Postdoctoral researcher MAKEBELIEF - Meertens

Postdoctoral Researcher MAKEBELIEF - Meertens

The ERC project MAKEBELIEF: The Religious Politics of Theme Parks investigates how in the 21st century, immersive media are mobilized to ‘imagineer’ religion. In order to do so, the project provides a comparative analysis of religious theme parks and museums in the Netherlands, China, Turkey, and the United States. The Meertens Institute offers a position within this project for a postdoctoral researcher MAKEBELIEF: Imagineering Religion and Religious Heritage in the Netherlands (0.7 fte) for 3 years

What you will be doing

You will work as a postdoctoral researcher in an interdisciplinary team of researchers. Your research will focus on the use of immersive media to ‘imagineer’ religion and heritage in the Netherlands. In particular, you will be tasked with researching how themed environments, including theme parks and museums, attempt to influence how people think and feel and how these attempts to influence people are experienced, embraced, or contested by audiences. You will conduct ethnographic fieldwork in the Netherlands as well as participate in collaborative research endeavors with other team members.

What you will be contributing

• You will participate in a research team that conducts ethnographic fieldwork in theme parks, museums, and heritage sites across the globe.
• You will write academic articles within the scope of this project, focusing on religion and the use of immersive media in the Netherlands. Your contribution to the project will be your emphasis on how audiences experience attempts to imagineer religion and heritage.
• You have a PhD in Religious Studies, Anthropology, Media Studies, or Cultural Studies (or similar disciplines). Candidates who have experience with ethnographic fieldwork are particularly invited to apply.
• You have a working proficiency in Dutch.

For more information

Please contact: Dr. Ernst van den Hemel, principal investigator of MAKEBELIEF and senior researcher at the Meertens Institute / NL Lab: ernst.van.den.hemel2@meertens.knaw.nl

About Meertens
The Meertens Institute, together with the International Institute of Social History and the Huygens ING, is part of the KNAW Humanities Cluster. This is a partnership in which research in the humanities (history, ethnology, literature, linguistics) is carried out using advanced methods, in which computer science plays an important role.

The Meertens Institute is a national institute for research and documentation of the Dutch language and culture, and language and culture in the Netherlands. It consists of the research groups Ethnology and Variational Linguistics, both of which hold leading positions in international research on everyday language and culture.

Diversity & Inclusion
The KNAW considers a working environment in which everyone feels welcome and appreciated of great importance. A working environment in which attention is paid to individual quality and where development opportunities are paramount. Together we strive for an inclusive culture in which we embrace differences. We would therefore like to invite candidates who want to contribute to this through their background and experience. In the event of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who thus enhances diversity within the Academy.