Post-Doctoral Research Associate "Property and Poverty," 2026-27, Davis Center and the Institute for Advanced Study. Princeton University's Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies and the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) are pleased to announce an opening for a year-long joint position as a residential Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Davis Center and IAS, with the expectation of renewal for a second year, contingent upon satisfactory performance and continued funding. The Postdoctoral Research Associate will enjoy member privileges at the IAS School of Historical Studies and will also participate in all of the Davis Center's weekly activities (along with the Center's faculty-level fellows). The Postdoctoral Research Associate will not have teaching or administrative responsibilities, but will be engaged in full-time work on a proposed historical project that corresponds to the theme of the Davis Center for academic years 2026-27 and 2027-28. The theme is "Property and Poverty." The successful candidate will work on the history of property and dispossession, wealth and poverty, and the practices of owning and disowning things, people, bodies, and ideas.The Davis Center and IAS invite applications from historians studying the intellectual, legal, religious, cultural, and economic histories of property and poverty, and from social historians who explore the world of the impoverished, the practices of poor relief, the causes of poverty, and the mechanisms of dispossession. All approaches are welcome, including but not limited to: the history of intellectual property and copyright, the history of the commons, the lived experience of poverty, various forms of individual and collective ownership and resistance to them, the administrative and informational technologies enabling the development of property, and the religious and moral aspects of poverty and ownership. Intellectual, environmental, and economic historians, as well as historians of art, gender, race, and sexuality from antiquity to the modern period, whose work engages with these subjects, are encouraged to apply. Applications are welcomed from a range of historical fields, with no restrictions on either chronological period or geographical region. Please note that the Shelby Cullom Davis Center will also be conducting a separate search for a Postdoctoral Research Associate that does not involve a partnership with the IAS. Interested candidates may apply for both positions. The initial expected term of appointment for the postdoctoral position co-sponsored by the IAS is July 1, 2026-June 30, 2027, with the expectation of renewal for a second year, contingent upon satisfactory performance and continued funding. Applicants are required to hold a doctoral degree by the start of the appointment. The appointment will be made through the Department of History at Princeton University, however the Postdoctoral Research Associate will have an office at the Institute for Advanced Study, will be eligible for housing on the IAS campus, and will receive a competitive salary along with Princeton University benefits and an annual research fund of $5,000.Applicants must apply online at https://www.princeton.edu/acad-positions/position/40321. Applicants should submit a letter of application, a CV, a writing sample of no more than 10,000 words, and the contact information for three referees who will be asked to provide letters of recommendation. Applications received by January 11, 2026 at 11:59 pm EST will receive full consideration. Referees will have until January 19 to submit their letters. This position is subject to the University's background check policy. The work location for this position is in-person on campus at Princeton University.

Expected Salary Range: $75,000.00

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.

Requisition No: D-26-HIS-00003

PI278964507

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