecting data enabling the program’s GIS (Geographic Information System) on hill stations' touristic and urban evolution in terms of population, visits and infrastructures.
- Identification of specific documents on the seven hill stations considered by the project, specifically buildings and heritages being reinvested as tourist sites today.
- Publications and presentations in conferences, in collaboration with the rest of the team.
Required skills
- The successful candidate must hold a doctorate in history and possess research skills, attested by at least one publication as solo or first co-author.
- Archival research abilities are required.
- Mastery of English is required. Fluency in Dutch is strongly appreciated.
Material context
The successful candidate will be supported as follows. In Lyon, Judicaëlle Dietrich (Associate Professor in Geography, Indonesia specialist) and Emmanuelle Peyvel (Associate Professor in Geography, project lead, Vietnam specialist) will be in charge of administrative and material aspects. The scholarly supervision will be conducted by Eric Jennings, Professor of colonial history, specialist of French Indochina at the University of Toronto, and ANR Urbaltour project member.
The position is attached to the EVS laboratory (150 permanent researchers, 180 doctoral candidates) a mixed and multi-site research unit of the CNRS/ University of Lyon and Saint- Etienne. However, the nature of the work will offer a certain flexibility to the successful candidate who will be able to travel so as to access certain sources. Consequently, the successful candidate must display an ability to work autonomously.
Because the ANR features an inter-UMIFRE collaboration between IRASEC (Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia) and the IFP (French Institute of Pondicherry), the successful candidate will also benefit from on-site research cooperation.
Constraints and risks
None.
Required diplomas and training: A doctorate in colonial history or in the study of the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia or Malaysia. The candidate’s thesis may have been written in Dutch, English or French.
Candidacies: Applications must include a CV, a cover letter, a digital copy of the PhD, the external examiner’s thesis report, and at least one letter of recommendation addressed directly to the 3 emails below. After an initial selection based on the applications, interviews will be organized in November.
Email contacts: emmanuelle.peyvel@irasec.com ; eric.jennings@utoronto.ca ; judicaelle.dietrich@univ-lyon3.fr