The production of free glass saw significant technological innovations in the twentieth century. Dutch glass artist Sybren Valkema’s (1916-1996) study of historical sources and his practical work contributed crucially to these innovations. What role did historical sources on the changing production of glass in Europe between 1500 and 1996 play in his work? How did he use these sources to innovate technology and education?

Within the project these archives are enriched and linked to open data to answer these questions. One postdoctoral position is available for a Researcher in digital humanities. In collaboration with data scientists based at the University of Amsterdam (headed by Prof Evangelos Kanoulas) you will be responsible for the development of digital tools to make the archive accessible, and to conduct (technical art) historical research making use of these tools and the archives, to the project’s central questions about the history of glass technology and art education. The expected output includes two peer-reviewed articles, one in the digital humanities, the other in (art) history.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will have: 

• a PhD in art history or another relevant historical discipline, and an excellent track record of publications at the highest academic standards;
• demonstrable expertise in digital humanities, and an interest in the history of glass, technology, and education;
• an excellent knowledge of English, the common language of the project; knowledge of other European languages (especially Dutch) is necessary to read the historical sources;
• the ability to work both as an independent Researcher and as part of an international team;
• experience with interdisciplinary collaboration, and the ability to communicate with data scientists.

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