Vacancy: Assistant Professor, Military History/War and Society, Virginia Tech

The History Department at Virginia Tech seeks applicants for a tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor to begin in August 2018. Geographical focus and chronological period are open. We particularly encourage applicants who take a War and Society approach to military history, covering such topics as the social, cultural, political, technological, and economic dimensions of warfare; civilian-military and homefront-battlefield relations; the impact of war on soldiers, civilians, veterans, and the environment; and the causes, commemoration, and consequences of war.

Required qualifications include a Ph.D. in history or related field by the time of appointment; an ability to teach a survey course in modern military history and to develop new undergraduate and graduate courses; and a record demonstrating a promise of excellence in research and teaching. The successful candidate will be expected to make significant contributions to the department’s War and Society minor. S/he will also be expected to work effectively with a diverse community in support of Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community. Preference will be shown for candidates with experience related to the university’s transdisciplinary Integrated Security Destination Area; a commitment to the use of emerging technology and new media in teaching and research; the potential for obtaining external funding; and an interest in contributing to one or more of the department’s strengths in public history, race and gender, and the history of science, technology, medicine, and environment.

The successful candidate will engage in transdisciplinary research, curriculum, and/or outreach initiatives with other university faculty working in Virginia Tech’s Integrated Security Destination Area. The Integrated Security Destination Area is focused on understanding and fostering a world in which individuals, institutions, and nations are secured by technology and social systems that follow ethical principles and promote values of social justice. Faculty working together in this area are bringing a transdisciplinary approach to the complex range of human and systems security challenges. Visit provost.vt.edu/destination-areas.html for more information about Destination Areas.

The Carnegie Foundation classifies Virginia Tech as a university with “very high research activity,” and the History Department also has a strong record of excellence in teaching. The normal teaching load in the History Department is two courses per semester. Members of the department work closely with faculty in transdisciplinary programs, including Women’s and Gender Studies, Africana Studies, Science and Technology Studies, ASPECT/Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought. The department houses the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies (civilwar.vt.edu).

Located in the town of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is the largest state-supported university in Virginia. Blacksburg, between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountain ranges, was voted a Top 10 “dream town” for outdoor activities by Outside Magazine, and declared the “Best Place in the U.S. to Raise Kids” by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, or veteran status; or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees, or applicants; or any other basis protected by law (http://www.vt.edu/about/equal-opportunity.html). For inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies, contact the Office of Equity and Access at 540-231-2010 or Virginia Tech, North End Center, Suite 2300 (0318), 300 Turner St. NW, Blacksburg, VA 24061.

Virginia Tech encourages applications from women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities. The university also responds to the needs of dual career couples and has a variety of policies in place to provide flexibility for faculty careers.

Candidates must apply online at http://listings.jobs.vt.edu/postings/80695 and provide a letter of application, CV, an article-length writing sample (upload under “Other Doc”), a 1-2 page statement of teaching philosophy, a 1-2 page statement describing the applicant’s interest in and/or experience working with diverse groups and under represented populations (upload under “Doc 2”), and contact information for three references, who will be invited to submit their letters of recommendation online. Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2017.

For further information, contact Paul Quigley at pquigley@vt.edu

Two Postdoc fellowships for “Global History”

Centre for Modern Indian Studies, University of Göttingen
Start date: 1 January 2017

The transnational research group “A Global Network for Global History” directed by the Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS), University of Göttingen in cooperation with the International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, and the Weatherhead Initiative on Global History, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, advertises two Postdoc fellowships for the funding period from 16 January – 30 September 2017.

The “Global Network for Global History” is funded by the VW foundation and seeks to organize a community of scholars interested in the systematic scrutiny of developments that have unfolded across national, regional, and continental boundaries and who propose to analyze the interconnections – cultural, economic, ecological, political and demographic – among world societies.

Fellows at CeMIS are appointed for 8.5 months and are provided time, guidance, office space, and access to the facilities of Göttingen University. They should be prepared to devote their entire time to productive scholarship and may undertake sustained projects of research or other original work. They will join a vibrant interdisciplinary community of scholars at CeMIS and the newly founded Forum for Global and Transregional Studies at the University of Göttingen.

The scholarship is granted for 8.5 months and amounts to EUR 2.650 per month (incl. compulsory health insurance and travel allowances). The work location is Göttingen.

Requirements for candidates are:
+ a PhD in History or Social Sciences;
+ independence, individual initiative and commitment;
+ excellent knowledge of English and the languages relevant to the research location;
+ sound knowledge of the relevant scholarly debates

Applications should contain a full CV, copies of relevant examinations, a research proposal (max. 5000 words), a writing sample (a chapter or essay), and the names and addresses of two referees. They should be sent electronically by 31 July 2016 to Prof. Dr. Ravi Ahuja.

Contact Info:
Prof. Dr. Ravi Ahuja
CeMIS
University of Göttingen, Waldweg 26, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany

Contact Email: ravi.ahuja@sowi.uni-goettingen.de
URL: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/540740.html

CfP: War and its Aftermath: Veteran Treatment and Reintegration in Post-War Societies

War destroys everything. Even the lives of those who survive the war are destroyed. Financial hardships, trauma, and the demand for reintegration by peaceful societies are burdens for those who return alive from the battlefield of the former war. However, the post-war societies have to struggle to provide sufficient possibilities for reintegration of veterans into the new peaceful life as well. In all periods of human history political entities and states have tried to find a way for such a reintegration without triggering the violent potential that is represented by former soldiers. Despite such attempts, modern nation states and societies still struggle with the task to find a solution for veteran reintegration in post-war environments. The editors of the planed volume want to analyze the historical aspects of veteran treatment and veteran reintegration — without chronological or geographical limitations — and therefore welcome proposals for chapters that deal with, but are not limited to the following topics:

the veteran as a radical force in post-war societies
veteran education in post-war societies
political movements and veterans
paramilitarism in post-war societies
trauma treatments
medical issues and veterans
economic perspectives on veteran reintegration
veterans and memory in post-war societies
veteran rights movements
veterans and the post-war state
veterans and social relations

Proposals (ca. 300 words) and a short CV should be sent to fjacob@qcc.cuny.edu and stefan.karner@uni-graz.at until July 15, 2016. Final chapters, 7,000-10,000 words, using footnotes (Chicago Manual of Style) are due by October 15, 2016.

Contact Info:
Frank Jacob, History Department, CUNY-QCC, 22205 56th Ave, Bayside, 11364 New York

GLGW Graduate Conference – Call for Papers

Globalising and Localising the Great War Conference, 20 March 2015

Call for Papers:

Globalising and Localising the Great War is a project based at the University of Oxford which aims to bring together scholars who are working on the War from a variety of different perspectives. Its fundamental objective is to ensure that the commemoration of the War produces ground-breaking new research and fresh insights that challenge, rather than confirm, our often clichéd perspectives on an event that shaped – and continues to shape – our world. It is fundamentally interdisciplinary in its methodology and aims to encourage scholars from different fields and backgrounds to broaden their approaches to writing histories of the First World War.

Within this context we invite submissions on a broad range of topics and backgrounds with the aim of providing a conference that is similarly broad and interdisciplinary in its scope and content. All papers relevant to the First World War are welcomed, but we would encourage applications in particular which focus on the following approaches:

  • global/transnational
  • cultural
  • military
  • political/legal
  • social
  • economic

Papers should be designed to be approximately 20 minutes in length. We particularly invite submissions from postgraduate students and early career researchers.

To apply, please send a 200 word abstract with your approach in the subject line to glgw.gradconference@history.ox.ac.uk by Friday 30th January 2015.

Conference poster: Globalising and Localising Poster CFP