Postdoctoral Researcher

The position is fixed-term and will be filled for 3 years. The starting date is 1st January 2018, or negotiable.

Job responsibilities

The Postdoctoral Researcher will work within the ERC funded research project Refashioning the Renaissance: Popular Groups, Fashion and the Material and Cultural Significance of Clothing in Europe, 1550-1650, led by Professor Paula Hohti (PI). This project studies the meanings and dissemination of western fashion in early modern Europe, especially at the lower social levels, and develops new material-based experimental and scientific research methods in dress history.

The team will consist of a Research fellow, Postdoctoral researcher, a Doctoral researcher, a Research assistant and a Project administrator, who will collectively work towards the Refashioning the Renaissance project’s research goals. The Postdoctoral Researcher’s task is to design and carry out the project’s research on early modern Italian dress and fashion (1550-1650), focusing on printed and archival information of dress, textiles, appearance, body and beauty. In addition, the Postdoctoral researcher is expected to participate in the project’s experimental work and teaching and training activities, as well as to organize workshops and seminars and publish articles both independently and in collaboration with other team members. The main duties of the Postdoctoral Researcher include:

• To identify and record relevant printed information of dress in European archives and libraries
• To carry out archival work in Italian archives
• To design methods for historical reconstruction
• To create a dataset for the project’s database and publish at least three articles
• Teaching and other assisting work related to the project’s research activities

Requirements

Qualified candidates for the Postdoctoral Researcher’s position hold a PhD degree in early modern history or in a related field. In addition, the successful candidates should have 

• Fluent skills in English and Italian language
• Previous experience of archival work
• Excellent research skills
• Good communication skills and the ability to work in a team

The Postdoctoral Researcher’s position involves several research trips in Europe, and approximately 10% of the working time should be spent at Aalto University, Finland.

Salary

3500€ per month. In addition, the position includes an allowance towards research travel, conferences, training and publication costs. Aalto University follows the salary system of Finnish universities.

How to apply

To apply for the position, please submit your application containing

• Motivation letter (1 page)
• Research proposal (2 pages)
• CV (2 pages)
• List of publications (2 pages)
• Sample of writing

The applications for the Postdoctoral researcher position are to be submitted through the Aalto University eRecruitment system no later than on 20 October, 2017.

Aalto University reserves the right for justified reasons to leave the position open, to extend the application period and to consider candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period.

For more information

For additional information, please contact Professor Paula Hohti, paula.hohti@aalto.fi or in recruitment process related questions HR-coordinator Elina Säkki-Anttila elina.sakki@aalto.fi.

APPLY HERE

The third Dressing the Early Modern Network conference, “All That Glitters…”: Visual Representations of Dress in the Early Modern and the Boundaries of Reliability was organised in Berlin on 14-15 September 2017. Refashioning Renaissance team, strengthened with our fresh doctoral candidate Anne-Kristine Sindvald Larsen, took part of the conference, which was held at Kunstgewerbemuseum. The conference catered a wide range of interesting papers that gave an opportunity to learn and reflect.

Kunstgewerbemuseum and the adjunct Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek offered an ideal setting for the conference. The Kunstgewerbemuseum houses an extensive collection of tapestries and a dress collection from 18^th century to present day, and it was a pleasure to get to know the collection on the intermissions of the conference. Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek consists of a wonderful collection of original source documents and secondary literature on clothing and fashion by Franz and Frieda Lipperheide.

Paula Hohti introducing Jane Malcolm-Davies.

The papers presented during the conference examined different aspects of visual representations of dress and brought forward intriguing questions and new approaches. Themes varied from the interpretation and reliability of visual images as source to case studies of specific garments, as well as depictions of the others. Our Principal Investigator, Professor Paula Hohti had a pleasure to chair a session that examined interestingly the different aspects of visual representations and how they can be challenged by new research that cross-references different sources. Dr. Jane-Malcolm Davies, who is going to be working in the Refashioning the Renaissance project as a Post-Doctoral Researcher, presented some of her research on knitted caps, and the felting process that was used on wool to mimic velvet. More information on Jane’s Knitting in Early Modern Europe can be found here.

Some examples of fulled caps presented by Jane-Malcolm Davies.

Our growing team, who now met for the first time, thoroughly enjoyed the stimulating discussions, the chances to connect with other scholars, and the sunny Berlin.

State Archive of Siena

The State archive of Siena is located in the Palazzo Piccolomini, by the beautiful central square, the Piazza del Campo. It contains thousands of files that document the economic, political, social and artistic life of the city. Among them are treasured examples, such as the last will and testament of Boccaccio and the breath-taking painted medieval Biccherna tablets, which are on display at the archive’s museum (Museo delle Biccherne). I have been working in this archive for years, but this time I returned with a new goal, to carry out systematic research in dress, clothing and fashion across household inventories in 1550-1650. Together with our new research assistant, Stefania Montemezzo, we are on a mission to find out how ordinary Italians’ fashion changed in this period, and what were the key agents of fashion change at the lower social levels in Siena, Florence and Venice!

Records at the State Archive of Siena.

I also visited some sites that were connected with Renaissance artisans, such as the narrow street, Vicolo del Bargello, that leads out of the Piazza del Campo. This is where one of my Renaissance shoemakers, Giovanni di Domenico, held his shoeshop in 1550s. 

Vicolo del Bargello.

Photos: Paula Hohti