Stijn Reijnders

The Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (ESHCC) at Erasmus University Rotterdam invites applications for a PhD position as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network fellowship, HERITOUR – Enhancing collaborative synergies between Cultural HERItage and TOURism. HERITOUR is a multi-university initiative examining how cultural heritage and tourism sectors can collaborate to address shared challenges and reduce negative impacts such as overtourism, environmental degradation, and social disruption. The network provides interdisciplinary training for doctoral candidates, focusing on hybridisation, sustainability, resilience, and democratisation in heritage tourism. This PhD project critically investigates the representation of ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities within European heritage tourism, with special attention to sites shaped by popular culture and media exposure. It explores how film, television, literature, music, games, and digital platforms construct tourism imaginaries—shared narratives that define heritage, visibility, and belonging. The research draws on media studies and critical heritage studies to analyse heritage tourism as a mediated, power-laden field where representation, regulation, and access intersect. Using multi-sited qualitative ethnography at selected media-related and popular-culture heritage sites across Europe and its overseas territories, the project examines how minority narratives are framed, contested, or marginalised within interpretative strategies, diversity policies, and everyday site management. It foregrounds imaginaries as both cultural and governmental constructs, exploring how inclusion and exclusion are co-produced through representation, policy, and spatial governance, aiming to reconcile heritage protection with social justice through participatory and reflexive approaches. The position is embedded in Work Package 4 “democratisation” and supervised by Prof.dr. Stijn Reijnders and Dr. Naomi Oosterman (Erasmus University Rotterdam), and Prof.dr. Maria Lexhagen (Mid Sweden University). The successful candidate will conduct PhD research, publish and present results in international peer-reviewed journals and conferences, participate in HERITOUR training schools, write a dissertation within three years, and undertake two secondments at Cas di Cultura (Aruba) and KORDER (Türkiye). Engagement in seminars and workshops organized by the Erasmus Research Institute for Media, Culture, History and Society (ERMeCHS), the department, and the HERITOUR consortium is expected. Applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity in the European or Caribbean territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the start date (1 September 2026), unless as part of compulsory national service or refugee status procedure. Candidates must not already possess a doctoral degree. A (research) master degree or equivalent in social sciences or humanities (cultural heritage, sociology, tourism studies, media studies, anthropology, or related disciplines) is required. Familiarity with qualitative research methods, independent thinking, critical analytical skills, good collaboration skills, excellent oral and written English (CEFR C1), and motivation for high-level research and publication in international journals are essential. The position offers a salary of €3,059–€3,881 gross per month (full-time, 38 hours), a three-year contract, and excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU). Benefits include 41 days paid leave, 8% holiday pay, 8.3% end-of-year bonus, pension contributions, travel and home internet compensation, and access to development days, career budget, and university library. The university provides a sustainable, inclusive, and diverse work environment, partially paid parental leave, and support for partners through the Dual Career Programme. International candidates may be eligible for the 30%-ruling tax benefit. To apply, submit a completed and signed Declaration of Honours (downloadable from www.heritour.eu or the HERITOUR LinkedIn page), a motivation letter (max. half an A4), your CV including publication list, a brief research idea (max. 300 words), and names/contact details of two potential references by 19 April 2026. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online interview in May 2026 and may be asked to submit a more detailed research plan or give a presentation. Persons of all gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, ages, neurodiversities, functional impairments, citizenships, or any other aspect are welcome to apply and join the EUR community. For further information, contact Dr. Naomi Oosterman at [email protected] or Dr. Bozhidar Ivanov, Project Manager, at [email protected] . More details about HERITOUR and the application procedure are available at www.heritour.eu and www.eur.nl .