The International Max Planck Research School for the Anthropology, Archaeology and History of Eurasia (IMPRS ANARCHIE), a cooperation between the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, offers:
a PhD grant in history
starting at the nearest possible date.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The aim of ANARCHIE is to renew transdisciplinary agendas in fields where socio-cultural anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians have much to gain from cross-fertilisation. The designated priority themes include collective identifications, religion and ritual, and economic and demographic causation. The projects of the first cohort of PhD students who begin their work in 2012 are devoted to questions of collective identifications and power.
Students will obtain their doctorate in one of the three disciplines, but will participate in a common programme organised jointly by social anthropologists (Department II “Resilience and Transformation in Eurasia” of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology), historians (the Institute for History and the Department of Classical Studies of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg), and archaeologists (Institute for Art History and European Archaeology of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg). ANARCHIE is also connected with two major Graduate Schools of the Martin Luther University, “Society and Culture in Motion” and “Enlightenment – Religion – Knowledge”, the latter providing the grant.
See the appendix below for more detail concerning the discipline of history. If shortlisted, applicants may be invited to revise their proposal to fit in better with the overall profile of ANARCHIE and the expertise available to provide supervision.
The PhD grant is awarded until 31 December 2013. Workplace for the successful candidate is Halle/Saale (except when undertaking archival research elsewhere, the costs of which will be covered).
We are committed to raising the proportion of women in under-represented fields; we thus explicitly encourage applications by women. Individuals with disabilities will be given priority, provided they have equal qualifications.
There is no application form. Applicants should send the following documentation:
- cover letter
- CV, including list of publications
- short (no more than two pages) summary of the research proposed, which should demonstrate clear links both to the applicant’s previous work and qualifications and to the IMPRS ANARCHIE as well as to core themes of the graduate college “Enlightenment – Religion – Knowledge”
- photocopies of university degrees
- names of two referees, whom we may contact
Please send applications to the following address by 7 November 2012:
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Daria Sambuk
IMPRS ANARCHIE
P. O. Box 11 03 51
D – 06017 Halle/Saale
Germany
or email to: sambuk@eth.mpg.de
For further information about the Institute please visit: http://www.eth.mpg.de/cms/de/imprs/anarchie/
Informal enquiries concerning the position may be directed to Prof. Chris Hann (hann@eth.mpg.de).
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Appendix
HISTORY
(Ancient History; Early Modern History; Eastern European History; Social and Economic History)
The research school aims to explore long-term processes of the construction of historical spaces in view of three interconnected topics: the role of politics and domination, of religion, and of systems of social (also economic and demographic) inequality. The first group of researchers is to study the complex of politics and domination. The other topics will be explored by later groups of PhD candidates.
The PhD project now invited should study the political self-image of social groups and societies, in particular concerning political decision-making and domination as well as the construction of awareness for a common past. Furthermore, we invite projects exploring transnational and trans-societal concepts of space and domination and the ensuing political consequences (concepts of kingdom or empire, civilisation concepts, etc.). Projects examining connections between these fields and religion or social inequality are also welcome.
Among colleagues participating most actively in ANARCHIE are Michael G. Müller (East European History, 16th to 19th centuries), Andreas Pečar (Early Modern European History; intellectual history and 'new political history'), Georg Fertig (Economic History and Historical Demography in transnational contexts, 18th to 20th centuries) and Christian Mileta (Ancient History, with special emphasis on the political, social and cultural evolution of the Ancient World).
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SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The cumulative development of ANARCHIE envisages an initial cohort which will concentrate on questions of politics, power and domination, and the construction and maintenance of collective identities. We are particularly interested in linking longue durée historical analysis to wider intellectual debates and contested concepts in the historical social sciences such as culture, civilization and empire. The Department “Resilience and Transformation in Eurasia” headed by Chris Hann has particular strengths in eastern Europe, the Russian Federation and Central Asia (including Xinjiang). Graduate supervision will be offered primarily by Hann and by Dittmar Schorkowitz, who heads the Focus Group “Historical Anthropology in Eurasia”. The main current project of this Group is a comparative investigation of relations between ethnic minorities and the state with reference to continental and overseas colonialism in Russia, China and parts of mainland Southeast Asia. The expertise of the Department currently stretches also to Japan (Christoph Brumann), Southeast Asia (Kirsten Endres), the Turkic-speaking world and other regions of Europe. Methods and time-frame are very open: we are interested in anthropological approaches to the dynamics of the Eurasian landmass between the ancient times and experiences of Marxist-Leninist-Maoist socialism in the twentieth century.
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ARCHAEOLOGY
(Prehistoric archaeology, Classical archaeology, Archaeology of the Middle Ages and the early modern era)
In the first phase of ANARCHIE we are particularly keen to develop projects investigating identities, identifications and self-perceptions of communities in the Ancient World. Proposals addressing trade relations, economic interaction and supra-regional networks of communication are particularly encouraged, the goal being to assess whether and to what extent such networks promote the mobility of particular groups, and what consequences this has for self-identification. The time frame extends between the Minoan and Byzantine eras.
François Bertemes is currently paying particular attention to issues of this kind in the eastern Aegean (especially the Dodekanes Islands and the adjacent Turkish coast) during the first half of the second millennium BC. He also has wider interests in prehistory and early complex societies.
Other active colleagues will include Helga Bumke (Classical Archaeology), who has particular interests in ethnic identity in ancient Greece, its recognition in material culture, and the role of religion in its definition; and Hans-Georg Stephan, who works on the development of settlements and cultural landscapes in Central Europe (c. 500-1850 AD), with particular interests in cultural change, trade and commerce.
Contact: Daria Sambuk
Max-Planck-Institute for Social Anthropology
IMPRS ANARCHIE
03 45/ 29 27 0
sambuk@eth.mpg.de
URL: http://www.eth.mpg.de