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CEU Postdoctoral Fellow Position Focusing on Confessional Dynamics in Greek Orthodox Communities, 15th-18th Centuries, UK

Publish Date: Dec 10, 2015

Deadline: Jan 30, 2016

CEU Postdoctoral Fellow Oosition Focusing on Confessional Dynamics in Greek Orthodox Communities, 15th-18th Centuries

The Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary announces a call for a postdoctoral fellow position focusing on confessional dynamics in Greek Orthodox communities, between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Thanks to the growing research in the field of Eastern Christian Studies, new perspectives on the development of early modern Oriental Studies in Europe, as well as recent surge in the scholarly interest in Christian missions (both Catholic and Protestant) to the Middle East, we are increasingly better informed about the nature of the confessional overtures to the Ottoman Empire’s Christians and their responses and contributions to early modern confessional dynamics both within the empire and in Europe. Despite important philological work done in the ninteenth and early twentieth centuries on sources for the Orthodox Greeks’ relations with both Protestants and Catholics, recent studies, featuring new methodological and theoretical approaches to early modern religious and cultural dynamics as well as missionary work, have focused largely on Arabic-speaking Christians (especially Maronites). The nature of confessional dynamics in other Ottoman Christian communities between the 15th and 18th centuries and their engagement with missionaries of various confessional stripes on the one hand, and the changing nature of Ottoman religious politics on the other, remains to be comprehensively explored in light of new or neglected sources and methodological and theoretical considerations.

We invite applications with projects focusing on Greek-speaking Orthodox groups’ or individuals’ engagement with the discourses on confessional identity and religious orthodoxy stemming either from outside the Ottoman empire (e.g., intense Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist missionary activity and educational opportunities for the Greek Orthodox abroad) or from within it (e.g., from the growing ‘Sunna-mindedness’ of the Ottoman administrative and judicial establishment; diplomatic intrigues; changing economic conditions, etc.), or both. How were intra- as well as cross-communal relations affected by these developments? The relationship of the Ottoman Orthodox Greeks with other Orthodox communities, in Italy, Ukraine, Russia, etc., is also of particular interest, as is their relationship with other Eastern churches. We welcome proposals on any aspect of the topic, including case studies exploring particular textual genres, roles of particular individuals, dynamics in particular holy sites, etc.

This postdoctoral fellow position is associated with the ERC project entitled The Fashioning of a Sunni Orthodoxy and the Entangled Histories of Confession Building in the Ottoman Empire, 15th-18th Centuries (OTTOCONFESSION) hosted by the Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at Central European University and carried out in cooperation with Boğaziçi University. The project looks into the evolution of confessional discourses and concepts of religious orthodoxy in the Ottoman Empire (focusing on Rumeli and Anatolia) in both community-specific and entangled, cross-communal perspectives between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. For more detail see https://cems.ceu.edu/ottoconfessio

Duties and responsibilities

The fellow is supposed to carry out the following tasks:

-undertake research on the proposed topic

-work towards publications (articles and/or monograph) based on proposed research

-present papers at the conferences organized by the project team and internationally

-contribute to the project-related publications and other deliverables

-participate in consultation sessions of the research team

Application Requirements

-The applicant has a PhD degree in history, literature, theology or a related field

-The applicant has a good command of Greek and ideally at least another relevant research language (e.g., Italian, Latin, Ottoman Turkish, etc.)

-the applicant should have written and spoken proficiency in English; however, we also welcome applications from researchers with spoken proficiency in English who are more comfortable with writing in French or German

What we offer

The successful candidate will have an employment contract with CEU (for one year, with the possibility of renewal by one more year). CEU provides a generous compensation package including state health insurance. Besides this, the fellow will have access to additional funds for research-related expenses.

About Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies:

The Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies (CEMS) promotes the study of the eastern Mediterranean and its hinterlands from antiquity to the end of the Ottoman period. The center perceives the Mediterranean as an ideal framework for the analysis of interconnections across geographical, chronological, imperial, religious and disciplinary boundaries, focusing on east-west interaction and exchanges, the movement of people, objects and ideas to and from the eastern Mediterranean. Building upon CEU’s location on the fringes of the formerly Byzantine and Ottoman worlds (and imperial Habsburg and Russia for that matter), CEMS is ideally placed to connect the shared pasts of those peoples and cultural spheres to which CEU’s mission is directed with the contemporary world. This allows CEMS to take a vantage point distinct from that of other academic fora on Mediterranean Studies, engaging in a productive dialogue valuable both to scholars in the humanities and social sciences as well as policy makers.

How to apply

Please send your: -application cover letter -research proposal (no more than 1500 words) -writing or publication sample (up to 50 pages) -curriculum vitae -two letters of recommendation by January 30, 2016 to positions@ceu.edu including job code in subject line: 2015/074 Please note that the procedure will include interviews. Candidates will be informed of the decision by early March 2016. CEU is an equal opportunity employer. Informal enquiries can be directed to Dr. Tijana Krstic at krstict@ceu.edu
positions@ceu.edu

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

https://hro.ceu.edu/vacancies/postdoctoral-fellow-position-focusing-on-confessional-dynamics-in-greek-orthodox-communiti

Similar Opportunities


Disciplines

Medieval Studies

Study Levels

Postdoctoral

Research

Opportunity Types

Fellowships

Eligible Countries

International

Host Countries

Hungary