Tag: Utrecht University

Utrecht U: Studentship: Recognizing Multicultural Strengths of Youth via Social Networks at Work (Netherlands)

“Studentships“PhD Studentship: Recognizing Multicultural Strengths of Youth via Social Networks at Work, Utrecht University, Netherlands. Deadline: 17 August 2025.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences is looking for a PhD candidate to study social and psychological factors that influence youths’ transition to the labor market.

In the Netherlands, adolescents with a migration background are less likely to find (adequate) internships and first-time jobs compared to their peers without a migration background. To date, research primarily tends to focus on how a multicultural background can lead to difficulties when entering the labor market, including more discrimination, less social support, and fewer relevant working experiences compared to monocultural peers. In the current project, we take a novel approach by examining the recognition of beneficial strengths that adolescents with a migration background may bring to the labor market.

People growing up in difficult conditions develop enhanced abilities, not despite, but precisely because of their challenging experiences. Research suggests that by navigating and negotiating diverse cultural contexts, multicultural individuals can gain rich knowledge and valuable skills (e.g., perspective taking, flexibility, creativity) that can benefit youth in their internships and jobs. Yet, how does the recognition of multicultural strengths emerge among migrant youth? Do employers also recognize and value such multicultural strength among migrant youth? And can the recognition of multicultural strengths be leveraged by both youth and employers to increase chances on the labor market?

This PhD project consists of two research objectives.

Objective 1: examining how social networks contribute to the recognition of multicultural strengths in multicultural youth and potential employers. Social networks refer to the web of social relationships individuals are embedded in, such as connections with friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances. These networks are not merely sources of emotional support but play a central role in influencing attitudes and perceptions, as well as migrants’ chances on the labor market. You will collect ego-centric network data using a novel visualized network-data collection tool specifically designed to survey complex personal networks.

Objective 2: examining the effect of recognizing multicultural strengths among multicultural youth and potential employers on the labor market integration of multicultural youth. You will design experiments to test the direct influence of a) adolescents’ recognition of their multicultural strengths on job-related emotion, motivation and behavior and b) employers’ recognition of multicultural strengths on job applications from multicultural youth.

The project will be supervised by Verena Seibel (Interdisciplinary Social Science), Sheida Novin (Development Psychology), and Tobias Stark (Interdisciplinary Social Science), an interdisciplinary team, combining insights from sociology, developmental psychology, and social psychology.

Utrecht U: Cancelling as a Postcolonial Strategy for Repairing Cultural Heritage (Netherlands)

“Studentships“Ph.D. in Cancelling as a Postcolonial Strategy for Repairing Cultural Heritage, Utrecht University, Netherlands. Deadline: 15 August 2024.

The Department of Media and Culture Studies is looking for a PhD candidate for a project that delves into the meaning and applications of canceling practices within antiracist and decolonial movements. The specific focus is on cancelling as a reparative strategy aimed at addressing the enduring impact of historical injustices in the present. Termed ‘reparative canceling,’ these practices seek to rectify symbols, art, knowledge, cultural heritage, and ingrained cultural norms that are deemed harmful and unjust, thus perpetuating the legacy of colonial history.

You will investigate how reparative cancelling of cultural heritage is performed within antiracist and decolonial activism in both postcolonial (Global South) and post-imperial (Global North) societies. Specifically, it will scrutinise the foundations, justifications, reparative outcomes, and potential drawbacks of the diverse canceling strategies employed by contemporary antiracist and decolonial publics to engage with memory and cultural heritage.

The project will address the following sub-research questions:
* Where does the ‘right to cancel’ stand in relation to the ‘right of memory’ and the preservation of cultural heritage?
* How is the emergence of decolonial and antiracist counter-narratives and counter-memories facilitated by reparative cancelling?

You will tackle these questions by analysing chosen case studies encompassing a range of reparative cancelling practices, such as suppressing/banning, removing/displacing, renaming, and blacklisting/censoring, situated in different geographic locations – namely two postcolonial contexts and two post-imperial contexts.

Utrecht U: Intercultural Communication (Netherlands)

“JobChair (Full Professor) of Intercultural Communication, Department of Languages, Literature and Communication, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Deadline: November 7, 2021.

Utrecht University is looking to fill the Professorship of Intercultural Communication (ICC). The Chair is positioned in the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication of the Faculty of Humanities. The department focuses on the study of Western European languages and cultures in a global context. The research domain of the Chair lies within the broad field of multilingualism, focusing on the linguistic interaction between speakers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in diverse and inclusive societies. The Chair plays a leading role in the department’s research in ICC, which intertwines the fields of linguistics (Utrecht Institute of Linguistics) and cultural and literary studies (Institute for Cultural Enquiry). The Chair is responsible for the one-year ICC Master’s program, which attracts around 50 students a year. The Chair maintains close relations with colleagues in all language sections (German, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Language & Communication) of the department.

Utrecht U: Media, Arts & Society (The Netherlands)

“JobAssistant Professor in Media, Arts & Society, Department of Media and Culture Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Deadline: 15 August 2021.

The Department of Media and Culture Studies invites applications for an Assistant Professorship in Media, Arts & Society, starting January 1, 2022 (earlier is negotiable). The appointment includes 30 percent research time. The candidate is expected to actively contribute to the research agenda of Media and Culture Studies and to participate in research collaboration within the department and beyond.

For this position, the Department is looking for candidates who contribute to research into the role of media, art and technology in contemporary culture, questions about the impact of the algorithmic turn on various cultural, artistic and social practices, and forms of knowledge production, and into the role of the humanities in responding to contemporary cultural transformations and societal challenges. Of specific interest to the Department are candidates who will contribute to trans- and interdisciplinary research agendas around participatory practices and civic engagement, and/or critical perspectives for fostering diversity and justice in our mediatized society.