The Role
The Department of Geography at Durham University seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Associate for 33 months to work on the research project ‘Occupation Debris: Participatory Practices and Decolonisation of Archaeology in Palestine-Israel’. Occupation Debris is led by Dr Noam Leshem and funded under the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and runs from January 15th 2023 to December 31st 2025. The project seeks new ways to enable displaced communities, who are physically unable to access their ancestral lands, to renew a sense of ownership over their tangible cultural heritage and assert their agency over its use. The successful candidate will join an existing team of researchers in the UK and the Middle East, and will lead a participatory research process with members of a displaced Palestinian community in Lebanon. The process will make use of an emerging material archive from the first-ever archaeological excavation of a depopulated Palestinian village, and will work closely with members of the community to consider how this archive might be used. This will be carried out with close collaboration with the Institute for Palestine Studies in Beirut, the project partner in Lebanon.
The post holder will help the PI and other members of the team to design a 2-year participatory process with community members in Lebanon, and will be responsible for leading and executing a series of workshops, outreach and dissemination activities.
Responsibilities
- To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences and publications.
- To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include: research sponsors, academic and non-academic audiences.
- To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.
- To assist with the development of research objectives and proposals.
- To conduct individual and collaborative research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.
- To work with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio.
- To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions.
- To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.
- To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects.
- To deliver training in research techniques/approaches to peers, visitors and students as appropriate.
- To be involved in student supervision, as appropriate, and assist with the assessment of the knowledge of students.
- To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
- To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.
- To engage in continuing professional development by participation in the undergraduate or postgraduate teaching programmes or by membership of departmental committees, etc. and by attending relevant training and development courses.
- To work with the rest of the Occupation Debris team to co-ordinate the successful management of the project and the timely production of deliverables.
- To help design and lead a participatory programme of activities with participants in Lebanon and develop pathways for dissemination.
- To conduct literature reviews on decolonial practice, cultural history and settler colonial societies.
Qualifications
- A PhD (or be close to submission) in Geography or a related subject, including for example Anthropology, Sociology, Area Studies, Development Studies, Political Science, and Archaeology.
Experience
- Experience in conducting high quality academic research.
- Demonstrable ability to write material of a quality commensurate with publication in highly-ranked journals.
- Demonstrable ability to present research papers at international conferences and communicate complex information to specialists and within the wider academic community.
- Demonstrable ability to plan and manage independent research.
- Demonstrable ability to write material of a publishable quality as first author and to work to deadlines
- A demonstrated record of curiosity-driven research and innovation.
Organisation
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
Location
Research field
Deadline
09th December 2022
Leave a Reply