The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill seeks to fill a twelve-month post-doctoral fellowship position in public digital humanities. This fellowship is a part of the Carolina Digital Humanities Initiative, which is supported by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This fellowship is hosted by the UNC Digital Innovation Lab, which is administered through the Department of American Studies. The initial appointment will be for a period of 12 months. Continuation of the position for a second year is possible, contingent upon available funding.
The fellow will serve as the UNC-Chapel Hill Scholar in Residence for the History Center in the renovated and restored Loray Mill complex in Gastonia, North Carolina. This iconic structure — the largest textile mill in the South when it opened in 1902 — will reopen in the summer of 2014 as a 450,000 square foot residential (300 apartments), commercial, and retail hub for this city of 72,000 (20 miles from Charlotte, NC), which was once the center of textile manufacturing in the state. Both the mill and the surrounding 30-block mill village are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Responsibilities of this position include:
- working with the staff of the Digital Innovation Lab to develop and deploy (on-site and online) the Loray Digital Archive: an online, multi-media, digital archive of materials relating to the social, cultural, and economic history of the mill, the mill village, and the wider community
- working with the Gaston County Museum of Art and History, the Gaston County Public Library, other community organizations, and property managers to develop, execute, and evaluate public programming designed to engage residents, visitors, and community members with the history of the mill and the village
- conducting original research on the history of the mill and its community, and disseminating research findings through digital and non-digital forms to academic and non-academic audiences
- working with members of the community to recover and document their family histories and connections with the mill and the mill village
- working with community partners and the DIL, to develop and execute a summer (2015) field experience in digital public humanities, based in the History Center
- working with community partners and the DIL to incorporate community-contributed materials and oral history interviews into the Loray Digital Archive
- teach or co-teach (with a UNC faculty member) a graduate level course in digital public humanities spring semester 2015.
The fellow will be based in Gastonia, but will be expected to spend some time each month in Chapel Hill on a schedule to be worked out with the Director of the Digital Innovation Lab.
The fellowship carries an annual stipend of $45,000 (plus benefits). The position is supported by a $5,000 fund for research, programming, travel and other costs. The start date for the position is negotiable between August 1 and October 1, 2014.
Further information regarding the mill renovation, the planned history center, and the Loray Digital Archive is available here.
For more information about the position, or to apply online, visit https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/40594.