Job description

The ERC-Consolidator Grant Project ‘The Mamlukisation of the Mamluk Sultanate – II: historiography, political order and state formation in fifteenth century Egypt and Syria (MMS-II)” (2017-21) offers up to two fulltime post-doctoral fellowships for researchers wishing to engage with 15th-century Arabic historiography (1412-70 CE/ca. 815-74 AH).

MMS-II endeavours to offer the first comprehensive survey and collective historical interpretation of the diverse and voluminous range of Arabic historiographical texts that were produced in the Syro-Egyptian Mamluk sultanate between 1410 and 1470 and that have continued to define historical imaginations to this very day. (see http://www.mamluk.ugent.be/MMS_II for more details). The post-doctoral researchers will be fully engaged in the project’s stage two. The project’s research at this stage will consist of the exploration and analysis of discrete sets of texts that are relevant for the project’s time, space, and scope. Selected researchers will be expected to each develop their own research on particular case studies of a set corpus of texts, defined by shared characteristics such as authorship or any other relevant relationship. Methodologically, selected postdoctoral researchers will be expected to pursue their research along a shared research agenda, organized in 3 phases:

* phase 1 (2018-9): contextualizing and historicizing the selected corpus.

* phase 2 (2019-20): literary, narratological and intertextual analyses of the selected corpus .

* phase 3 (2020-21): exploring textual themes, didactic purposes and layers of meaning in the selected corpus.

Selected post-doctoral researchers will be expected to

* each develop their own research project on a set corpus of relevant texts

* each publish at least three individually authored articles in leading international journals

* each publish at least three chapters in the project workshop proceedings

* produce a monograph by the end of the project

* actively participate in the three project workshops, and in any other relevant local and/or international scholarly meeting

* participate in the co-editing of the workshop proceedings

Profile of the candidate

* The candidate should have a PhD in the field of Arabic, Islamic Studies, (Middle East) History, Arabic Literature, or equivalent

* The candidate should have a promising track record in a field of research that is relevant for the MMS-II project, as demonstrated by relevant papers, publications, conference participations, PhD dissertation, reviews, committee comments,…

* The candidate should have a strong interest in the study of late medieval historiography and Arabic literature at the crossroads of socio-political history and cultural studies.

* The candidate should be able to work independently and at the same time be a team player.

* Interest in, or experience with, computational analyses and digital Islamic humanities more in general may be an asset, but is not compulsory.

* The candidate has not worked, lived or studied in Belgium for more than 24 months in the last 36 months.

Offer

We offer up to 2 temporary fulltime contracts as post-doctoral researcher (36 months), starting at the earliest possible date in the course of 2018. The starting salary is minimum 2.300 euro net on a full-time basis. For more information, see www.ugent.be/en/work.

How to apply

Please send us your CV, a cover letter with a short motivation and a statement of interest, a research proposal (3 pages) presenting a relevant case study (text corpus) and a research plan (along the lines of the shared research agenda defined in the job description above), and the names and details of three referees (no reference letters !).

Applications can be submitted by email to mamluk@ugent.be only; the four components of the application (CV, letter, proposal, names of referees) should be combined in one PDF file. Deadline: March 1, 2018, 5 pm.

Attention: Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for a skype/facetime/… interview in the course of March 2018.

https://www.ugent.be/en/work/vacancies/scientific/post-doctoral-research-fellowships-in-arabic-rtoiy