[Bilimsel Haber] Postdoc Fellowships for 2007/2008 in Berlin : Europe in the Middle East - the Middle East in Europe

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

*10 POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2007/2008 in Berlin*
*Location:* 	Germany
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=Germany>

	

	

	

The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation
and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin invite scholars to apply for ten
post-doctoral fellowships (1.10.2007 - 31.7.2008) in the fields of urban
history, literary studies, political thought, islamic and koranic
studies for the program

EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST - THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE.

Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of 1.800 EUR, health insurance
(and supplement for accompanying spouses: EUR 250). This research
program seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that link and divide
Europe and 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. 'Europe
in the Middle East – The Middle East in Europe' 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 other academic disciplines. The program
explores modernity as a historical space and conceptual frame. The
program puts forward three programmatic ideas:

1) supporting research that demonstrates the rich and complex historical
legacies and entanglements between Europe and the Middle East; 2)
reexamining genealogical notions of mythical 'beginnings', 'origins',
and 'purity' in relation to culture and society; and 3) rethinking key
concepts of a shared modernity in light of contemporary cultural,
social, and political entanglements that supersede identity discourses
as well as national, cultural or regional canons and epistemologies that
were established in the nineteenth century.

The program 'Europe in the Middle East - the Middle East in Europe' is
funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. It supports and builds upon the
following interconnected research fields:

CITIES COMPARED: COSMOPOLITANISM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND ADJACENT REGIONS

This research group is directed by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi, both of
the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin. It 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

This research group is directed by Gudrun Kraemer, Institute for Islamic
Studies, Freie Universitaet Berlin. It 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

This research group is directed by Angelika Neuwirth, Seminar for Arabic
Studies, Freie Universitaet Berlin, and Stefan Wild, Universitaet Bonn.
It situates the foundational text of Islam within the religious
landscape of late antiquity and combines a historicization of its
genesis with an analysis of its reception and perception in Europe and
the Middle East;

TRAVELLING TRADITIONS: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON NEAR EASTERN LITERATURES

This research group is directed by Friederike Pannewick, Oslo
University, and Samah Selim, IREMAM, Aix-en-Provence. It reassesses
literary entanglements and processes of canonization between Europe and
the Middle East.

TRADITION AND THE CRITIQUE OF MODERNITY: SECULARISM, FUNDAMENTALISM AND
RELIGION FROM MIDDLE EASTERN PERSPECTIVES

Is a special forum, directed by Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Ben Gurion
University, that will accompany the four research groups. The idea is to
rethink key concepts of modernity like secularity, tradition, or
religion in the context of the experiences, interpretations, and
critiques of Jews, Arabs, and Muslims in the Middle East and in Europe.

PREREQUISITES AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE

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 research fields and in relation to the program
'Europe in the Middle East - the Middle East in Europe'. In Berlin, they
will be integrated into a university or non-university research
institute. The working language of the research program is English.

Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of 1.800 EUR (supplement for
accompanying spouses: EUR 250) and are obliged 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 2007 and end on 31 July
2008. The applicant's doctorate should have been completed no earlier
than 1999.

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 a letter of
recommendation by one university instructor. The application should be
submitted in paper form, by fax or by E-mail in English and should be
received by *15 January 2007*, sent in to:

	Europe in the Middle East - the Middle East in Europe
c/o Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
Attn: Georges Khalil
Wallotstrasse 19, 14193 Berlin
Germany

Fax +49 30 - 89 00 12 00
Email: khalil at wiko-berlin.de <mailto:khalil at wiko-berlin.de>

Visit the website at http://www.eume-berlin.de