The Department of History of Art and Architecture is seeking applications for a Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Associate position on “Reparative Art Histories.” We invite candidates who have completed or will complete a Ph.D. in the history of art, architecture, or visual culture to apply for this two-year appointment, running August 1, 2025, through July 30, 2027, that is funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation on the theme of social justice and disciplinary knowledge.
The grant project is led by Principal Investigator and Dietrich Professor Dr. Kirk Savage, with Gretchen Bender, Jennifer Josten, Alison Langmead, and Christopher Nygren serving as Co-PIs. This grant will support a two-year process of inquiry and collaborative work focused on one central question: how do we foreground the issue of social justice in the discipline of art and architectural history, across time periods, geographies, and social structures? In the first year, HAA will engage in a structured conversation with a series of outside interlocutors; in the second year, the department will produce two new core courses and accompanying Open Educational Resources centering social justice and will produce reflection essays on the challenges and possibilities of advancing social justice analysis in new research.
The postdoctoral associate will take an active role in this project, including interviewing the participants, documenting the activities of the project, and working with the principal investigators, the graduate student assistant, and the department administrator to bring the events to life. This scholar will also participate in all scholarly activities associated with the project, including workshops and lectures; will be asked to offer one undergraduate lecture course (Spring 2026) and one graduate seminar (Fall 2026) focusing on the theme of reparative art histories; and will advance their own research agenda while contributing to the project’s scholarly output through a public presentation.
Successful applicants should demonstrate a research agenda that engages in some aspect of social justice analysis, whatever the specialization. This could include the interplay of justice with questions of patronage, collection, markets, and value; the complicity of the discipline with regimes of colonization and enslavement; methodologies to repair absences in the human record of material production; recovering moments of resistance and liberation – to name only some possibilities. HAA is committed to centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in its curricular and research initiatives. We seek a colleague whose scholarship, teaching, and mentorship will advance our DEIA and anti-racist mission.
Review of applications will begin on March 1, 2025, and continue until the position is filled. Read more about the role on Pitt Talent Center