Research Opportunity in Amsterdam

Who wants to join a Dutch psychological research team on literary and cinematic narrative?

A new research project on experiences that are characteristic for engaging with fiction is starting in the Netherlands right now. The aim is to sort out different modes of absorption (e.g. "concentration", "transportation", "presence") in  people's engagement with literary and cinematic narrative, and to find out what properties of stories are responsible for the various experiential states. Another is to disclose the relations of various forms of absorption with aesthetic experiences, such as a sense of beauty or fascination. Frank Hakemulder (Utrecht University) and Ed Tan (Amsterdam University) will supervise two PhD students and a postdoc over the next four years. The researchers intend to keep the readership of OnFiction posted on ground breaking results of the research and look for opportunities to involve the OnFiction community in the studies.

For the moment we report that one of the two PhD positions, the one devoted to studies in absorption in film viewing, is still vacant. We are searching for a graduate in relevant disciplines such as cognitive psychology, emotion psychology, literary and film studies, who is willing to accept the challenge posed by interdisciplinary research in a stimulating academic and cultural environment. Candidates should be able to couple knowledge of theories and cognitive models of narrative in film or literature with experience of real time psychological experimentation. Affinity with manufacturing video would be an advantage. The candidate will work in Amsterdam; a fellowship is offered sufficient for living in Amsterdam and tuition. For details and application procedure please click here to go to the website for the post, and/or contact Ed Tan e.s.h.tan@uva.nl The deadline for applications is September 12 2010.