PRES HESAM – LABORATORY OF EXCELLENCE « CREATIONS, ARTS AND HERITAGES »
FRENCH ACRONYM : LABEX « CAP »
Call for applications / four to eight postdoctoral agreements – recruitment by competitive examination 2011-2012
The Laboratory of Excellence « Creations, Arts and Heritages » (French acronym « Labex CAP ») of PRES héSam, advertise the recruitment by competitive examination of four to eight researcher worker (postdoctoral level) for one year period, renewable one time.
Personal research projects submitted by the applicants will be in the line of Labex CAP general theme, which concerns contemporary challenges of creation and heritage in a context marked by strong and rapid transformation of societies : on one hand, especially as regards to globalization of economic life, communications and cultures ; and, on an other hand, as regards to digital tools and cultures development. Applicants will have to make allowance for attempts at rapprochement and cooperation wish, between University research and Institutions, which conserve and present to the public, heritage collections ; it is the founding principle of Labex CAP.
Conditions of membership
• Ph.D. graduated after 01/09/2007
Schedule of recruitment
• Closing date of call for applications : 2 January 2012
• Qualifying period : 27 January 2012
• Acceptance period (auditions) : 3 and 4 February 2012
Application file
Complete application file must be sent the 2 January 2012 at 16h00 (4.00 PM) at the latest, at the following address : labex.creations.patrimoines@gmail.com
Dossier shall include :
• a curriculum vitae and a list of publications / realisations
• Ph.D. degree
• report of discussion
• research project : title, accepting research Unit, project outline, drawn up in French (a maximum of 10 000 characters)
• a letter of motivation
• a meaningful publication (PdF)
• two letters of recommendation, drawn up by researchers and prominent personalities from the arts and creation world.
Recruitment period and at what point mentoring should begin (starting date of employment)
• The contracts on offer are contracts for one year period, renewable one time.
• Posts are open in the second half of 2011-2012 University year. However, applicants can submit, together with their dossier, a request for a deferral of the taking office at the beginning of the 2012-2013 academic year.
Services obligations and involvement of the laboratory works
In addition to the research project for which they were selected, researchers will take part in Labex activities. Amounting to 2/5e of their working time, they will especially contribute to organization and realization of “enhancement actions” such as : workshops, meetings, study days. They will also contribute to
enrichment of communication supports (web site, presentation leaflets, presentation documents) and to the unit / laboratory / host department ‘s life. They will take part in Labex seminar sessions, which make it possible for them to present and discuss collectively their research ‘s progress, on a monthly basis.
Payment system
Recruitments are fixed-term contracts. The growth amount of the monthly remuneration is 2361.45 euros. On their request and according to collective projects developed in the Labex, researchers may benefit from specific financial supports, in the context of missions related to their researches and their participations in scientific events.
Selection criteria
Contracts offered aim at young researchers. Applicants must have a Ph.D. degree and be able to present first achievements in the field of research.
Criteria taken into account by the selection committee are :
• Research project quality, originality, adequacy to the Labex themes
• Characteristics and abilities of the candidate (scientific competences, knowledge in the field of research, publications)
• International character of scientific researches (study periods, publications, linguistic skills)
THEMATIC AXES OF LABEX
The general program of Labex CAP has five components, which can be questioned in their cross-cutting :
a) Creation and heritages in their dealings – Interactions between creation and heritage
This axe proposes to examine, with a long term approach, the steps lead from creation to heritage and feedback effects of public appropriation on creation, in different areas relevant to the sponsors culture and to their part in conception of exhibits ; to the formation of heritages identities and to the choice of “purposes of consensus” ; finally, from the point of view of the public space – through the cultural institutions and their “place of definition” of the community.
The issue will be studied, taking into account three questions, which are especially indicative of the present profound changes : the “new face” of the “universal artist” and the “global” logic of loans, exchanges, blends, interactions that induces between arts and their publics ; the global process of items and practices selection or sites of great significance/new (“cultural”) value selection, which are “provided” to the collective and individual identification ; the new dynamics in term of creation and reception of music organs and plastic arts.
b) Creation and creative processes
In the way of a trans-disciplinary study on creation and its social and cognitive processes, the research will involve interaction between processes study (case study and theoretical contemplation) and historical critical thinking on the legacy of the tradition about that issue. Status of artist will be studied, on the long term dynamic, dealing with profession and professionalisation ; the borders continually redrawn between “art” and “craft” ; the question of political and symbolic functions and powers “assigned” to the artist ; the extension, in the Europe of the XIXe century, of the concept of creation, beyond the area of arts (in the traditional sense) to the industrial arts.
Maintaining a constant dialogue with those historical works, the “laboratory” will establish the assumption that, beyond their items, technical procedures and social status diversity, Arts are implementing a specific cognitive, “agentive” and emotive register, which will be studied by the assistance of esthetic works, historic and anthropological vision of art, and, furthermore, by the mental philosophy and with researches on cognition and emotions.
c) Heritage and public appropriation
The history and the definitions of heritage will be studied, according to the location and the period, in the context of a large comparative thinking. Researches will be based on conservation sciences status clarification and their epistemology. By confrontation of the various actors of restoration, by thinking of conservation issues, both technically and symbolically, by considering and appreciate new technologies, the “know-how” will be questioned as well as the validity of inherent practices related to conservation. This research will be assisted by an anthropologic inquiry of archives, conceived as a common denominator for all forms of heritage. The program will also include an important historic axe dedicated to representative sources of History of Art teaching in France in the XIXe century, as well as historical recognition of crafts, knowledge and techniques, with the aim of making a historical cartography of architecture learning spaces in the XIXe and XXe centuries. A detailed study of present faces of heritage will be started too, in the field of contemporary art and architecture.
d) Present issues : creation and heritage
The development of digital technologies and the transformation of global economy and cultural practices give rise to changes, still not well understood but which have nevertheless major consequences. Dynamic connection between creation, heritage and Information/Communication technologies (French acronym : TIC) will be covered in different axes : collaborations between museums and computer science ; development of applications and experiments ; the use of “TIC” for creative and participative conception new methods ; immaterial status, and especially software. At the same time, present mutations of artistic creation in contemporary art, cinema, music, architecture area, and, in the field of narrative creation and literature, will be questioned.
e) Prospective
Situation in France is characterized, for a very long time, by a separation between museums and libraries areas, working in the field of heritage conservation, the research and higher education sphere and creation area. In order to exceed this gap, Labex CAP proposes to introduce new working methods, taking care to support the emergence of a new economic model for the artist and for the subject, thinking about new dissemination knowledge and artistic practices methods, which attract new audiences. Labex CAP proposes to realize an online “encyclopedia of creation” too. More generally, the “way to promote” of job-creating innovations (for businesses, institutions and organizations in the broad sense), will be questioned, because many present sectors of activity are based on artistic creation, social sciences or scientific research.
Contact :
Zinaïda Polimenova, administrative manager of Labex CAP : zinaida.polimenova@univ-paris1.fr
Alexandra Liarsou, executive project manager of Labex CAP : labex.creations.patrimoines@gmail.com