10 POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2008/2009. Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences & others

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
10 POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2008/2009

The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Fritz
Thyssen Foundation and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu
Berlin invite scholars to apply for ten post-doctoral
fellowships for the research program

EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST – THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE

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,
Centrum fuer Nah- und Mitteloststudien, Philipps-Universitaet
Marburg, 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 attempts 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: 250 EUR) 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 2008 and end
on 31 July 2009. The applicant’s doctorate should have been
completed no earlier than 2000.

An application should be made in explicit relation to one of
the 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 31 January 2008,
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
Fax +49 30 – 89 00 12 00
E-mail: khalil@wiko-berlin.de.

For further information on the program ‘Europe in the Middle
East – the Middle East in Europe’ and for detailed information
on the research fields, please see:
http://www.eume-berlin.de

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/
Centre for 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/