Post Doctoral Associate

Rutgers University, United States

Updated: about 1 month ago
Location: New Brunswick, NEW JERSEY
Deadline: 06 Feb 2026

Position Details
Position Information


Recruitment/Posting Title Post Doctoral Associate
Department Historical Analysis Center
Salary Details $70,000
Offer Information
The final salary offer may be determined by several factors, including, but not limited to, the candidate’s qualifications, experience, and expertise, and availability of department or grant funds to support the position. We also take into consideration market benchmarks, if and when appropriate, and internal equity to ensure fair compensation relative to the university’s broader compensation structure. We are committed to offering competitive and flexible compensation packages to attract and retain top talent.
Benefits
Rutgers offers a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees, based on position, which includes:
  • Medical, prescription drug, and dental coverage
  • Paid vacation, holidays, and various leave programs
  • Competitive retirement benefits, including defined contribution plans and voluntary tax-deferred savings options
  • Employee and dependent educational benefits
  • Life insurance coverage
  • Employee discounts programs


 
For detailed information on benefits and eligibility, please visit: http://uhr.rutgers.edu/benefits/benefits-overview .
Posting Summary
Two Interdisciplinary Fellowships at the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis 2026-2027
The Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis invite applications for two interdisciplinary residential postdoctoral fellowships in the Center’s seminar for academic year 2026-2027 on “Ugly: Bodies, Aesthetics, and the Politics of the Unpleasant,” directed by Professors Yesenia Barragan and Elaine LaFay, Department of History.
The 2026-2028 RCHA seminar interrogates what is socially deemed “unpleasant” and its relations to power, violence, and inequality. We do so through the critical social category of the “ugly” and “ugliness”; that is, as a contested aesthetic site shaped by dynamics of gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, age, and body size.
Borrowing from feminist scholars Ela Przybylo and Sara Rodrigues, we are especially interested in understanding “ugliness” as a form of “visual injustice”—one that can have aural, olfactory, and other sensory modalities as well. In this seminar, we ask what is feared, dreaded, and shamed in what is normatively and socially prescribed as “ugly” and “unpleasant”? What are the historic relationships between social stratification, hierarchy, inequality, biopolitical power and visual appearance? How are these relations grounded in markers of social difference—race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, class, age, sexuality, ability, and/or size? How do these socially and historically constructed fears deepen or consolidate relations or infrastructures of power? How do we tell “ugly histories” that are accountable, liberatory, and do not reify the very categories we use? We are especially interested in applications from scholars who are invested in activist approaches and/or commitments to these questions.
Drawing upon insights from history, anthropology, disability studies, psychology, Black studies, fat studies, queer and gender studies, architecture, and other humanistic and social science disciplines, this seminar seeks to bring together scholars to critique and interrogate what is socially deemed “ugly” and “ugliness” across different times and spaces. Ultimately, we aim to understand the relationship between aesthetics and power amid the “state of emergency” (Benjamin) that is our present.
The postdoctoral residential fellows will receive a salary of $70,000 for the year as well as a research allocation of $2,000; they will also receive Rutgers University health benefits. The fellows will pursue research, participate in the weekly seminars, and engage in other activities at the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis. They are also asked to teach or participate in one three-credit course during the academic year.
To apply, please submit an application consisting of the following items:
● a curriculum vitae or resume
● a project abstract of about 150 words
● two-page description of your research project and its relationship to the theme of “Ugly: Bodies, Aesthetics, and the Politics of the Unpleasant.”
● the names of three references; letters will be requested for shortlisted applicants
Applications must be received by February 6, 2026. Please direct any questions to Yesenia Barragan, yb238@history.rutgers.edu , and Elaine LaFay, el710@history.rutgers.edu .
Position Status Full Time
Posting Number 25FA1219
Posting Open Date 12/05/2025
Posting Close Date 02/06/2026

Qualifications


Minimum Education and Experience
All requirements for the PhD or other terminal degree in the relevant field must be completed by August 1, 2026. A record of publication and scholarly engagement relevant to the seminar’s topic is required.
Certifications/Licenses
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Preferred Qualifications
Equipment Utilized
Physical Demands and Work Environment
Overview
Statement

Posting Details


Special Instructions to Applicants
Quick Link to Posting https://jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/264461
Campus Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Home Location Campus College Ave (RU-New Brunswick)
City New Brunswick
State NJ
Location Details

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