PhD-Candidate Position Exzellenzcluster "Languages of Emotion"
Exzellenzcluster "Languages of Emotion"
Wiss. Mitarbeiterin / Wiss. Mitarbeiter
limited to September, 30th 2010
BAT IIa, 50%
The project "Aesthetic modulation of affective valence" carried out at the Research Cluster "Languages of Emotion" at the Freie Universität Berlin invites applications for a PdD-candidate position (tariff "Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, BAT IIa, 50%" limited to 30.09.2010 ). The project is supposed to run for two years, potentially three years. For more detailed info about the cluster and the project see www.loe.fu-berlin.de.
Starting out from the old paradox of the pleasure taken in aesthetic representations of horrible or other unpleasant phenomena, the project's interdisciplinary research team will investigate modulations of affective valence by aesthetic processes. To this end, it bridges theory in aesthetics and neurocognitve psychology and carries out experimental research on hypotheses derived from this dual approach.
In a series of behavioural, psychophysiological, and neuroscientific (fMRI) experiments, questions of affective responses to audiovisual stimuli in aesthetically framed situations will be addressed. Field work will be combined with laboratory work in an effort to elicit experimentally controlled emotional processes of a beholder in an aesthetic situation. The project is led by Thomas Jacobsen and Winfried Menninghaus.
Prerequisites for applicants: Master Degree in Film Studies, Art History or Comparative Literature.
The successful candidate is expected to bring his/her expertise in aesthetic issues (primarily visual arts) to bear on the planning, carrying out and documenting of experimental research in the psychology of aesthetic perception.
Freie Universität Berlin is an equal opportunity employer.
Letters of application along with CV, and two-page research plan quoting the above shown reference code LoE-AMAV-1 should be submitted by October, 16th 2008 to Freie Universität Berlin, Cluster "Languages of Emotion", Dr. Günter Schmidt-Gess/Prof. Dr. Winfried Menninghaus, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195 Berlin (Dahlem).