The African Centre for Migration & Society at Wits University is seeking applications for a MA, doctoral students, and post-doctoral fellows as part of a multi-year, multi-city project on mobility and the city. Employing approaches from across the social sciences, humanities, and built environment the project will conduct original research and interventions in Johannesburg, Accra, and Nairobi. Through continental and translocal collaborations with colleagues in academia and the arts, it will make important conceptual, theoretical and methodological contributions to theories on multiple mobilities and urbanisation across sub-Saharan Africa. Project leaders include Mpho Matsipa, Dudu Ndlovu, and Loren B Landau.

Students and fellows participating in this programme should have a strong methodological and/or conceptual background in fields related, but not limited to: mobility/migration; mapping; urban subjectivities; critical cartographies; local politics; informal economies; memory; and environmental design.

The project is now recruiting:

• Two fully-funded MA students to start in 2020 and two additional masters students for 2021. Students are expected to enrol with the African Centre for Migration & Society and embed their research within the overall project.
• Three doctoral students. Students will be expected to enrol for their degree in the School of Social Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand and work under the supervision of one or more project team members. Each doctoral student will be funded for a period of four years with additional support for fieldwork also available.
• Three postdoctoral fellows to work thematically across the three research sites. Ideally, we are looking for recent graduates with expertise in mapping; the urban humanities; ethnography, and institutional analysis. The fellows will be expected to work together and with team members on project events and research. Funding is for up to two years including support for original research.

Application Process

• Applications should include:
• A cover letter summarising past research, qualifications, and reasons for interest in the fellowship;
• A complete academic CV;
• A short proposal (1500 word maximum) outlining the proposed project;
• Contact details for three professional reference letters speaking to the applicant’s ability to complete the proposed project;
• A writing sample of not more than 15,000 words (e.g., a chapter; article; term paper).

Applications are due midnight, 1 November 2019. Selections will be completed by the end of 2019 with successful candidates expected to enrol or begin their programme during 2019. Students already enrolled are also eligible.

Members of historically disadvantaged groups are particularly encouraged to apply.

Email all queries and application materials to: temporality@migration.org.za