Call for Applications "Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe" 10 Postdoctoral Fellowships Berlin (Germany)
The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin invite scholars to apply for ten postdoctoral fellowships for the program EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST; THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE This research program seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that divide Europe from the Middle East. The project draws on the international expertise of scholars in and outside of Germany and is embedded in university and extra-university research institutions in Berlin. It supports and rests upon the following four interconnected research fields: - Cities Compared: Cosmopolitanism in the Mediterranean and Adjacent Regions - directed by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi (both Center of Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin) - contributes to the debate on cosmopolitanism and civil society from the historical experience of conviviality and socio- cultural, ethnic, and religious differences in the cities around the Mediterranean; - Islamic Discourse Contested: Middle Eastern and European Perspectives - directed by Gudrun Krämer (Institute for Islamic Studies, Free University Berlin) - analyzes modern Middle Eastern thought and discourses in the framework of theories of multiple or reflexive modernities; - Perspectives on the Qur'an: Negotiating Different Views of a Shared History - directed by Angelika Neuwirth (Seminar for Arabic Studies, Free University Berlin) and Stefan Wild (Bonn University) - situates the foundational text of Islam within the religious landscape of Late Antiquity and combines a historicization of its genesis with its reception and perception in Europe and the Middle East; - Travelling Traditions: Comparative Perspectives on Near Eastern Literatures - directed by Friederike Pannewick (Oslo University) and Samah Selim (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) -reassesses literary entanglements and processes of canonization between Europe and the Middle East. The program 'Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe' is funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation; it supports historical-critical philology, rigorous engagement with the literatures of the Middle East and their histories, the social history of cities and the study of Middle Eastern political and philosophical thought (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and secular) as central fields of research not only for area or cultural studies, but also for European intellectual history and academic disciplines. The program explores modernity as a reflexive and polyvalent historical space and conceptual frame. The program puts forward three programmatic ideas: 1) support for research that demonstrates the rich and complex historical legacies between Europe and the Middle East; 2) a re-examination of genealogical notions of mythical 'beginnings', 'origins', and 'purity' in relation to culture and society; and 3) an attempt to contribute to the rethinking of key concepts of a common modernity in light of today's perspective on cultural, social, and political entanglements that supersede rigid identity discourses, national, cultural or regional canons and epistemologies established in the world of the nineteenth century. PREREQUISITES FOR APPLICATION The fellowships are intended above all for scholars of History, Literature, Philology, Political Philosophy, Religion and Sociology from the Middle East who want to carry out their research projects in connection with the Berlin program. Fellows gain the opportunity to pursue research projects of their choice within the framework of one of the above-mentioned four research fields and connected to the program 'Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe' as a whole. In Berlin, they will be integrated in a university or non-university research institute. Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of EUR 1,800 (supplement for married Fellows: EUR 250) and are obligated to work in Berlin and to help shape the seminars and working discussions related to their research field. As a rule, the fellowships begin on 1 October 2006 and end on 31 July 2007. The applicant's doctorate should have been completed no earlier than 1998. An application should be made in explicit relation to one of the four research fields and consist of a curriculum vitae, a 2 to 4-page project sketch, a sample of scholarly work (maximum 20 pages from an article, conference paper, or dissertation chapter) and an evaluation by one university instructor. It should be submitted in English and received by 10 April 2006, sent to: Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe c/o Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin Attention: Georges Khalil Wallotstraße 19 D-14193 Berlin Germany Fax +49 30 - 89 00 12 00 Email: [email protected] For further information on the program 'Europe in the Middle East; the Middle East in Europe' and detailed information on the four research fields please see: http://www.wiko-berlin.de/kolleg/projekte/AKMI?hpl=2 For information on the research institutions in Berlin participating in the program please visit: Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences: http://www.bbaw.de/ Center for Literary Research: http://www.zfl.gwz-berlin.de/ Center of Modern Oriental Studies: http://www.zmo.de/ Institute for Islamic Studies: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~islamwi/ Seminar for Arabic Studies: http://web.fu-berlin.de/semiarab/ Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin: http://www.wiko-berlin.de/ _________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org/ Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://agd.polylog.org/cal/
