W2 Professorship in Cultural Heritage with a focus on German Colonialism with Tenure Track W3
Published on: August 12, 2026
The University of Bonn is an international research university with a wide education and research profile. With a 200-year history, approximately 31,500 students, more than 6,000 staff, and an excellent reputation at home and abroad, the University of Bonn is one of the most important universities in Germany and is recognized as a University of Excellence.
The Faculty of Arts of the University of Bonn seeks to appoint a
W2 Professorship in Cultural Heritage
with a focus on German Colonialism with Tenure Track W3
as soon as possible.
Faculty of Arts
Deadline:
October 31, 2026
Starting Date:
as soon as possible
The post is located at the Cluster of Excellence “Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies” (BCDSS). The BCDSS aims to investigate all the various facets of dependency structures, and to establish historically informed dependency studies as a key interdisciplinary field of research across the humanities and social sciences.
We are seeking an established researcher in the fields of Cultural Heritage, Memory Studies, Museum Studies, Material Cultures, and Cultural or Artistic Practices. A further research focus should be German colonialism from a global perspective. The successful candidate should have interdisciplinary and international research and teaching experience in the fields mentioned, as well having successfully secured external funding. They should also have experience in practical cultural heritage or museum work.
As part of the professorship, the appointee will teach – among other things – English-language classes in the Master’s programme “Dependency and Slavery Studies” as well as in a developing English-language degree programme in the field of “Critical Museum and Global Heritage Studies,” at the Global Heritage Lab. In addition, the appointee is expected to be willing to achieve C1-level proficiency in German within five years.
The successful candidate will actively engage with research initiatives at the BCDSS, the Faculty of Arts and the TRAs of the University of Bonn, and be committed to serving on academic self-governing bodies.
Applicants must have obtained a relevant PhD and a habilitation or equivalent qualification. In accordance with the interdisciplinary nature of this research focus, we welcome applications from the fields of Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Literary Studies, Theatre Studies, Musicology, Media Studies, History, Art History or related disciplines.
The appointment requirements follow Section 36 of the of the Higher Education Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (Hochschulgesetz NRW).
The University of Bonn promotes an open, respectful, and non-discriminatory academic culture and is actively committed to equal opportunity and family friendliness. We aim to eliminate structural disadvantages and to strengthen diversity in research, teaching, and administration. Therefore, we welcome all applications, regardless of ethnic or social
background, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability, or age. Applications from women and people with a documented severe disability (or equivalent status) will be given preferential consideration in accordance with the Gender Equality Act of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesgleichstellungsgesetz NRW, LGG NRW) and Book IX of the Social Code (Sozialgesetzbuch IX, SGB IX).
Please apply to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts via our online portal: https://berufungsportal.uni-bonn.de
The deadline for applications is October 31, 2026.
If you have any questions, please contact dependency@uni-bonn.de.
Diversity and equal opportunity
The University of Bonn promotes an open, respectful, and non-discriminatory academic culture and is actively committed to equal opportunity and family friendliness. We aim to eliminate structural disadvantages and to strengthen diversity in research, teaching, and administration. Therefore, we welcome all applications, regardless of ethnic or social background, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability, or age.
Applications from women and people with a documented severe disability (or equivalent status) will be given preferential consideration in accordance with the State Equality Act (LGG) NRW and Social Code (SGB) IX.
