The Financial and Administrative Coordinator will primarily function to handle both the financial transactions and provide administrative support to the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice (Simmons Center). The position will be responsible for processing supplier invoices, expense reports, purchase orders, guest speaker agreements, and General Services Agreements. This position will maintain current knowledge of, interpreting, and applying applicable University policies. The Financial and Administrative Coordinator will have a solid working knowledge of working with charts of accounts and procedures and protocols related to transaction coding and approval.

This position will be responsible for providing day-to-day administrative services in support of the department’s operational needs. Responsibilities and tasks include distributing mail and packages, monitoring the main phone line, ordering office supplies, greeting visitors, managing the conference room calendars, assisting faculty and visitors with travel plans and expense reimbursement, and assisting faculty and researchers with shipping needs.

The incumbent must be customer-focused and responsive to requests as they arise. The Financial and Administrative Coordinator will help coordinate logistics for major initiatives and should have a sufficient understanding of the Simmons Center’s programs, services, processes, and resources required to manage day-to-day operations and to play a role in assisting the leadership team with short and long-term planning. This position will serve as a backup, when needed, to support the Simmons Center’s Director and the Center’s events during the Events Coordinator’s absence.

Grade 7 | Full time | 37.5 hours per week

Opens to external candidates March 9, 2024

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About the Slavery and Finance Project

This multi-year endeavor will “follow the money” as it investigates the technologies of finance that facilitated the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Atlantic plantation complex. The group seeks to develop new perspectives on the financial mechanics of slaving operations and the trade’s relationship to maritime insurance, commodity brokerage, currency arbitrage, banking, and other endeavors that have come to constitute the financial services industry. Equally important is the relationship of slavery and the slave trade to state monetary regimes, sovereign debt, and central banking. Finally, the cluster seeks to learn more about the financial side of formal emancipation, including programs for compensation and colonization.

Learn more about the Slavery and Finance Research Cluster

Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice Slavery and Finance Proctorship

The proctor will be responsible for doing the major research on this project. The proctor will develop lines of research in conjunction with the project director. 

The Simmons Center will work with the proctor to develop a set of responsibilities that balances the needs of the project with the professional interests of the proctor. We anticipate that the work will include archival research into the business records of firms and individuals involved in financing the Atlantic plantation economy. The proctor would also develop reference materials regarding the financial institutions and practices which supported the system of racial slavery and the Atlantic slave trade. The proctor will serve as the coordinator of the cluster’s ongoing workshops and seminars, providing the necessary administrative support for hosting visiting speakers and convening regular meetings. Responsibilities will extend to the planning of a Spring 2025 workshop or conference. The proctor would be in regular conversation with stakeholders about various aspects of the project and provide essential project support to ensure that the stakeholder committees are engaged throughout the process. The proctor may also have the opportunity to write up sections of the study of this project. The Proctor will meet regularly with Simmons Center Director, Prof. Anthony Bogues, and Slavery and Finance Research Cluster Faculty Fellow, Prof. Seth Rockman.

Funding and Award

The Proctorship will support the academic year stipend. The Graduate School will support tuition, health insurance, dental insurance, and coverage of the health services fee.

Learn More and Apply by April 22 

The Race, Slavery, Colonialism and Capitalism research cluster explores the way that race, slavery, and colonialism have shaped global capitalism. This research cluster is reshaping scholar’s understanding of the history and growth of capitalism and will bring together the best scholars in the world.  This is a three-year project that is co-led by the Simmons Center and the International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam).

The proctor will conduct research and will perform some administrative duties for the Race, Slavery, Colonialism and Capitalism Research Cluster. The proctor will work with the graduate students within the project to create graduate panels at public meetings of the research cluster.

Proctorship applicants must have strong research & writing skills with a deep interest in history and historical research. The student should also be interested in how historical legacies work to shape contemporary societies.

The proctor will work directly with Prof. Anthony Bogues, Director of the Simmons Center on the research of Race, Slavery, Colonialism and Capitalism Research Cluster. The proctor will have regular meetings with Prof. Bogues. Additionally they will participate in weekly conversations with the research/curatorial team at the International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam).

This is an important position for scholars interested in slavery and capitalism, public history/public humanities work and how the stories of global slavery can be told to a broader public. The research conducted by the proctor will contribute to the global reader on slavery, colonialism and the making of the modern world.

Proctors are expected to devote 18-20 hours/week on average to this position.

Eligibility

Brown University doctoral students in History, Africana Studies, and Political Science

Funding and Award

The Proctorship will support the academic year stipend. The Graduate School will support tuition, health insurance, dental insurance, and coverage of the health services fee.

Application Process

By April 8, applicants should submit the following:

• CV and cover letter documenting their interest in the position, availability during the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters. These documents should be combined as one Word or .pdf document.

• A very brief message of support from the applicant’s Director of Graduate Studies with their contact information.

• If applicants will have challenges with this timing, they should be in touch as soon as possible at slaveryjustice@brown.edu.

Learn More and Apply by April 22