Candidate profile
The professor will conduct practice-oriented research on cultural diversity and its impact on international arts and creative work.

The notion of ‘cultural diversity’ is positioned in between aesthetic strategies, political action and socio-economic development. In each of these, it has undergone different developments and obtained different meanings. ‘Cultural diversity’ has consequently become a somewhat vague term while remaining an urgent issue. It is closely linked to the diversity of populations in neoliberal economies, the transformation of big cities through labor migration and shifting demographics, issues of employment and—in the particular context of Creating 010—the role of creative workers and the status of the arts: contestation of the Western canon, shifts of contemporary visual art towards transnational visual cultures, hybridisation of artistic practice, the role of globalized creative industries/economies.

All these developments have far-reaching consequences for artistic practice and professions. The applied research professor will conduct practice-oriented research on this subject, and initiate projects in collaboration with students, tutors and external parties. S/he will also be available as an advisor for curricular reforms at the school, the municipality of Rotterdam, non-profits and commercial parties.

The professor:
is an expert in contemporary cultural, postcolonial and migration studies;

is professionally involved in cutting edge developments of contemporary art and creative labour in their relation to migration and globalisation;

has practical experience in (interdisciplinary) projects with artists and/or designers;

is skilled in translating theory into practice;

is skilled in communicating issues and solutions to diverse audiences and different research and work disciplines;

is socially engaged;

has obtained (or will soon obtain) a Ph.D. degree, or has an equivalent research portfolio.

Rotterdam University (Hogeschool Rotterdam)
Rotterdam University, a university of applied sciences, is an institute of higher education based in and focused on the Rotterdam region in the Netherlands. Our objectives are: excellence in education, research and development for the region, higher qualifications and social opportunity for more people, and the facilitation of life-long learning. With its eleven schools and six research centers, Rotterdam University is dedicated to meeting these objectives (see here).

The professor will work in the research center Creating 010.

Creating 010
Creating 010 is a center for practice-oriented research on—and in support of—artists, designers and media/IT specialists in the Rotterdam region. It focuses on innovative practices and developments in the creative sector, such as in new media and information technology, visual culture, community arts, social design and service design.

Creating 010 is closely affiliated to the Willem de Kooning Academy including Piet Zwart Institute, and the Institute for Media and Information Technology of Rotterdam University. We research contemporary transformations of creative professions (rather than traditional structures of arts, design and technology) and foster new networks between artists/designers and partners from other work and knowledge disciplines.

Creating 010′s projects are focused on the Rotterdam region, but its network and research is strongly international.

Our offer
Rotterdam University offers a work contract for the period of one year (D4 cao-hbo). On the basis of the professor’s research programme, the work contract may be extended for another period of two or three years. The maximum overall work period of an applied research professor (‘lector’) is four years. Applied research professors fall into the university’s job group ‘education and research.’ The salary will be on Dutch public service tariff (‘schaal’) no. 15 which amounts to a gross income of 4,484–6,259 Euro for a full time position, plus 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-the-year bonus. Furthermore, we offer excellent training opportunities and an attractive pension plan.

Information
If you have more questions, please contact Florian Cramer, director of Creating 010, phone number +31-10-794 47 25, E-Mail: J.J.F.Cramer@hr.nl.

Please send your application (motivation letter, CV and publication list) to creating010@hr.nl by 20th October 2012.

*Image above: Adrian Piper, It’s Just Art, 1980. Performance documentation. #4 of 15 black and white photographs, silver gelatin print on baryte paper, black Pentel marker, 11 13/16 x 8 1/4 inches (30 x 21 cm). Collection of the Adrian Piper Research Archive Foundation Berlin. © APRA Foundation Berlin. Photo credit: Ralph Neri. Reproduced with kind permission.