PhD in Iranian Secular Visual Culture

This PhD position is part of the NWO VIDI-funded project “Iran’s Secular Shift”, which investigates Iran’s evolving secular landscape using a mixed-methods approach. This subproject specifically focuses on visual culture and digital media to explore representations of non-religion, atheism, and calls for separating mosque and state in Iran. The research contributes to a broader understanding of how secularity is articulated in an authoritarian, theocratic context.

Your job

In your research you will employ qualitative methods. Quantitative methods may also (but do not have to) be part of the research, depending on your skills and interest in learning to work with new methods. Primary methods to be used are:

• visual and discourse analysis of secular and/or non-religious imagery in transnational Iranian digital culture;
• network analysis of how non-religious themes circulate in online spaces;
• digital ethnography and interviews with Iranian social media users, artists, and activists (in Iran and in diaspora);
• comparative studies with non-religious visual cultures in other authoritarian contexts.

The research will explore key questions such as:

• How do Iranians visually express non-religion, atheism, and secularism?
• What aesthetic and symbolic forms define these expressions?
• How do digital platforms shape narratives of secular identity and political dissent, both within Iran and in the diaspora?

Your tasks and responsibilities include the following:

• conducting independent research within the broader mixed-methods project framework;
• analysing visual and digital media materials related to non-religion, atheism, and secularism in Iran and its diaspora;
• engaging with theoretical and methodological debates on secularism and visual culture;
• collaborating with artists and researchers in disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, religious studies, political philosophy, gender studies, media studies, and digital humanities;
• presenting your findings at academic conferences and through public engagement activities, and contributing to peer-reviewed publications.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a pioneering study on non-religion, atheism, and secularism in Iran and its transnational connections. The project is supervised by an interdisciplinary team comprising Professor Asghar Seyed-Gohrab (supervisor, Utrecht University), Dr Ladan Rahbari (co-supervisor, University of Amsterdam), and Dr Pooyan Tamimi Arab (co-supervisor and PI of the project, Utrecht University).

Your qualities

• A Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Art History, Anthropology, Sociology, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Gender Studies, Digital Humanities);
• experience with qualitative research methods, including visual analysis or digital media studies;
• strong academic writing and analytical skills;
• excellent proficiency in Persian and English;
• a strong motivation to contribute as a qualitative researcher in an interdisciplinary project and collaborate with researchers conducting quantitative (survey) and normative (philosophical) research;
• previous studies/research on Iran, non-religion, atheism, or visual culture, and familiarity with material religion studies are an asset;
• willing to move to Utrecht or a nearby location in the Netherlands and work as an active, present researcher at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies;
• due to the sensitivity of the topic, we prefer a candidate who does not intend to travel to Iran.

Our offer

We offer:

• a fulltime position for a total of four years in Utrecht, the Netherlands;
• after 18 months a positive evaluation will give green light for an extension for the remaining period of 30 months, to the total of four years;
• a working week of 38 hours and a gross monthly salary between €2,901 and €3,707 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale P of the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.