Settler Decolonization on Country/Land: Rehearsing Collaboration

Call for applications: 2 PhD positions (starting January 2025)

We invite applicants who wish to write a dissertation in the field of Indigenous/First Nations studies, ideally speaking to the possibilities and limits of Indigenous and settler collaboration for decolonization (via land relations, truth telling, practies of treatying, museum decolonization, or various other fields). However, all applications from the field of Indigenous Studies compatible with Anglophone Literary Studies, Postcolonial Studies, American Studies or Cultural Studies are welcome. Applicants must have completed an M.A. degree or equivalent in one of these disciplines or in a related academic field. We specifically encourage applications by Indigenous candidates from Turtle Island or Australia. The project’s working language is English. Knowledge of German is not necessary, but successful applicants will have the opportunity to attend German language courses, should they wish to.

The successful candidates will be enrolled for a PhD at the University of Potsdam in the fields of American Studies, English Studies or English and American Studies under the joint supervision of

• Professor Nicole Waller (Department of English and American Studies, University of Potsdam) and Professor Renae Watchman (Indigenous Studies Department, McMaster University) OR
• Professor Anja Schwarz (Department of English and American Studies, University of Potsdam) and Professor Lynette Russell (Indigenous Studies Centre, Monash University).

PhD candidates will be employed at the University of Potsdam for four years with additional funding for (inter)national travel: relocation and return flights, research and conference travel. While the home institution is the University of Potsdam, candidates are invited to spend a significant amount of time with their co-supervisor and with communities on Turtle Island or in Australia. In addition, the project foresees workshop travel to facilitate trans-Indigenous connections with the other prospective research team in Australia or Turtle Island.