The Centre for Research in Anthropology (CRIA), Iscte. opens a Call for one (1) research fellowship (Master degree) under the pluri-annual funding R&D units (UIDB/04038/2020), funded by national funds through FCT, I.P.
Admission requirements
General
The call is open to candidates:
a) holding a Master degree in Anthropology or other Social Sciences and Humanities pertinent to the project;
b) enrolled on a PhD in the area of Anthropology or in non-degree courses on similar areas (in accordance with Article 6 of the current Regulations for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P.).
Specific requirements
a) Research experience with qualitative and ethnographic methods (interviews, participant observation) preferably in urban contexts and/or with interlocutors who may be involved in the NaMoura project;
b) Strong interest in the project's research themes to be demonstrated by previous research experience and production; and
c) Proficiency in Portuguese and English (oral and written).
Optional skills
a) Experience in applying for funding programmes;
b) Research experience in historical archives.
Work programme
The successful candidate will work as part of the exploratory project "Na Mouraria: Heritage, (in)security and urban imaginaries in Lisbon's historic centre" (NaMoura).
NaMoura takes Lisbon’s Mouraria as the prism through which to investigate under-researched entangled geographies of heritage and security in the urban world. How do heritage and security align and interact to inform the imagining and making of cities? The project addresses this question by a) revisiting archival material and scholarship on the neighbourhood in light of the above new research question; and b) researching ethnographically the discursive and material unfolding of heritage and security as it is experienced and made sense of by a variety of people. NaMoura tests and complements theoretical intuitions and analytical lenses that emerged from the PI’s work in urban India on a differently southern empirical ground. Insights from Mouraria—an epitome of unsettling contemporary urban dynamics (e.g. migration, touristification, gentrification, regeneration) in which both security and heritage play overlooked roles—will contribute to connect and theorise heritage and security anew, as interconnected urban processes.
In close collaboration with the project team, the candidate must carry out the following tasks:
* Systematise studies on the urban history and evolution of Mouraria in Lisbon, in order to provide a broader contextualisation of the role of heritage and security in informing and reiterating dominant urban imaginaries;
* Collect new textual and visual material from physical and digital archives, such as the Lisbon Municipal Archive: Photographic, Olisiponense Studies Office, Geographical Institute and Geographical and Cadastral Institute, Torre do Tombo and the National Library;
* Analyse popular representations of contemporary Mouraria (post-2008 period) in travel accounts, official reports, relevant documents from the municipality and local associations (such as the Associação Renovar a Mouraria), legal documents and printed material - such as contemporary guides, leaflets, information and visual panels available in and on specific monuments - as well as digital and audiovisual content (documentaries and short films).
* Carry out an ethnographic study on the impact and experiences of heritage production and security measures in contemporary Mouraria through interviews, participant observation, and 'deep hanging out' with local residents and shopkeepers — both of migrant and non-migrant origin — police, activists, lifestyle migrants and tourists;
* Take part in the production of a podcast by Radio CRIA on the project's themes;
* Provide support for the elaboration of an application for European funds.
Application documents:
- Letter of motivation;
- Curriculum vitae (dated and signed);
- Certificate(s) of academic degrees, with a detailed record of the grades, course subjects and final grade (if applicable);
- Proof of enrollment in a Ph.D. Program.
Before applying, read the full text of the call