Post-doctoral Research Fellow in European Languages in Post-Colonial Africa University of Agder (UiA) in Norway

The University of Agder (UiA), Faculty of Humanities and Education, is offering a fixed-term 100% post-doctoral research fellowship in European Languages in Post-Colonial Africa: Historical Perspectives (1950–1990). The appointment is based at the Department of Religion, Philosophy and History, Campus Kristiansand, for a period of 3 years, with a preferred starting date at the beginning of 2027.

The project is linked to UiA’s research groups Claimed Pasts: Critical Knowledge and Heritage Production and Language and Power. The fellow will work closely with Professor Christoph Kalter and is expected to contribute actively to both groups through research, seminar participation, grant-writing, and teaching and supervision activities.

UiA invites applicants to propose an original, empirically grounded and theoretically informed historical project on the role of European languages in post-colonial Africa. Suitable topics may include anticolonial mobilization, post-colonial nation- and state-building, language in education and development, inter- and transnational collaboration, African subjectivities and collective identities, and the relationship between language and social distinction. Gender should ideally be a central analytical category. Projects with a comparative, connective, and global-historical perspective are especially welcome.

The successful candidate will be expected to produce three single-author articles in leading historical journals and to co-organize an authors’ workshop and co-edit a special issue on (post-)colonial African language histories. The role is therefore ideal for a scholar with strong publication ambitions in history, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, or related fields, especially with archival experience and interest in transnational and global history approaches.

Applicants must hold a PhD in history, preferably African history, or have submitted the doctoral thesis before the appointment decision is made and defend it by the starting date. Excellent English, research-related language competence, archival experience, and demonstrated potential for international publications are required.

The position offers a gross annual salary of NOK 600,000–650,000, subject to qualification, plus pension membership in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund. UiA emphasizes an inclusive working environment and encourages qualified candidates of all backgrounds to apply, with women especially encouraged.

Application deadline: 2026-09-15. Applications must be submitted electronically in English, including an application letter, CV with publications, certificates, a 4–7 page project proposal with references, source information and schedule, doctoral thesis, 2–3 references, and up to 4 selected publications.