"Postdoc in the history of global north-south public health cooperation"

Utrecht University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher in the ERC Consolidator Grant project “Fighting Pandemics from Below: Global North-South Public Health Cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa, 1792-1942 [COOPERATION]”.

As a postdoctoral researcher, you will work on a subproject within the Consolidator Grant project COOPERATION (2024-2029) funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and directed by Dr. Ozan Ozavci (Principal Investigator, PI) at the Department of History and Art History. The COOPERATION project recaptures the lost archives and historical knowledge of international public health cooperation between the ‘global north’ and the ‘global south’ by analyzing its first and longest-lasting instances: the sanitary councils in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Established in Tangier, Alexandria, Tunis, Istanbul, and Tehran, these institutions strategized against waves of epidemics and pandemics between the 1790s and the 1940s. Their European, American, and native co-founders invented new models for fighting pandemics from below and stopping diseases in their tracks. They continually strove to overcome barriers to cooperation posed by inter-imperial competition, economic inequities, protests against quarantine restrictions, and racial and Orientalist biases, among others. The project will write an entangled history of health cooperation by shifting the focus from top-down to bottom-up processes, consulting archival sources in Europe, MENA, and North America, to determine the historical preconditions for effective international public health cooperation.

You will be responsible for sub-project 1: Morocco, which will look into the dynamics of public health cooperation in the city of Tangier. You will:

• Conduct research within the period of appointment in the Netherlands as well as at archives in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and North Africa;
• Publish a peer-reviewed journal article and a book chapter;
• Help organize a workshop on sanitary internationalism in the Middle East and North Africa;
• Participate in project meetings and closely collaborate with other members of the research team;
• Help set up project data;
• Help with knowledge dissemination activities of the project;
• Present research findings at national and international workshops and conferences.

Requirements: You hold a doctoral degree in a relevant field (e.g., nineteenth- and early twentieth-century international history, imperial history, history of medicine, Middle Eastern/North African history, etc.) at the time of appointment. You have a proven track record of academic publications and public outreach. You have excellent command of spoken and written English. You have very good reading ability of one or more European languages. You have very good reading ability of MENA languages or willingness to improve your linguistic skills. You have archival research experience. You are flexible to travel. You are collegial and have a responsible relationship with co-workers. You are a team player and an independent thinker.

Conditions of employment: A position for 12 months, with the possibility of an extension of 12 months (24 months in total); a working week of 30.4 - 32 hours and a gross monthly salary of €4,728 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 11 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU)); 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus; a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU. In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees, including arrangements for professional development, various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities.