PhD position Uncovering Women’s Cultural Production in India’s Marathi Film Industry

Fully funded PhD position in Media Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen in the project Uncovering Women’s Cultural Production in India’s Marathi Film Industry Archives.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to work in an international environment and to acquire valuable research experience at a top-ranked European university. As a PhD student, you will develop your own research project in consultation with the associated supervisors within the frame of this vacancy. You will conduct independent and original academic research and report results via peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, media outputs, and ultimately a PhD dissertation. The PhD thesis has to be completed within four years. You will also have the opportunity to (further) develop your teaching skills.

You will work with the following supervisory team:

- Dr Smith Mehta (co-supervisor)
- Dr Stacey Copeland (co-supervisor)
- Prof dr Susan Aasman (promoter)

The PhD Project
This PhD project investigates the representation and preservation of feminist and women’s cultural heritage within India's Marathi film industry archives. We are particularly interested in projects invested in studying the Marathi film industry post-independence, including any period between 1947-2025. The research will address key questions surrounding women's contributions to Marathi film industry, how they have been documented and represented in archival material, and how a feminist archival approach can provide a more inclusive understanding of the industry's cultural history. The investigation aims to contribute to fields such as media industry studies, film studies, and feminist cultural history with its linguistic focus on Marathi language - constituting 99 million worldwide speakers, the thirteenth most spoken language in the world, and the third most spoken language in India. This project aims to (a) address the gaps in archival material related to women's contributions to Marathi cinema and (b) explore how these representations have evolved and what they reveal about broader industrial and socio-cultural changes over time.

The main research questions guiding this PhD project are:

1. How have women’s contributions to the Marathi film industry been documented and represented in archival sites such as the National Film Archive of India, Pune and the Film Heritage Foundation, Mumbai?
2. In what ways do these archival representations reflect or challenge dominant narratives of gender, culture, and society in Indian cinema?
3. How can a feminist archival approach help in uncovering marginalized voices and shaping a more inclusive understanding of the Marathi film industry's cultural heritage?

Methodologically, the investigation will take a qualitative approach, combining interviews, archival work, textual analysis of films and associated archival materials, policy analysis, and/or oral histories.

You will be required to:

- Develop your research project in consultation with the associated supervisors.
- Conduct independent and original academic research.
- Complete the PhD in the specified timeframe (4 years).
- Report results via peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, media creation outputs, and ultimately a PhD dissertation.
- Reside in the Netherlands during the PhD project.
- Organise travel to Pune and other archival sites in India, including the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and Film Heritage Foundation (Mumbai), as identified through project work.
- Conduct a total of 0.4 FTE teaching spread over the second, third and fourth year of your appointment.
- Participate in scholarly dissemination of the project through conferences, workshop, and seminars.

Further writing on the background and vision of this project is available upon request.

Organisation
Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high-quality teaching and research. Its 34,000 students are encouraged to develop their individual talents through challenging study- and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international centre of knowledge: It belongs to the best research universities in Europe and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide.

The Faculty of Arts is a large, dynamic faculty in the heart of the city of Groningen. It has more than 5000 students and 700 staff members who work at the frontiers of knowledge every day. The Faculty offers a wide range of degree programmes: 15 Bachelor's programmes and over 35 Master's specialisations. Our research, which is internationally widely acclaimed, covers Archaeology, Cultural Studies, History, International Relations, Language and Literary Studies, Linguistics and Media and Journalism Studies.