George W. Bush Institute Post-Doctoral Fellowship

The William P. Clements Department of History and the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University invite applications and nominations for the SMU-George W. Bush Institute Post-Doctoral Fellowship, an appointment that will begin September 1, 2023. This is an opportunity to be involved in the launch of a new Global Oral History of PEPFAR project, as well as for the fellow to advance their skills in oral history and learn with a committed community of historians, librarians, and archivists.

The astronomical successes of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief are many—but as a 2021 UNAIDS report points out, “progress towards ending AIDS among children, adolescents and young women has stalled and none of the targets for 2020 were met” with the largest treatment gap among women and young girls. The Global Oral History of PEPFAR project seeks to document the subjective experiences of PEPFAR programming with attention to gender and faith-based implementation. This multi-year project should result in an open-access qualitative database of oral history interviews with healthcare workers and educators at the Central Medical Centers, satellite centers, and mobile units; fieldworkers with faith-based orgs and non-profits; and those who accessed treatment and testing. The project will be rolled out in phases, commencing in the DFW area, expanding to South Africa and then elsewhere on the continent.

The fellow will work closely with PIs Jill Kelly, Augusta Dell’Omo, and Brian Franklin, as well as the broader oral history community at SMU. This intellectual collective includes scholars and professionals, making links between the university and the city, state, nation, and abroad. This includes the Voices of SMU Oral History team of librarians, graduate research assistants, and undergraduate research assistants; the postdoctoral fellows affiliated to the Center for Presidential History and its Collective Memory Project; and the Clements Department of History faculty, staff, and students. Our scholar-practitioners have partnered with the Dallas Mexican American Historical League, Remembering Black Dallas, and the George W. Bush Institute for events, workshops, and trainings. We present our work at local and national venues, including the Texas Oral History Association, the Southwest Oral History Association, and the Oral History Association. Our student team members have published their work in Sound Historian.

The successful candidate’s scholarly work should engage with some portion of the broad mission of the planned PEPFAR project. The fellow will have opportunities to develop skills as a scholar and collaborator and be mentored by faculty and staff. Their time will be split between their own research and writing (fifty percent) and the furthering of the Global Oral History of PEPFAR (fifty percent). The successful applicant, as part of the team, would be responsible for tasks related to DFW-based interviews: setting up and building networks for interviews, creating questionnaires, conducting interviews, and transcribing and storing conducted interviews. They will contribute to literature reviews for the project planning for the next stages in South Africa and beyond, and assist in expansion with external funding applications. The position is guaranteed for only one-year, but the team will make aggressive efforts to fund additional years.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Completed PhD in History, Women/Gender Studies, or Medical Humanities-related field
• Expertise in public health, gender, and/or Africa

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience with federal and private grant applications
• Demonstrated experience with oral history methodology, project design, and implementation

Applications must be submitted via Interfolio on the attached link http://apply.interfolio.com/127147 and should include:

• Cover letter highlighting the candidate’s qualifications
• Complete curriculum vitae
• Writing sample (article or chapter-length)
• Contact information for three letters of reference.

Women, minorities, veterans and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Review of applications will begin  July 21, 2023. To ensure full consideration for the position, the application must be received by July 21, 2023, but the committee will continue to accept applications until the position is filled. The committee will notify applicants of its employment decisions after the position is filled. Hiring is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of a background check.

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