STANOWISKO:  doktorant

Description of tasks to be undertaken by the candidate within the project:

• The PhD candidate will be responsible for implementing the project tasks (preparing and conducting fieldwork, producing theory-based analyses of generated data, writing a PhD dissertation), under a continuous supervision of the PI.
• The PhD candidate will produce the initial theoretical framing of the project, based on literature review and analysis of available secondary data;
• The PhD candidate will prepare the research tools (interviews scenarios, survey composition) in the process of conducting consultation with experienced researchers at home institution (University of Lodz) and host institution (Columbia University), as well as via consultation provided by the Walking as Research Practice Lab at the University of Amsterdam.
• The PhD candidate will also execute the necessary preparatory work for a smooth realization of the extensive fieldwork; this will include identification of research sites for participant observation and walking interviews, as well as establishing contacts with local agents who would facilitate recruitment of research participants;
• The PhD candidate will conduct fieldwork research, including walking interviews, sit-down follow-up interviews, expert interviews, survey, and participant observation; Data gathered in the process will be transcribed and coded, to facilitate production of final research results;
• The PhD candidate will elaborate the final conceptual framework of the research project and will produce a fieldwork-based and theory-informed case study of the Nablus area.
• The PhD candidate will also (co)produce the tangible project’s results: 2 articles in academic journals, 2 individual conference presentations, and a manuscript of the PhD dissertation;
• The PhD candidate will be obliged to go through the recruitment procedure to the Doctoral School of Social Sciences at the University of Lodz;
• The PhD candidate will be obliged to apply for the 6-month secondment period at the Columbia University in the City of New York, within the NAWA funding scheme.

The name of the unit: Katedra Badań Kulturowych, Wydział Filologiczny, Uniwersytet Łódzki / Department of Cultural Research, Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz

Position: PhD candidate (Doctoral School of Social Sciences)

Location: Lodz, Poland

Deadline for submission: 15 May 2024, 00:00

Announcement of results: 28 May 2024, 00:00

Form of submission: e-mail (dorota.golanska@uni.lodz.pl)

Requirements:

• MA in Political Science, Ethnography/Anthropology, Oriental Studies, Urban Studies, Human Geography (preferably, with a focus on the Middle East area);
• Good (preferably first-hand) knowledge of the area of Nablus (West Bank) (it is indispensable for the candidate to be familiar with the site in which the fieldwork will be undertaken; there will be a strong preference for a candidate who either is a member of the local community [or has lived there] or has worked in/served as an intern in one of the human rights-oriented organizations active in the area; this remains crucial for the effective implementation of the project’s objectives);
• Enthusiasm for academic work and dedication to the so-called “citizen science” and social justice;
• Fluent command of spoken and written English;
• Communicative command of Arabic, enabling the candidate to conduct fieldwork in this language;
• Good grasp of political science theories; good orientation in feminist theory and feminist approaches to knowledge production; experience in conducting interviews (experience in working with “walking interviews” methodology will be an additional asset) and familiarity with ethnographic research methods; experience in working with qualitative and quantitative data;
• Good writing skills (especially in English);
• Knowledge of MS Office tools and familiarity with software for qualitative data analysis (e.g., MAXQDA, NVivo, ATLASti).

Summary of the project:

Located at the intersection of political science, political geography, urban studies, and conflict studies, this project interrogates the processes of production of public space under the conditions of protracted occupation. Its major objective is to investigate the ways in which Palestinians endeavor to improve their well-being through (grassroots) interventions in, and uses of, public space. Through the case study of the Nablus area (located in the occupied territory of the West Bank), the project examines the situated negotiations of spatial policies (both top-down and bottom-up) in the context of severe limitations imposed by the Israeli occupation-related presence in the region. While space remains a target of both military and civilian Israeli strategies, Palestinians mobilize to regain at least partial control over it through specific uses of, and (informal) interventions in, public spaces, for the purpose of improving their day-to-day existence.

The project builds on scholarship engaging with the notions of space/spatial justice on the one hand, and on works interrogating the relationship between the public space and people’s well-being, on the other. It also draws on research on urban policies and urbicidal violence in the West Bank. In an innovative fashion, the research engages with fieldwork-based ethnographies of occupation, exposing the embodied and context-specific aspects of enduring violence. Through the intersectional focus on the contingent processes of spatialization in the examined area, the project explores the situated lived practices mobilized by the disadvantaged community, substantially adding to the analysis of power relations resulting from the protracted Israeli occupation of the West Bank area. The project also innovates by investigating the issue of well-being in the context of a prolonged conflict. Studies of well-being predominantly examine spaces from which large-scale (international) conflict is absent; they tend to focus on factors enhancing well-being, whereas exploration of the elements that have negative impact on it remains modest. The project fills this gap in research, examining (from an intersectional, feminism-informed perspective) the well-being as experienced by members of a community living under protracted occupation, and by focusing on the significantly understudied urban area of Nablus. As such, the research will add to the extant scholarship within the (feminist) political geography, political science, conflict studies, and urban studies by offering a fieldwork-based insights on gendered strategies of living under, and countering, occupation, which is an issue neglected in current scholarship. It will also contribute to such fields as settler colonial studies and studies of space-based activism. The research will progress though application of a mix-method approach, relying on an analysis of qualitative and quantitative data gathered via ethnographic tools. Conducted interviews and survey will be complemented with information gathered through extensive participant observation. Based on that, the project will elaborate a theory-informed and fieldwork-based case study, that could serve as a point of reference for further research in the field.

Conditions:

The project will be implemented at the University of Lodz, Faculty of Philology and the Doctoral School of Social Sciences

It is funded within the National Science Center, PRELUDIUM BIS-5 HS5 call

The Principal Investigator: dr hab. Dorota Golańska, Associate Professor

Required documents:

The candidate should submit (via e-mail) the following documents (as PDF attachments):

• Cover letter containing a short description of scientific interests and achievements as well as a justification of the intention to undertake work within the research project;
• Curriculum vitae (with current contact details) containing the course of previous education, employment, activist experience, community-dedicated activities;
• The copy of the MA diploma;
• Certificates or other documents proving the level of knowledge of foreign languages (English, Arabic) (if available);
• 1 recommendation letter, preferable from a former supervisor (if available);
• A sample of written text (including those in co-authorship, if available; MA thesis may be attached, if written on a project-related topic or with a use of methodology indicated in the description of tasks);
• The following statement: “I consent to the processing of my personal data for the purposes of the recruitment process (in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act of August 29, 1997, Journal of Laws No. 133, item 883).”

Please send your application to dorota.golanska@uni.lodz.pl by 15 May 2024 with the message subject “PRELUDIUM BIS.”

Incomplete applications will be rejected. The selection committee will evaluate the applications, the selected candidates will be invited to an interview, which will be held in English, via the selected internet platform, after which the chairperson of the selection committee will prepare a protocol containing the name of the candidate recommended for the work in the research project. If additional questions occur, the committee will contact applicants via email.

For additional questions, please contact Dorota Golańska (dorota.golanska@uni.lodz.pl).

28.05.2024