The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) invites applications for a full-time, three-year postdoctoral fellow in Environmental History as part of the project “Melting Metropolis: everyday histories of health and heat in London, New York, and Paris since 1945.” The position is hosted by the Department of History at Queens College CUNY and supervised by Dr Kara Schlichting.

Melting Metropolis is a five-year project funded by the Wellcome Trust. It explores the history of high temperatures in the postwar era, taking three global cities as its focus: London, New York and Paris. Drawing on and contributing to studies on climate justice, it investigates how Londoners, New Yorkers and Parisians have experienced heat and sought to mitigate its impact on their health and wellbeing. Community engagement is threaded throughout the project and informs how the project team seeks to rethink understandings of urban heat by moving beyond a focus on ‘resilience.’ In seeking to create new academic and non-academic conversations on the challenging interaction between the climate crisis and cities, it will provide fresh perspectives on urban history, environmental history, the medical humanities, and emotional and sensory history.

The successful candidate will join a collaborative research team based in both the UK and the US. Melting Metropolis is led by Professor Chris Pearson of the University of Liverpool (Principal Investigator, PI). The successful candidate will be based in the History Department at Queens College CUNY in Flushing, Queens, and take part in both New York City-based and online project activities and meetings. The project team comprises three Co-Investigators (CI: Dr. Laura Balderstone, University of Liverpool, Dr. Kara Schlichting, Queens College CUNY, and Dr. Shelda-Jane Smith, University of Liverpool), a Research Artist (Bryony Benge-Abbott), a Community Engagement Manager, a Project Manager, four postdoctoral researchers, and a PhD student.

JOB TITLE: POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW IN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

Status: Full Time, 3 Years

Annual Salary: $60,000.00

PVN ID: QC-2401-006082

Category: Research

Location: Queens College, CUNY

OTHER DUTIES

Candidates with experience in public history and/or digital history are particularly encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will help coordinate and facilitate community engagement events with the Community Engagement Manager, Research Artist, other team members, and project partner Queens Memory Project. They will also develop research and writing connected to grades K-12 curriculum development in collaboration with the New York Public Library’s Center for Educators & Schools, digital archival storytelling in collaboration with Urban Archive. Conference, training, and research expenses will be provided by the project. Finally, the successful candidate will publish single and co-authored academic journal articles.

QUALIFICATIONS

Applications are welcomed from a range of fields in history and environmental studies, including U.S. public health, housing, climate, environmental justice, and urban development topics in the 20th and 21st centuries. Scholars working in urban climate and/or New York City history are particularly encouraged to apply, especially those working on the borough of Queens. Applicants should demonstrate experience in archival and/or oral history work.

Applicants should hold a Ph.D. in history or in any related field by the time of appointment (August 2024). Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.

RFCUNY BENEFITS

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ABOUT THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION

The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) was established as a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York in 1963. RFCUNY supports CUNY faculty and staff in identifying and obtaining external support (pre-award) from government and private sponsors and is responsible for the administration of all such funded programs (post-award).

RFCUNY stands between CUNY’s principal investigators (PIs) and the sponsors who support them and strives to fulfill its essential responsibilities to both groups. Working closely with individual PIs and Grants Officers on the campuses, RFCUNY oversees employment, accounting, audit, reporting, purchasing, and special responsibilities that include management of a planned giving program; liaison with governmental agencies and foundations; negotiation of agreements; facility construction and renovation; protection and commercialization of intellectual property; and compliance with applicable standards in research involving human subjects, animal care, environmental and radiological safety, and conflicts of interest.

COMPENSATION

$60,000.

RFCUNY offers faculty a competitive compensation and benefits package covering health insurance, pension and retirement benefits, paid parental leave, and savings programs. We also provide mentoring and support for research, scholarship, and publication as part of our commitment to ongoing faculty professional development.

HOW TO APPLY

From our job posting system, select “Apply Now”, create or log in to a user account, and provide the requested information. If you are viewing this posting from outside our system, please visit: Job Postings (rfcuny.org)

Applicants should upload the following in .doc or .pdf format:

1. A letter of application, not to exceed three pages, that includes a summary of current and future scholarship, community and public engagement experience, and ability to work effectively within an international team of scholars;
2. A curriculum vitae.

Reference letters and writing samples will be requested at a later stage of the search process.

CLOSING DATE

Review of applications to begin on or after March 18 2024 and will continue until filled.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

The Research Foundation of the City University of New York is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities Act/E-Verify Employer. It is the policy of the Research Foundation of CUNY to provide equal employment opportunities free of discrimination based on race, color, age, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic violence victim status, arrest record, criminal conviction history, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.