PhD position Uncovering Women’s Cultural Production in India’s Marathi Film Industry (V25.0204)

Fully funded PhD position in Media Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen in the project Uncovering Women’s Cultural Production in India’s Marathi Film Industry Archives.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to work in an international environment and to acquire valuable research experience at a top-ranked European university. As a PhD student, you will develop your own research project in consultation with the associated supervisors within the frame of this vacancy. You will conduct independent and original academic research and report results via peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, media outputs, and ultimately a PhD dissertation. The PhD thesis has to be completed within four years. You will also have the opportunity to (further) develop your teaching skills.

You will work with the following supervisory team:

• Dr Smith Mehta (co-supervisor)
• Dr Stacey Copeland (co-supervisor)
• Prof dr Susan Aasman (promoter)

The PhD Project
This PhD project investigates the representation and preservation of feminist and women’s cultural heritage within India's Marathi film industry archives. We are particularly interested in projects invested in studying the Marathi film industry post-independence, including any period between 1947-2025. The research will address key questions surrounding women's contributions to Marathi film industry, how they have been documented and represented in archival material, and how a feminist archival approach can provide a more inclusive understanding of the industry's cultural history. The investigation aims to contribute to fields such as media industry studies, film studies, and feminist cultural history with its linguistic focus on Marathi language - constituting 99 million worldwide speakers, the thirteenth most spoken language in the world, and the third most spoken language in India. This project aims to (a) address the gaps in archival material related to women's contributions to Marathi cinema and (b) explore how these representations have evolved and what they reveal about broader industrial and socio-cultural changes over time.

The main research questions guiding this PhD project are:

1. How have women’s contributions to the Marathi film industry been documented and represented in archival sites such as the National Film Archive of India, Pune and the Film Heritage Foundation, Mumbai?
2. In what ways do these archival representations reflect or challenge dominant narratives of gender, culture, and society in Indian cinema?
3. How can a feminist archival approach help in uncovering marginalized voices and shaping a more inclusive understanding of the Marathi film industry's cultural heritage?

Methodologically, the investigation will take a qualitative approach, combining interviews, archival work, textual analysis of films and associated archival materials, policy analysis, and/or oral histories.

You will be required to:

• Develop your research project in consultation with the associated supervisors.
• Conduct independent and original academic research.
• Complete the PhD in the specified timeframe (4 years).
• Report results via peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, media creation outputs, and ultimately a PhD dissertation.
• Reside in the Netherlands during the PhD project.
• Organise travel to Pune and other archival sites in India, including the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and Film Heritage Foundation (Mumbai), as identified through project work.
• Conduct a total of 0.4 FTE teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of your appointment.
• Participate in scholarly dissemination of the project through conferences, workshop, and seminars.

Further writing on the background and vision of this project is available upon request.

Organisation
Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 34,000 students are encouraged to develop their individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.

The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members who work at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.

To be competitive for the position, prospective candidates must have

• A Research Master’s or Master’s degree in any area related to the project, for example: Media Studies, Journalism, Film Studies, Cultural Studies, Information Studies, Gender Studies.
• Excellent academic writing skills in English.
• Excellent spoken command of English.
• Demonstrated record of study or interest in Marathi language films.
• Excellent Marathi language proficiency in reading and speaking.
• Pass English language proficiency as required by UG Graduate Studies.
• Dutch language proficiency is not required.

In accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, the University of Groningen offers you

• A salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the final year, based on a full-time position.
• A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income.
• An 8.3% end-of-the-year allowance.
• A temporary 1.0 FTE appointment for a specified period of four years. The candidate will first be appointed for twelve months. After six months, an assessment will take place of the candidate’s results and the progress of the PhD project, in order to decide whether employment will be continued.
• The PhD candidate is expected to conduct a total of 0.4 fte teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of their appointment.
• Excellent work-life balance.
• Willingness to move and or continue to reside in the Netherlands.

The appointment will commence on 1 October 2025 at the very latest. We allow 3 months from selection in case of VISA applications.

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the supervisors for information on the research project, including a more detailed vision document on the project scope:

● Stacey Copeland (a.v.m.copeland rug.nl)
● Smith Mehta (s.n.mehta rug.nl)

Applications should be made in English and contain the following materials

• A brief letter of motivation (c. 1000 words). State your motivations for applying for this PhD project, and how your skills and experience demonstrate your suitability for the position according to the criteria above.
• A research proposal of 1000-1500 words, including the bibliography, with your own research proposal in the wider frame of this project.
• A curriculum vitae. Please include contact details of two academic referees. One industry and one academic referee is also permitted. (No letters of recommendation are needed for the application process.)
• Copies of MA diploma and list of grades. In case your MA degree is not in English or Dutch, please include a language certificate. If MA diploma is not yet available, please submit a formal letter from your university or supervisor on letterhead indicating your scheduled completion date.
• Copy of MA thesis, if available.
• If available, a copy of an article, book chapter or other academic text that you feel best represents your work.

Please send in your application as two PDF files (one for the MA thesis, and one for all other documents). You may apply for this position until 30 April 11:59pm / before 1 May 2025 Dutch local time (CEST) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

Interviews with selected candidates will be held on 14 and 15 May 2025. Ahead of interviews we may request for additional materials including Marathi language proficiency.

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality is a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/sollicitatiecode/ and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

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