Postdoctoral - project on Cultural Democracy and Arts Education

About the position

Are you ambitious and want to perform pioneering research on intercultural and transcultural competence? Do you have experience researching arts education? Do you want to become an important part of a large and collaborative transdisciplinary project?

The Faculty of Education and Arts at Nord University have a 100 % fixed-term position as a Postdoctoral researcher  in our new project on transcultural competence in arts education. Will you join us?

The position is available for a period of 3 years, starting February 2025. 

The position is connected to the research and innovation project “Intercultural and Transcultural Competence Through Collaborative Cultural Expression” (INTRACOMP), funded by the European Commission. The project is a collaborative effort involving a consortium of five research universities and seven civil society partners.

The purpose of the position is to support and strengthen the institution's research related to transcultural arts education, as well as to give researchers with a doctorate an opportunity to qualify for top scientific positions. As a postdoctoral fellow, you will be part of work packages that engage in research across the project’s three-year project.

About the project

Amidst the unprecedented speed and scale of forced migration and climate mobility in Europe, arts in education has a significant role in promoting social inclusion, diversity and cohesion. Addressing unjust and obsolete societal and educational practices that maintain cultural hierarchies, divisions and exclusions within arts and education, INTRACOMP develops methods, digital resources and frameworks for advancing Intercultural and Transcultural Competence (ITC) in lifelong learning in Cultural Awareness and Expression. Aligned with NEB, ITC inspires “Together” and “Beautiful” through collaborations on innovative, meaningful, complex and temporary expressions of culture, and enables arts learners to continually transform paradigms and social behaviours. INTRACOMP empowers this disposition and capability through the research and innovation of a viable competence framework (for individuals, groups, organisations and systems) that identifies, evidences, evaluates and scaffolds ITC in performing arts education, from ECE to tertiary and community contexts. 

To achieve this, the transdisciplinary INTRACOMP consortium explores ITC within diverse societal locations in Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe, through partners situated in cultural organizations and tertiary institutions in Norway, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Italy, the UK, Serbia, Slovakia, Greece and Hungary. INTRACOMP partners in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea provide further opportunities to extend these education and community arts interventions in the Global South, questioning Eurocentric assumptions regarding ITC, acculturative stress and arts in education. The resulting ITC Framework provides learners, teachers, groups and organisations with a common reference point for ITC and its complex internal dimensions and proficiency levels. Through this integrated and multi-pronged approach, arts in education will enhance the inclusion and ITC of all children and young people in Europe and beyond.

You will be embedded within the project led by Professor Nicholas Rowe, and work closely with Professor Wenche Rønning and the INTRACOMP team at Nord.

The position will be based in Levanger or Bodø, Norway at Nord University. Some travel activity must be expected within Europe.

Duties and responsibilities

As Post-Doc Researcher you will mostly be involved in research (80 %) but will also have the chance to join the project management and outreach activities (20%). Your tasks include:

•  studying the literature and policies on arts education, acculturation, migration and collaboration;
•  applying social scientific concepts like intercultural theory, social constructivism, and systems theory;
•  deploying qualitative methods to conduct empirical work on sites of participatory arts, in formal and non-formal education;
•  working with community artists and academics from Norway, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Italy, the UK, Serbia, Slovakia, Greece, Hungary, Aotearoa New Zealand and Papua New Guinea to develop cultural democracy;
•  supporting training of trainers within the project to support their contributions to the research;           
•  building trusted academic and civil society networks to achieve project deliverables and goals;
•  developing creative outreach on the projects findings including policy briefs, podcasts, community workshops and more based on the candidates skills and interests;
•  regular publishing the results in peer-reviewed journals;
•  supporting the project lead with project management tasks (e.g., organize project meetings, conduct interviews with media, initiate collaborations).

Qualification requirements and skills

• a successful PhD in creative arts, arts education, education, cultural studies, social sciences or related disciplines;
• a good track record of internationally recognized peer-reviewed publications;
• experience with ethnography or other methods suited to study the social relational dimensions of creative arts;
• experience as practitioner in arts education is a bonus;
• excellent communication, writing and organizational skills and are able to work both independently and in a team environment;  a willingness to do international fieldwork in Europe;

• fluency in English at C1 level.

  It is assumed that the person employed will be able to complete the project during the employment period.

Qualified applicants will be ranked according to the following criteria:

• Submitted project outline and professional profile, interest in the project and the quality of publications and submitted written works 
• Personal suitability will be emphasized
• The applicant's motivation for applying for the position  
• Good oral and written presentation skills in English
•  Professionally oriented research and development work is central to our faculty. It is important that the person employed is prepared to orient herself/himself towards profession-specific issues

We offer

The position is compensated according to government regulations, code 1352 Postdoctoral Fellow. Salary by agreement. 

• Advantages within the Government Pension Fund for borrowing, insurance and pension
• Creative and collegial working environment 
• A workplace with steady progressive development 
• Flexible working hours 
• Active university sports team 

General information

The person who is appointed must abide by the applicable laws, agreements, and directives. The responsibilities and duties associated with the position may change with future reorganization at Nord University.

The public sector workforce is expected to reflect the diversity of the population in general. Nord University therefore encourages qualified candidates with disabilities, gaps in their CV, immigrant backgrounds or different life experience to apply for the position.

If applicants indicate that they have disabilities or gaps in their CV, their details may be used anonymously for the purposes of governmental annual review.

Contact information

Further information about the position can be obtained by contacting :

•  Project Leader Professor Nicholas Rowe, n.rowe@auckland.ac.nz and nicholas.rowe@nord.no 
•  Project Manager Hanne Silje Hauge, hanne.s.hauge@nord.no   

Application process

Applicants will be evaluated by an expert committee. 

Short-listed applicants will be called for an interview and trial lecture. These will be decisive for the appointment.

The faculty notes that it reserves the right not to hire applicants who are scientifically qualified but do not meet other criteria such as language proficiency, pedagogical abilities, research experience, or personal qualities.

Application

Applications must be submitted online by the closing date of 24.11.2024.

All documentation to be considered is to be uploaded as attachments to the application. 

The electronic application must contain:

•  Cover letter with a description of your motivation for applying for the position
•  Complete CV summarizing education, positions held, teaching and research experience, publications, administrative experience and other qualifying activities
•  Copies of diplomas, transcripts and certificates, including the doctoral dissertation and transcripts from Bachelor, Master and doctoral degrees
•  Complete copies of up to 5 of the most relevant publications / academic works that the applicant wishes to be considered, along with a list of those submitted. The doctoral dissertation should be included
•  Documentation of other activities which the applicant considers relevant to the position and desires to be considered in the assessment  A project outline in English with a plan for the research work of 2 pages maximum (excluding reference list) must be attached to the application.
• The project plan can be motivated by the prompts: What is the challenge of integrating cultural democracy into the curricula? Or: What is the role of community arts organisations and arts teachers in schools to advance cultural democracy? The project plan must contain a description of the research idea and plan for progress for the various parts of the research work and a publication plan
•  Contact information for 2-3 referees

Complete documentation in electronic form must be submitted by the closing date for applications.

Applicants with education from countries outside Scandinavia with diplomas issued in a language other than English, must enclose witnessed diplomas in both the original language and authorized English translations

Ref.nr. 30224394