JHI-CDHI Digital Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Jackman Humanities Institute (JHI) at the University of Toronto, in partnership with the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI), offers a twelve-month Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities, with a project that fits the JHI’s annual theme, Dystopia and Trust.

Deadline for Applications: November 28, 2024 at 4:00pm EST

2025-26: Dystopia and Trust

A new millennium, rapid advances in science and technology, and a new determination to fight social injustice could have encouraged dreams of utopia. Instead, as though from the predictable plot of some pulp sci-fi or true crime story, they seem to have delivered a nightmarish dystopia. Easy information has given way to facile misinformation, the promise of solidarity to faction and polarization, democracy to authoritarianism, supremacism, and the kleptocracy of the 1%. People all over the world have lost trust, not only in many major institutions of societies, but also in each other. Are these trends reversible? Can widespread political and social trust be achieved, within and across societies? If not, with what consequence? If so, how should the subjective, social scientific, and philosophical dimensions of our dystopia be analyzed and re-imagined? What possible utopia has our dystopia, if it is one, betrayed?

The JHI-CDHI DH Postdoctoral Fellowship is a twelve-month position, from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 supervised by Professor Elspeth Brown (Faculty Director of CDHI and Assistant Professor of Historical Studies) and Alison Keith (University Professor of Classics and Director of the Jackman Humanities Institute). The JHI-CDHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow may seek additional research supervision from within U of T according to their own interests. They will have access to an office, equipment and collaborative digital working space at JHI. This fellowship award provides an annual stipend of $71,275 (CAD) plus benefits. The incumbent is welcome to seek up to two one-semester courses as a sessional instructor with the appropriate unit(s) at the University of Toronto. The JHI-CDHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will be expected to pursue their own research relevant to the JHI’s annual theme of Dystopia and Trust.

The Critical Digital Humanities Initiative builds research and teaching strengths at the University of Toronto through programming, mentorship, and advocacy. Our vision is to forge a new paradigm of critical digital humanities scholarship, bringing together the humanities’ critique of power and historical perspectives with digital tools for socially transformative research. Our mission is to create a large, active, and inclusive network of digital humanities researchers at U of T and to make U of T a world leader in critical digital humanities research, teaching, and training.

CDHI defines digital humanities broadly, to include both critical praxis and the analysis of digitality. At the University of Toronto, Critical Digital Humanities foregrounds creative praxis, co-creation, public engagement, and community-based research. The JHI-CDHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will have an established track record in their own discipline and/or the digital humanities. They will pursue their own research while at UofT, while working to foster the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative.

Responsibilities

The JHI-CDHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will draw upon their disciplinary expertise and upon training provided by the JHI, CDHI, and UofT Libraries to connect and strengthen DH projects across the tricampus university. Specifically, depending on their own skillset and research interests, the JHI DH Postdoctoral Fellow will spend 15 hours per week as a member of the CDHI Executive Team, where they will:

• Run regular roundtables and workshops on digital humanities topics
• Edit the bi-weekly CDHI newsletter
• Organize, facilitate, and participate in other tricampus DH training initiatives
• Facilitate introductions and connections between researchers within CDHI
• Join CDHI events, such as visiting speakers, workshops, and conferences
• Attend weekly CDHI Executive Team meetings
• Participate in planning the future shape and directions of CDHI

While working with the CDHI, the Fellow will also be part of the JHI scholarly community and will participate in weekly JHI fellows lunches every Thursday from the beginning of September to the first week of May.

Eligibility and Attributes

Applicants must have completed their doctorate within five years of the beginning of the fellowship on 1 July 2025. Applicants who will defend their thesis before the end of May 2025 are eligible, but a letter from their supervisor or Chair may be requested. Any award will be conditional on a successful defense. Applicants who received their Ph.D. prior to 1 July 2019 are ineligible. Applicants who are graduates of doctoral programs at the University of Toronto are eligible. This position is not open to those who hold a tenure-track position.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate excellence In teaching and research and have an established track record in the digital humanities, with a focus on critical DH. They will understand the history, development, and current state of the field; be able to assess institutional processes and policies; be willing to work with a range of scholars in and outside of their own field; desire to learn and pursue research in an interdisciplinary, collaborative environment; and be committed to open-source development and open access scholarship.

The JHI-CDHI Digital Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship is open to citizens of all countries. The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. Engagement as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto is covered by the terms of the CUPE 3902 Unit 5 Collective Agreement.

Doctoral candidates and Ph.D. recipients from the University of Toronto are eligible to apply.

The Jackman Humanities Institute interprets “Humanities” as a broad category, including political theory, interpretive social science, music, and the arts. 

Procedure

Complete the online application for this fellowship

You will be asked to upload the following documents in your application (please see our FAQ for further information about length and content):

1. Letter of Application
2. Research proposal relevant to the annual theme of Dystopia and Trust
3. Statement of Digital Humanities Research Interest, with specific reference to work in Critical DH
4. Curriculum vitae
5. Research Sample
6. 100-word research description
7. 100-word biographical statement

All documents must be compiled into a single file in PDF format. You will also be asked to provide the names and email addresses of two referees, whom we will contact to request letters of reference. Your referees will receive an automated request for their letters, which will be due on 5 December 2024.  Please ask your referees to watch for our request email.

You will be able to SAVE your application and return to edit it before the deadline. When you SAVE, copy the special code that appears on the screen. You will receive an email receipt that contains a link to enable you to return by using this code. When you are finished, please SUBMIT your application. After you SUBMIT your application, you will not be able to re-enter it. Please remember to SUBMIT your application before the deadline.

Deadline

All applications must be submitted by November 28, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. (EST). Faxed, emailed, and paper applications will not be considered.

Questions?

• About the CDHI: email Dr. Danielle Taschereau Mamers, CDHI Managing Director
• About the JHI and the application process: email Dr. Kimberley Yates
• Technical questions about submitting the application: email Sonja Johnston