Mellon Fellowships at Wits University, Johannesburg--Announcement

We invite applications for 2 Fellowship in the WITS ART MUSEUM at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. These fellowships are funded by The Andrew W Mellon Foundation and will be situated in the Wits Art Museum. The positions will preferably be filled by Postdoctoral candidates, but we will consider strong applications from candidates with MA degrees intending to enroll for, or currently enrolled for PhDs. The fellows will work with the curators of the Wits Art Museum and the Chair in the Centre for the Creative Arts of Africa on a research-driven re-engagement with the collections of historical and contemporary African arts in the Wits Art Museum. We are therefore looking for fellows with research experience in one or more of the following fields: African visual art, African music, African performance arts, African dress.  One of the main tasks of the fellows will be to help academic divisions in Wits and at other institutions access, engage with, and use the collections in teaching and research. They will have to outline and drive a series of seminars which will, at the end of the project, be published as a collection of essays. Fellows will be expected to participate in exhibitions and publications planned within the Wits Art Museum.

Each Fellowship will be for a period of 36 months (although we may consider terms shorter than that) and will include a stipend, a shared office with own computer, library access and a small research grant per year. The fellowship project will start in July 2012, and will end in July 2015.

Applications must be sent to Julia Charlton, (Senior Curator at WAM) Julia.Charlton@wits.ac.za  and should include:

• Title and abstract of the doctoral thesis, or master’s thesis/research report
•  Copies of degree certificate (or a signed letter from a supervisor saying that the degree will be completed before the candidate is due to take up the position)
•  Copies of completed articles or published essays (if any) 
•  A Curriculum Vitae (Resumé)
•  A letter of motivation
•  The names and email addresses of two referees, one of whom should be the supervisor of the doctorate/MA dissertation.

Submission deadline 15 July 2012