Promotionsstelle (VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION, Univ. Oxford)

Promotionsstelle (VOLTAIRE FOUNDATION, Univ. Oxford)

Institution
Voltaire Foundation, University of Oxford
Ort
Oxford
Land
United Kingdom
Vom - Bis
01.10.2020 - 30.06.2023
Bewerbungsschluss
10.01.2020
Von
Dr Birgit Mikus

Die Voltaire-Stiftung freut sich, die Verfügbarkeit einer vollständig geförderten Doktorandenstelle in Verbindung mit dem Leverhulme Doctoral Centre „Publication beyond Print“ bekannt zu geben, die ab sofort für Bewerbungen offen ist.

Die/der in dieses ausgezeichnete Programm aufgenommene Doktorand/in wird von Professor Nicholas Cronk betreut und wird Mitglied der Modern Languages Faculty, Universität Oxford, sowie der Voltaire Foundation. Bewerben können sich zukünftige Doktoranden mit Doktorarbeiten im Themenbereich Voltaire's Worlds of Publication: Manuscript – Print – Digital.

Für weitere Informationen hier der Ausschreibungstext im Original:

Voltaire dominated the European Enlightenment through his mastery of the print medium: no other thinker of the eighteenth century was responsible for so many printed books in so many different countries. But, more importantly, his dominance was also due to his mastery of publication beyond print, to his strategic use of manuscript publication, in the tradition of the French clandestine manuscript. Voltaire uses the manuscript form to publish works which for reasons of censorship he cannot publish in print; he sometimes uses manuscript in parallel to print; at other times he uses manuscript instead of print, notably in the context of his voluminous correspondence; and he also combines manuscript with the printed object, for example when he makes gifts to friends of personally annotated copies of his printed works. Whereas the other philosophes are essentially writers of the printed word, Voltaire is unique in his period in juxtaposing manuscript and print so as to reach different audiences and so as to maximise the impact of his message. This topic remains almost wholly unexplored.

Oxford has unmatched human and library resources for carrying out this project. The Bodleian Libraries, including the Voltaire Room at the Taylor Institution Library, have one of the world’s leading collections of Voltaire’s books and manuscripts. The Voltaire Foundation, whose primary focus for the last fifty years has been the publication of the Complete works of Voltaire, has a highly trained editorial team and maintains close links with all the world’s leading Voltaire scholars. The Complete works of Voltaire edition will be completed in 2020: this means that the doctoral student working on this project will have at her/his disposal, for the first time, an extended support network of specialists and a fully scholarly edition of all of Voltaire’s writings, allowing unprecedented in-depth analysis of the full variety of Voltaire’s publication techniques.

From 2019, the Voltaire Foundation is scoping the possibilities of digitizing the 200 paper volumes of the Voltaire edition (in a project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation). The goal is not simply to digitise the paper books, but to research the optimal ways of taking the editions beyond print so as to reimagine the edition as a digital object, both for reference and for research. As we build this resource, we have a golden opportunity to rethink and re-present Voltaire’s print and manuscript strategies. The doctoral student, who is eligible to seek further training from the Digital Humanities Summer School, will be integrated into this project. She/he will contribute to the conception and construction of the digital edition, and her/his research findings will be incorporated within it.

For more information on the Leverhulme Doctoral Centre, please follow this link:

https://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/publication-beyond-print-leverhulme-doctoral-centre

Application process

Applicants should apply for the DPhil in Medieval and Modern Languages by 10 January 2020, for entry in October 2020. Information about the application process can be found here:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/dphil-medieval-and-modern-languages?wssl=1

For further questions about the position with the Voltaire Foundation, please contact birgit.mikus@voltaire.ox.ac.uk. Applicants should have a Master’s degree in French, ideally first class or good 2.1, as well as first experience with editorial work and working in digital humanities. An interest in scholarly critical editing, publishing, and publishing history would be of advantage.

The scholarship will cover course fees and provide a living allowance at Research Council rates. Candidates from all backgrounds are welcome to apply, although the Leverhulme Trust has a preference for supporting Home/EU candidates.