Vacancy PhD Candidate: Affectivity in the Anthropocene (Radboud University)

This project is funded by the Christine Mohrmann Foundation at Radboud University to support research initiated by Professor Dr Marjolein Oele, Professor of Philosophy of the Humanities. It is organised around the concept of affectivity (Greek: pathos), which has been crucial to theorising ancient Greek notions of undergoing, suffering, emotion, illness, and qualitative change. In the 20th and 21st centuries, notions of affect and affectivity are at the forefront of research in continental philosophy (e.g. Heidegger, Henry, Irigaray) and affect theory more broadly (e.g. Ahmed, Berlant). The prominence of these concepts is such that scholars even speak of an “affective turn” in the humanities (e.g. Clough and Halley).

The specific aim of Affectivity in the Anthropocene is to provide in-depth philosophical reflections on the predominant human and non-human affects that are related to climate change and the Anthropocene. The methodological basis of the research project is philosophical, but the project also has interdisciplinary aspects in aiming to involve texts and artworks from the humanities more broadly (literature, art, digital media, film, etc.). Using authors from both philosophy and the wider environmental humanities, it is the project’s aim to distinguish, among other things, the relevance of affects in times of ecological destruction, and to investigate the temporality of affects (short-term versus long-term), ethical and political aspects of affects (e.g. in terms of compassion, grief and trust), the co-emergence of affects (between human and non-human living beings) and individual versus communal affects.

As a PhD candidate, you will conduct research on the theoretical foundations of the meaning of human and non-human affects. You will investigate both (historical and continental) philosophical theories as well as artworks, literature and media that are part of the environmental humanities to theorise significant affects that relate to the Anthropocene. You will be asked to provide a brief research proposal including a research question and a description of how your proposed research will fit within the Affectivity in the Anthropocene project.

As a PhD candidate at the Radboud Institute for Culture & History (RICH), you will be part of the Graduate School for the Humanities. Up to 75% of your time will be devoted to the research for and writing of your PhD thesis. The remaining 25% will be spent on training and academic service to the Faculty of Arts, including teaching and editorial assistance for the journal Environmental Philosophy. Given the interdisciplinary nature of this position, you will also be embedded in the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, for instance by participating in activities organised by the Centre for Contemporary European Philosophy (CCEP), or by engaging in service and/or teaching activities. You will be expected to write your PhD thesis in English.