HPE Project Postdoctoral Fellow

Applications are now closed.

The History and Political Economy Project invites applications for a two-year postdoctoral fellowship, beginning July 1, 2024, to support their public engagement and scholarly programs. 

Responsibilities:

A key goal of the History and Political Economy Project is to make the lessons of historical scholarship on how neoliberalism has been developed, implemented, and contested around the world available to audiences beyond the academy. The HPE Project Postdoctoral Fellow will support our existing work and will be responsible for carrying out a public engagement plan that will allow us to disseminate the important historical research being done within our network to broader audiences. With the assistance of our Graduate Fellow and in support of our Co-Directors Christy Thornton and Quinn Slobodian, responsibilities will include:

  • Writing and editing posts that highlight the scholarship of our network members, including advisory board members and research grantees, on our website, hpeproject.org. 

  • Creating and maintaining social media profiles for the HPE Project to share our work.

  • Working on our ongoing translation and open-access publishing programs.

  • Partnering with existing print and web-based publications to solicit, write, and/or edit content, including establishing regular series or features with popular publications, with the goal of disseminating our network’s research and advancing the public conversation around what the histories of neoliberalism can tell us about new economic futures.

  • Helping to organize our regular research conferences, including those that bring together grantees, those that we co-sponsor with other groups and institutions, as well as a major planned conference on global economic governance reform in Washington DC in 2025.

  • Convening regular public-facing conversations, both virtual and in-person, between academics, policymakers, and advocates that bring historical perspectives to bear on pressing contemporary topics such as industrial policy, global governance reform, climate governance, inflation and employment, labor internationalism, geoeconomic competition, etc. 

  • Writing, editing, and publishing concise, accessible dossiers of our conference and event proceedings, online and/or in print, and distributing them to organizations and key individuals such as policymakers and advocates. 

Preferred Qualifications:

  • A PhD in history or a related field, conferred no later than June 30, 2024, as well as subject area knowledge relevant to the HPE Project’s focus on global histories of neoliberalism.

  • Editorial experience, especially at non-academic magazines, newspapers, and/or web publications, and a working knowledge of and contacts in relevant outlets that bridge academic and public writing.

  • Experience with public-facing writing for non-academic and/or policy audiences.

  • Interest in career paths related to writing, editing, publishing and/or related fields beyond the academy.

  • Strong organizational skills; the ability to self-start to plan and implement projects; strict adherence to deadlines; the ability to multitask and manage multiple projects at once.

Application Instructions:

This is a two-year position, funded by the Open Society Foundation Education & Ideas Collaborative, hosted at Johns Hopkins University. There is no teaching requirement for this fellowship, but teaching opportunities may be available depending on candidate interests. Location is flexible, with the possibility of remote work. Those based in Baltimore will have full access to JHU university resources and the intellectual communities of the History and Sociology Departments as well as programs like the Center for Economy and Society, the Arrighi Center for Global Studies, the Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship, among others. There is also the possibility of being based at Boston University, with access to the resources of the Pardee School and the Center for Global Development. The position begins July 1, 2024, at a salary rate of $65,000/year plus benefits. 

To apply, please submit the following materials: 

  • Curriculum vitae

  • Cover letter that speaks to the preferred qualifications above

  • Contact information, including email addresses, for two references (Letters of reference will be requested in early February only for candidates who are selected to interview) 

  • A single PDF that lists five (5) links and/or clips of published work by any author that you feel effectively bridges scholarship and broader public audiences, from publications relevant to our mission. Give us a sense of the kind of work you read and appreciate!

  • A sample clip of your own public-facing writing (optional, if available)

Applications closed February 1, 2024.

Questions can be addressed to HPE Co-Director Christy Thornton