3 PHD POSITIONS AND 1 POSTDOC IN LEIDEN, NETHERLANDS

We would like to bring to your attention the following job openings at the University of Leiden. Please note that the deadline for applications is 14 September 2016. Read below the information published by Prof. Petra M. Sijpesteijn:

“For my ERC project I am looking for 3 PhD students (fully funded) - 2 in history (Arabic and Persian) and 1 in papyrology (Coptic and Greek) - and 1 postdoc (social linguistics/history/philology) starting February 1 2017.

The 3 PhD candidates and the Postdoc will carry out research in the framework of the ERC-funded project, “Embedding Conquest: Naturalising Muslim Rule in the Early Islamic Empire (600-1000)”. This project is to understand the success of the early Islamic empire (600-1000 CE) using the vastly important but largely neglected documentary evidence from the Muslim world. Examining all written expressions of social hierarchical relations, the goal of this project is to uncover the deeper social structures that underlay the Arab-Islamic empire and to reconstruct the system of shared expectations, assumptions and codes that underwrote its cohesion, and how these changed over time.

The three PhD candidates will each study one of three specified topics within the project focusing on different linguistic sources and concentrating on specific geographical areas. They will also identify and prepare materials from their respective source base for the project’s online database of linguistic expressions describing social hierarchical relations. They will participate in regular team meetings and present their research findings at scholarly venues. For details, see the advertisement.

The postdoctoral fellow will be responsible for designing and developing an online database of linguistic expressions incorporating the vocabulary of documents, conversations, speeches, audiences and other communications cited in the literary sources in the different languages of the Empire. For the design of the database, the researcher will work together with IT specialists and the PI (Sijpesteijn). Data collection will be done by the project team. The postdoc coordinates the gathering of linguistic terminologies by the project team. The post holder is expected to participate in the team’s meetings, maintain relations with related projects and conduct (carry out and publish) original research on what and how language is used to establish and reinforce social ties and networks based on the data set. The fellow facilitate joint activities and data sharing and disseminate the project to non-academic parties and on social media. For details, see the advertisement.

The project emphasises the use of documentary and primary literary (“books”) sources and candidates should have the necessary linguistic skills. Experience working with documents is a definite asset.

For further information, please contact me directly: P.M.Sijpesteijn@hum.leidenuniv.nl”