The Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI), in concert with the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies Provost Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, is pleased to invite applications for a two year, fixed term postdoctoral fellowship beginning no later than December 31, 2021. The successful applicant will be supervised by CDHI Director Elspeth Brown. Applicants should propose research related to digital humanities from a critical, intersectional perspective. 

The CDHI is a tri-campus research initiative that bridges the humanities’ emphasis on power and culture with the tools and analysis of digital technology to forge a new, generative paradigm of digital humanities scholarship. Critical Digital Humanities is an emerging, intersectional field that emphasizes questions of power, social justice, and critical theory in making and analyzing digital technologies. This is a version of digital humanities that understands our current historic shift in digital technology as an opportunity for social and political transformation. Critical Digital Humanities foregrounds creative praxis, co-creation, public engagement, and community-based research.  

Purpose 

The University of Toronto Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program provides funding to Graduate Faculties to increase opportunities for hiring postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups, specifically Indigenous and Black researchers. These fellowships will enable postdoctoral researchers to grow their scholarly profiles, undertake academic work at the University of Toronto, and strengthen the research environment at the University with diverse perspectives. Read about the Spring 2019, Fall 2019, and Fall 2020 recipients of the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellows on the PPFP webpage. 

Eligibility 

The award is open to both domestic and international post-graduates. 

Nominees must: 

• Demonstrate academic excellence and high potential for success in their chosen fields; 
• Identify as Indigenous and/or Black; 
• Have obtained a doctoral degree, at the time the fellowship commences and normally within the last five years from the start of the fellowship; and 

• Not have held a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship previously. 

Recipients must: 

• Begin the fellowship by December 31, 2021; 
• Be a postdoctoral employee of the University of Toronto; 
• Be associated with a supervisor appointed to a graduate unit; 

• Register and remain registered with the Postdoctoral Office at SGS; 
• Not hold concurrently another major fellowship; 
• Not hold a faculty position or be on leave from such a position; 
• Establish an IDP (Independent Development Plan), and submit to SGS within the first three months of the fellowship. The IDP should be reviewed annually and the revised copy sent to the Postdoctoral Office at SGS; and 
• Submit proof of completion of degree no later than three months after the fellowship commences if they had not fulfilled all requirements for their degree at the time of nomination. 

At the University of Toronto, we strive to be an equitable and inclusive community, rich with diversity, protecting the human rights of all persons, and based upon understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of every person. We seek to ensure to the greatest extent possible that all students and employees enjoy the opportunity to participate as they see fit in the full range of activities that the University offers, and to achieve their full potential as members of the University community. 

Application Process: 

Applicants must submit the following: 

• cover letter  
• statement of research intent (maximum 2 pages) 
• CV (no page limit) 
• three letters of support 
• a copy of completion of degree
  

All materials must be addressed and submitted to Professor Elspeth Brown, elspeth.brown@utoronto.ca no later than 5pm EST on February 19, 2021.