Scholarship details
The Humer Foundation for Academic Talent will provide funding for two doctoral positions in Social Anthropology or African Studies at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Basel. These positions will each cover a period of three years and will be open to applicants from all over the world.
Over the course of the past three decades, the effects of urbanization and market liberalization, emerging modes of value production, consumption, and social reproduction, and shifting forms of governance have also given rise to new types of mobility and migration. This is true in Africa as well as in other parts of the world. For many people, sexuality has been an essential component in conceptualizing and really carrying out migration pathways. Youths are drawn to sexual economies in large urban centers and tourist resorts because they offer the opportunity for rapid income accumulation, ostentatious consumption, or international vacation. Queer people and those who engage in the sex industry frequently relocate as migrants or refugees in the aim of gaining access to public health or sexual rights advocacy groups in the new location. In the meanwhile, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), religious organizations, and state officials are working to address the numerous social, medical, and moral ramifications of the many different types of sexualized mobility. Members of Africa’s expanding middle class are traveling both domestically and internationally, engaging in humanitarianism, consumption, or religious reforms that revolve around sexuality. This is happening at the same time that eroticized goods and media are becoming more widely available on African markets.
This research initiative investigates the various forms of movement that produce and deploy racialized and/or ethnicized sexualities as central means of consumptive fantasies, modes of value production, disciplinary regimes, and strategies of investment in the future. Specifically, this investigation focuses on the ways in which the United States has racialized and/or ethnicized sexualities as central means of production and deployment. This project takes sexuality as a key domain for understanding the politics of contemporary mobility and its continuities and discontinuities with colonial discourse and practice, both on the one hand and the other. It examines the implications of new forms of sexualized mobility for gender, kinship, and domesticity; money and the moralization of wealth; ritual and religion; rising forms of moral securitization and militarization; and new forms of consumption, embodiment, style, and self-making.
Doctoral candidates will add to the growing body of anthropological literature on global migrations and, more particularly, to the scholarship on African migrations on the continent and beyond by concentrating on the key role that sexuality plays in promoting travel. Candidates are expected to conduct thorough, in-depth research of instances of sexualized mobility in a specific set of circumstances in order to meet the requirements for the position. They should develop a profound understanding of the historical, social, and political sites in which they do fieldwork, and they should preferably already speak the local language. Additionally, they should pursue ethnographic research in ways that are rich in imagination and are driven by pointed conceptual questions.
Your position
This scholarship will enable you to develop your research question and methodological framework, conduct research, analyze your data, and write your thesis within the framework of the Basel Graduate Network for African Studies and the Graduate School of Social Sciences G3S, all while being supervised by Professor Dr. George Paul Meiu (Social Anthropology). Over the course of three years, you will have the ability to devote your complete attention to the research project you are working on.
About the Scholarship:
Colleges and universities are ranked. The University of Basel is consistently ranked among the best universities in all of Switzerland. The University of Basel is a prestigious educational institution in both Switzerland and the rest of the world. It is extremely proud of its extensive past and the traditions that evolved out of it. The university is placed in the top 5 percent of all schools in the world, according to several rankings. The most popular BASEL programs are “Arts and Humanities,” “Engineering and Technology,” “Life Sciences and Medicine,” “Natural Science,” “Social Sciences and Management,” “Physics,” and “Chemistry.” According to this criterion, BASEL is one of the best schools in the world when it comes to educational quality, and it ranks inside the top 300 schools all over the world. After graduating from university, university graduates in Switzerland have no trouble obtaining work because they are highly appreciated employees.
1460 was the year that saw the birth of the University of Basel. It is the nation’s very first educational institution. We are proud of a tradition of excellence in teaching, learning, and research that spans over 500 years. During this time, we have taken a forward-thinking approach to new scientific developments in order to provide a high-quality education and maintain our well-deserved reputation as a university that is capable of attracting staff and students from all over the world.
Scholarship Sponsor(s): University of Basel
Scholarship Country: Switzerland
Scholarship Worth: Fully Funded
Study Level PhD
Nationality: International Students
Scholarship Offer:
We provide a working atmosphere that is international and multidisciplinary, as well as an exceptional research infrastructure and a site of employment in the middle of Basel. The University of Basel’s policies will be followed when determining the appropriate level of compensation.
Eligibility for Scholarship.
Applicants
hold an outstanding Master’s degree or an equivalent qualification in Social Anthropology or a related discipline; present an original idea for a research project relating to the sexuality, mobility, and political economy; have very good research and writing skills; commit themselves fully to their PhD project during the funding period and aim at completing their project within the said period; meet the requirements for admission to PhD studies at the University of Basel. The scholarship will be awarded to one student who satisfies all of these criteria.
Nationality
The University of Basel 2022 Centre for African Studies 2 PhD Scholarships is open to all International Students
Graduate students from Africa who are pursuing a doctoral degree in the fields of Geography (with a focus on Geoinformatics) or Political Science at Heidelberg University are eligible to receive a Robert and Christine Danizger Scholarship, which is awarded to exceptional candidates who are in need of financial assistance to complete their doctoral programs.
Application Procedure
Are you interested, and do you qualify? To submit your application, please visit the University of Basel’s page on career2.successfactors.eu.
Your submission includes the following:
- a letter of intent that is no longer than two pages;
- a curriculum vitae (which should not be longer than two pages and should include a list of publications, if relevant);
- a brief suggestion relating to sexuality, mobility, and political economy that is between 1,500 and 2,500 words long.
- copies of diplomas earned at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, along with any accompanying transcripts (please note that the cumulative grade earned on the master’s degree is taken into consideration for admission);
- the names and contact information for two referees who are university professors or lecturers; 6. one or two writing examples, one of which must be the candidate’s master’s thesis or an equivalent.
Please only use the Basel University online recruiting tool for submitting your application materials in the PDF file format.
Please visit our website at https://zasb.unibas.ch for further information, or feel free to get in touch with Prof. George Paul Meiu at [email protected].
The submission period will close on May 31st, 2022.
Application Deadline
The application deadline for University of Basel 2022 Centre for African Studies 2 PhD Scholarships is May 31, 2022
