PhD position: Food Protest in Early Modern Northern Italy

Organisation/Company

University of Amsterdam (UvA)

Research Field

Language sciences
Cultural studies

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Netherlands

Application Deadline

7 Apr 2025 - 21:59 (UTC)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Not Applicable

Hours Per Week

40.0

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

The Amsterdam School for Historical Studies (ASH) invites applications for a fully funded PhD position (4 years; 1ft). You will work on the Italian subproject of the project Daily Bread. A Comparative Urban History of Early Modern Food Protests, funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research and led by prof. dr. Maartje van Gelder.
The Daily Bread Project:
We are looking for a PhD candidate within the Daily Bread team, consisting of the PI, 1 postdoc and 2 PhD candidates. The Daily Bread project focuses on two fundamental and connected historical questions: How did ordinary people shape politics in the period before institutionalized democracy? And how has power shaped archives, determining whose histories have been written, and whose have been silenced? It does so by, on the one hand, examining the impact of food protests, their interrelation with environmental crises and local food cultures. On the other hand, it examines the ways in which the actors in these protests—often women—have and have not been included in the archival records, drawing among others on scholarship dealing with archival silencing.
The Daily Bread project will compare food protests between circa 1500-1800 in Dutch, Italian, and Ottoman cities. In its methodology, the project merges social history’s attention for the politically disenfranchised with cultural history’s sensitivity to the impact of power on archives and history-writing. It also draws on insights from environmental and comparative urban history. Its primary objectives are to 1) recast the debate on how ordinary men and women shaped pre-democratic politics; 2) advance the agenda of comparative urban history; 3) answer environmental historians’ call to examine societal responses to climate change. Ultimately, the project aims to uncover the power relations at play in the streets, the archive, and the production of history.
Description PhD project:
We are looking for a PhD candidate who will focus on the subproject on famine, urban protest, and food cultures in the Milanese state (ca. 1550-1800). The preference is for the PhD to focus on the city of Milan. Milan saw significant demographic crises in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, caused by epidemics and famines. Certain famine-related protests loom large, such as a famous Rivolta del Pane in 1628; others have left few traces in the literature and are yet to be analyzed. This subproject will explore the ways in which these protests developed, what their impact was, and trace how they have been recorded in both archives and early modern writing. Moreover, this project offers the possibility of examining how the introduction of new food stuffs interacted with food protests.
The PhD candidate will become a member of the Amsterdam School for Historical Studies and will have access to the research training and activities offered by national research schools and the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research of the Faculty of Humanities. After successfully completing a pilot study, the PhD candidate can acquire teaching experience in the programmes offered by the Department of History, European Studies and Religion.
This is what you will be doing

• complete a PhD thesis within the period of appointment (four years);
• actively participate in the research group’s meetings and other research activities;
• conduct archival research in Italy;
• present intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
• participate in the Research School and Faculty of Humanities PhD training programmes;
• (co-)author two research articles, which can double as parts of the thesis;
• (co-)teach courses at BA-level in the second and third year of the appointment (maximum 0,2 fte per year);
• help co-organize project events and conferences.

This is what we ask of you

• a recently completed (Research)Master's degree in history (or a relevant subject), held by the time of appointment;
• a demonstrable affinity with the main theme/themes of the subproject;
• excellent archival and research skills, including relevant paleographic skills;
• the ability to formulate research questions, combined with a clear and persuasive style of writing;
• the ability to work independently and as part of an international team;
• excellent command of English (spoken and written) and Italian (at least reading skills);
• commitment to relocate to the Netherlands: the position involves regular in-person meetings in Amsterdam.

Please note that if you already hold a doctorate/PhD or are working towards obtaining a similar degree elsewhere, you will not be admitted to a doctoral programme at the UvA.
This is what else we offer you

• a PhD contract initially for 16 months, starting on September 1, 2025, with a 32-month extension contingent on a positive review after the first year;
• PhD candidates receive a tuition fee waiver;
• PhD candidates have free access to courses offered by the Graduate School of Humanities and the Dutch National Research Schools ;
• excellent possibilities for further professional development and education;
• an inspiring academic and international work environment in the heart of Amsterdam;
• collaboration in an enthusiastic and professional international academic team.

This is where you will be working
The Daily Bread project will consist of the PI, postdoc and 2 PhD candidates. It is embedded within the History Department and the Amsterdam Centre for Urban History (ACUH), a vibrant research community of urban historians. As a PhD candidate you will also become a member of the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies at the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research of the Faculty of Humanities. The research school represents and forsters the study of the human past from Antiquity to the present day. It brings together more than 200 academics who participate in 14 research groups and 3 centres, of which ACUH is one.
If this PhD position resonates with you, please send the following by April 7th, 2025:

• cover letter, which states how you would approach the themes of the PhD project and how your experience and skills will help you conduct the necessary research
• A full academic cv, including two names of references
• A writing sample, such as a paper or a chapter of a Master’s thesis. Interviews will be held in May.

For more information, including a description of the project, please contact Maartje van Gelder (m.vangelder@uva.nl ).

Website

https://www.academictransfer.com/en/jobs/349811/phd-position-food-protest-in-ea…

Website for additional job details

https://www.academictransfer.com/349811/

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

UvA

Country

Netherlands

City

Amsterdam

Postal Code

1012CX

Street

Kloveniersburgwal 48

Geofield

City

Amsterdam

Website

http://www.uva.nl/

Street

Spui 21

Postal Code

1012 WX

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