The University of Lucerne is a modern, personal and dynamic human sciences university at the heart of Switzerland and Europe. In keeping with our guiding principle 'Moving Human Sciences', we focus on people and their institutions with our six faculties and two academies, soon to be joined by two university research centres. Our aim is to develop the University of Lucerne into a pioneering, internationally visible centre for research and teaching in the human sciences. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, with its ten institutes and departments focuses on interdisciplinarity and innovation in research and teaching. The faculty offers its nearly 800 students a range of integrated degree programmes that are unique in Switzerland. We place great emphasis on excellent supervision and on ensuring close links between teaching and research.
As of 1 March 2024 or by agreement, we are advertising a PhD position in History (100 percent): “Microcomputer Narratives of Transformation”. This position is part of a project founded by a Starting Grant Fellowship by the Swiss National Science Foundation titled “The Microcomputer as a Medium of Transformation, 1980–2000”. Project leader is Ass.-Prof. Dr. Gleb J. Albert. The team, consisting of three persons, aims at analysing the role of the microcomputer in the political, economic and social upheaval in the 1980s and 1990s in East and West Europe from the perspective of cultural, economic and media history.
The PhD position constitutes the sub-project «Microcomputer Narratives of Transformation». Based on analogue and digital sources, the PhD project should explore how the economic and political transformation processes in East and West (such as the neoliberal turn, Thatcherism, entrepreneurial self-fashioning, perestroika/glasnost, popular-cultural anticommunism, opposition and resistance against communism in the Eastern Bloc, political and economic transformation after 1990/91) were reflected, processed and narrated in early digital media (such as commercial and amateur-made computer games, digital magazines, or demos). At the same time, the project should accommodate the influence of these transformation processes on the production and popularisation of such media. Within this rough frame, individual focal points and priorities are possible. The project is situated on the crossroads of media history, cultural history, game and media studies. An interest in media-archaeological approaches is beneficial.
Tasks
- Undertaking research employing literature and archival materials and completing a PhD thesis in the thematic area specified above
- Taking part in organising and conducting academic events within the overarching project
Requirements
- MA, MPhil in history or an equivalent qualification
- Solid basic expertise in media history, software studies, game studies or a comparable field relevant to the envisioned research
- Interest in digital history, the history of computerisation and the history of digital games
- Experience in working with digital sources, or motivation to acquire such experience
- Skills in teamwork, enthusiasm for research, and a high degree of self-organisation and capability to work autonomously
- Residence in Switzerland for the duration of the project and regular presence at the workplace
We offer
- A four-year employment in a PhD position salaried according to SNSF standards (CHF 47,980.00 gross salary in the first year with gradual increases in the following years)
- A workplace at the university and funding for research expenses (archival trips, conferences)
- Supervision of the dissertation, career training and regular exchange within the project team and within the research colloquium of the Department of History
- The opportunity to co-organise two international workshops/conferences and to participate in an international congress
- The opportunity to enter into interdisciplinary exchange within the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Lucerne (GSL)
Application
Your application should include:
- A motivation letter, describing your profile and your interest in the project (max. 2 pages)
- A preliminary outline with your own ideas on how to develop and concretise the topic of the sub-project (max. 2 pages)
- A CV, detailing your education and career path, your language skills, your publications (if available) etc. (max. 3 pages)
- Copy of your MA/MPhil thesis and, if available, a copy of the supervisor's report. In case your thesis is not handed in yet, please provide an extensive research paper written in the course of your MA studies as well as an outline of your thesis project
- Transcripts of past higher education experiences (BA, MA)
- Contact details for two academic referees
Please contact Ass.-Prof. Dr. Gleb J. Albert (gleb.albert@unilu.ch) for further information.
Please submit your application by September 30, 2023 online at https://www.unilu.ch/en/university/personnel/human-resources-department/vacancies/phd-position-in-history-100-the-microcomputer-as-a-medium-of-political-communication-1917355/.