Art Histories and Aesthetic Practices – Call for Applications


The Berlin-based FORUM TRANSREGIONALE STUDIEN invites scholars to apply for up to ten postdoctoral fellowships within the framework of the research program ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES for the academic year 2014/2015.

ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES is designed to open up the disciplinary boundaries of art history to a transcultural, global horizon. By creating a space of dialogue for scholars from all continents and regions, it aims to discuss the potentials and contours of a plural art history. It especially invites scholars from African, Asian, European, Islamic and Latin American art histories to join the program but also addresses neighbouring disciplines such as archaeology and other fields dealing with the history of visual cultures. ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES analyses the connectivity of larger historical spaces in a transregional perspective and investigates artistic production, aesthetic practices and the history of artifacts in a comparative approach, experimenting with new methodologies and forms of collaborative research. The concept of AESTHETIC PRACTICES introduced by this program, invites to study artifacts with their biographies as well as processes of transfer and transformation in a transcultural and “postglobal” perspective. The program has no chronological or geographical constraints. It collaborates with the museums of Berlin, the Berlin universities, as well as other universities, and aims at an intense interaction of art historical institutions. Its scholarly environment is designed to enable and encourage both fellows and the wider community to explore transregional approaches to the history of visual cultures and aesthetic practices.

For more detailed information about the program please visit the website: www.arthistories.de

ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES is an initiative of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence (KHI), Max-Planck-Institute and located at the FORUM TRANSREGIONALE STUDIEN. ART HISTORIES is directed by Hannah Baader and Gerhard Wolf and cooperates with the program “Connecting Art Histories in the Museum” (Berlin State Museums/KHI Florenz).

Candidates

Applicants should have obtained their doctorate within the last seven years (before their application). We welcome applications from all continents and regions, with various disciplinary backgrounds, such as art histories, archaeologies and all relevant neighboring fields dealing with artifacts, artistic production, and aesthetic practices relating to objects, images and architectures. Applicants should be interested to engage in reflexive and transdisciplinary research. ART HISTORIESFellows are given the opportunity to pursue their individual research projects within a transdisciplinary and transregional context. They are expected to engage in the program activities, such as regular seminars, workshops, conferences and a travelling seminar. In the overall context of the ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES program and the framework of the FORUM TRANSREGIONALE STUDIEN, the fellows will be part of a creative, intellectually stimulating, discursive environment.

Fellowships

The fellowhip starts on 1 October 2014 and ends on 31 July 2015. In particular cases, shorter fellowship terms may be considered. Postdoctoral fellows will receive a monthly stipend of € 2.500 plus supplements depending on their personal situation. Organizational support regarding visas, insurances, housing, etc. will be provided. Successful applicants become fellows of the program ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES at the FORUM TRANSREGIONALE STUDIEN and are expected to take up residence in Berlin.

Application Procedure

To apply, please send the following documents exclusively by e-mail as separate word or PDF files:

– a curriculum vitae (in English)
– a project description (no longer than five pages / in English)
– names of two referees (including their e-mail addresses)
– a sample of scholarly work (about 20 pages of an article, conference paper, or dissertation chapter)

The complete application should be submitted latest by:

25 Jan 2014

And addressed to:

Successful candidates will be notified by the end of March, 2014. Information about the current status of the evaluation process will be published on the website: www.arthistories.de

Institutional Framework

ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The research program is integrated in the Berlinbased FORUM TRANSREGIONALE STUDIEN, a research platform that connects systematic and region-specific questions, addressing entanglements and interactions beyond national, cultural or regional frames. The FORUM works in tandem with established institutions and networks that are engaged in transregional studies and is supported by an association of directors of universities, research institutes and networks mostly based in Berlin. It supports four research programs: RECHTSKULTUREN: Confrontations beyond Comparison, ZUKUNFTSPHILOLOGIE: Revisiting the Canons of Textual Scholarship, and EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST—THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE (EUME). The FORUM TRANSREGIONALE STUDIEN cooperates with the Max Weber Stiftung and is funded by a public-private partnership. The Forum applied for new funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for the years 2014 and 2015.

ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES collaborates closely with the following Berlin-based institutions:

– Berlin State Museums, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
– Freie Universität Berlin, Department for Art Histoires
– Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Department of Art and Visual History
– ICI Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry

Contact

ART HISTORIES AND AESTHETIC PRACTICES
c/o Forum Transregionale Studien
Wallotstrasse 14 | 14193 Berlin | Germany