Community Fellow - Sloane Lab London, England
Job description
About us
The Sloane Lab project (https://sloanelab.org/) has been funded under the ‘Towards a National Collection’ call, which has seen the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) award £14.5m to 5 research projects to connect the UK’s cultural artefacts and historical archives in new and transformative ways. The aim of the programme is to use new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) to reveal the first insights into how thousands of disparate collections could be explored by public audiences and academic researchers in the future. The Sloane Lab will focus on the vast collections of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) in public institutions, and work with expert and interested communities including museum audiences to link the present with the past to allow the links between Sloane’s collections and catalogues to be re-established across the Natural History Museum, the British Library, and the British Museum (and other institutions that have relevant material). The main outcome of the project will be a freely available, online digital lab – the Sloane Lab – that will offer researchers, curators, and the public new opportunities to search, explore, and engage critically with key questions about digitised cultural heritage. The Sloane Lab aims to enrich debate on issues such as: the contested nature of museum collections, the role of digital tools in foregrounding overlooked or ignored contemporary and historical issues like imperialism, colonialism, slavery, loss, and destruction, that have shaped the UK’s national collections.
About the role
We are seeking to appoint Community Fellows (ten in total until summer 2024) to contribute to “The Sloane Lab: Looking back to build future shared collections”, led by University College London (UCL) in partnership with the British Museum (BM) and Natural History Museum (NHM). The fellow will undertake creative, critical, practice and/or research-led projects with the Sloane Lab, demonstrating the new forms of analysis and interpretation the project will unlock. This advertised role offers an exciting opportunity for individuals with an interest in contributing to the Sloane Lab, including but not limited to, digital humanists, artists, computer and data scientists and heritage practitioners (community or institution based). The Fellows will exemplify the research capacity unlocked by the Sloane Lab, engage with its Knowledge Base and data directly by undertaking creative, critical and/or research-led projects with collections as data. Research areas may include but are not limited to local and family history, object biography, critical heritage, Indigenous and devalued knowledge, or the transferability of the technology developed by the Sloane Lab.
About you
Please check the attached documents (Community Fellowship Description and Community Fellowship Application proposal) and follow the steps below: - Submit your application with all the required details using the online system - A project proposal must be submitted as part of the application. Please upload it to the ‘Attachments’ section on the online application form. - A CV must be submitted and uploaded to the system. - Please refer to the document ‘Sloane Lab Community Fellowship Project Proposal Guide’ for information required in the proposal. We welcome applications from outside the United Kingdom, as the tenure of the fellowship does not require residency in the UK. All fellowships will be hosted remotely online. The fellow is however expected to remain in regular contact with the Sloane Lab team and is required to participate in online meetings. The fellow is encouraged to use some of the award to travel to the Sloane Lab touring exhibition and present their work in-person (applicants should have alternative plans for online presentations or activities if in-person events are not possible due to the COVID-19 situation)
What we offer
The fellowship comes with an award of £7,500 (includes travel expenses), payable in 3 instalments of £2,500. The first payment will be transferred to you before the start date of the project (subject to you signing and returning your acceptance of the Grant and these terms and conditions). Please note working pattern can be fully remote.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The Sloane Lab is aligned with UCL’s committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where all belong (for more information see: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/equalityucl). We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL’s workforce. People from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, LGBTQI+ people, and women are currently underrepresented.
