The John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities at Haverford College invites applications for a two-year, full-time Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship to begin Fall 2024. We seek a scholar interested in global and/or comparative studies of race and ethnicity. We are interested in all geographical areas and time periods, including work that may bring us beyond the modern period and the trans-Atlantic world while engaging with postcolonial and critical theories developed in the past two centuries. Candidates may have a wide range of theoretical and interdisciplinary interests, such as history, anthropology, religious studies, literature, visual and performance studies, philosophy, studies of gender and sexuality, and area studies (Asian, African, Latin American, and/or American Studies).

During the first year of the program, the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow will participate in a faculty seminar on “The Black Pacific” led by Guangtian Ha (Religion) and Ruodi Duan (History/East Asian Languages and Cultures), which will bring together faculty from a variety of disciplines. The seminar will interrogate the possibilities of the “Black Pacific” as an analytical and geographic category to understand contested formations of race, ethnicity, and gender across national, regional, and continental framings. The questions we will explore include: How did European colonialism and its afterlives alter or amplify indigenous Asian-Pacific ideas about race, Blackness, and anti-Blackness? How have Pacific Islander histories, cultures, and mobilities mediated modern notions of racial difference and Black identities? What forms of anti-racist thought and praxis might be generated by an expansive interrogation of racial ideologies within and across the Pacific? 

In the second year of the fellowship, the Fellow will organize and present a spring symposium related to their scholarly field funded by the Hurford Center. During each of their four semesters at Haverford College, the Fellow will teach one course at the introductory/intermediate level or advanced level and engage a diverse student body. While the Fellow is under no obligation to organize any additional activities – they are to focus on their own writing and protect their time – we encourage the Fellow to make use of our proximity to Philadelphia and engage with artists, activists, and intellectuals in the Greater Philadelphia area and through these connections, enrich the seminar. 

The fellow will have an office in the interdisciplinary VCAM (Visual Culture Arts and Media) building, the College's 24/7 creative hub for students, faculty, staff, and the wider community. Home to Haverford's Visual Studies Program, the Haverford Innovations Program, and the John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities, VCAM features a host of flexible spaces for teaching and making, including a Film/Media Edit Studio, Maker Arts Space, two Create Spaces, Artist Residency Studio, Object Study/Media Production Classroom, and exhibitions spaces. 

Candidates who have earned their Ph.D. no earlier than 2019 and will have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. by May 1, 2024, are eligible to apply. Candidates should submit application materials via Interfolio (https://apply.interfolio.com/134123). Materials should include a cover letter, C.V., and a syllabus for an advanced undergraduate seminar.

All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on January 8, 2024.

Questions about the program can be directed to Kelly Jung (hjung1 [at] haverford.edu). For technical questions or assistance, please contact Interfolio directly at 1-877-997-8807 or help [at] interfolio.com. 

Haverford College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and providing equal opportunities and access to all individuals regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, disability, or veteran status. Women, non-binary and transgender individuals, people of color, Indigenous people, and those with other or multiple historically marginalized and/or underrepresented identities are especially encouraged to apply. Haverford College and our consortial partners are located on Lenape lands.