Job Description

School: Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Department/Area: Dumbarton Oaks

Position Description:

Dumbarton Oaks invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to join a team working to provide comprehensive access to photographic and archival documentation of the Byzantine world held by Dumbarton Oaks' Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives ( ICFA ), which holds more than a million unique items in a variety of media, including extensive material relating to the art and architecture of the late Antique and Medieval eastern Mediterranean.

The Postdoctoral Fellow in Byzantine Art/Archaeology will receive training in archival processing and digital curation and will support digitization and digital humanities initiatives to increase access to ICFA collections for scholars and the public. The Fellow will be fully integrated into the Library and Byzantine Studies Program and will work closely with staff and researchers to assist with processing, cataloging, and interpreting our collections. 

postdoctoral

Within Byzantine architectural history, projects could entail detailed cataloging and curation (both online and as an exhibit in the library) around the theme of Constantinople, drawing on digitized architectural studies of Hagia Sophia from the Robert Van Nice collection, further unpublished photographs from the Byzantine Institute and Dumbarton Oaks fieldwork at various Byzantine churches in Istanbul, and photographs from the Robert Ousterhout collection of sites in Istanbul. 

Within Byzantine material culture, projects could focus on object documentation. Examples include processing and creating a finding aid for the Anthony Cutler research papers on Byzantine ivories; establishing a framework in ArchivesSpace for the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Census to allow for online publication of all 18,000+ images; curating material from both collections as an online or physical exhibit in the library; and creating teaching guides for university level courses on different media (i.e. textile, silver, ivory, enamel). 

Outcomes of the fellowship may include scholarly publications on Byzantine art, architecture, and archaeology; public-facing outreach; and expansion of the online gateway to the Byzantine collections of ICFA . This fellowship offers unique opportunities to build career skills in special collections, digital humanities, and innovative higher-ed pedagogical tools, while benefiting from the unique resources of Dumbarton Oaks.The Fellow will participate fully in Dumbarton Oaks' dynamic community of scholars and programming in Byzantine Studies and will devote 20% of the fellowship time to personal research.

This is a one-year fellowship appointment, with the possibility of renewal for two additional years. Applicants must have fulfilled all the requirements for the PhD by the time of application. The Postdoctoral Fellow would report to the Director of the Library. 

The Postdoctoral Fellow will have access to the outstanding resources of the institute and become part of the larger research community at Dumbarton Oaks. The Fellowship carries a stipend of $67,600 per year with an additional $1,000 annual, taxable research allowance. The Post-Doctoral Fellow will be eligible for medical insurance through the Dumbarton Oaks Fellows' plan and will be provided with an office space, access to the library and museum collections, and complimentary weekday lunches, among other privileges of our community of fellows.  

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Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in Art History or Archaeology    with a specialization in Byzantine Studies.
  
• Demonstrated experience working with Byzantine art and architecture through archaeological excavation, museum curation, or other demonstrable close study and engagement.
  
• Excellent research skills, particularly in the use of archival and photographic collections.

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience in a research library, archive, special collection, museum, or comparable environment.
  
• Strong computer skills, including experience using relational databases, collection management software, and electronic library resources.
  
• Experience with digital photography or digitization of photographs, slides, negatives, and other media, including photo editing software.

Contact Information:

For more information, please visit the Dumbarton Oaks website or reach out to FellowshipPrograms@doaks.org . 

Contact Email: FellowshipPrograms@doaks.org

Special Instructions:

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, CV, a brief research proposal, and two to three references' names and contact information. Applications must be received by March 15, 2025. 

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law.

About Harvard University

Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders in many disciplines who make a difference globally. The University, which is based in Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts, has an enrollment of over 20,000 degree candidates, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. Harvard has more than 360,000 alumni around the world. The University has twelve degree-granting Schools in addition to the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, offering a truly global education. Established in 1636, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States.

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