Postdoc and PhD positions for "Reconfiguring Diaspora"

THE UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT:

Job description

You will work within the framework of a project entitled Reconfiguring Diaspora. The Transformation of the Jewish Diaspora in Late Antiquity. The project has been funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.). The project’s director is Prof. dr. Leonard V. Rutgers. You will be based at Utrecht University. There you will be part of the Department of History and Art History, Section Ancient History and Classical Civilization.

The prime objective of the research project is to reconfigure the classical notion of Diaspora by studying the massive social and cultural changes that affected Jewish communities throughout the Mediterranean during the transitional period that saw the demise of the classical world and the rise of medieval society. This project places special emphasis on the phenomenon of linguistic change as it seeks to come to a new understanding of the larger social and cultural patterns at play in named process. Questions to be addressed include: why and how were the Jewish communities of the Diaspora marginalized, how did this affect their Diasporic self-consciousness, and what factors explain why intragroup relations in Europe have developed along the lines laid down during precisely this period?

Within the project, two PhD positions and one Postdoc position are available for the following projects:

The Renaissance of Hebrew among the Jewish communities of the West (PhD)
The Renaissance of Hebrew and Aramaic among the Jewish communities of the East (PhD)
The Construction of Eretz Israel in Rabbinic Literature (postdoc)

The project has been structured in such a way that PhD and the postdoc candidates are expected to cooperate closely and intensively with one another and with the project leader. You must be willing to do some research travel and are also expected to participate in the organization of several international conferences and in the writing of occasional blogs for the project’s website.

Here are the two advertisements:

Job - Postdoc 'Reconfiguring Diaspora, the Transformation of the Jewish diaspora in Late Antiquity' (0,8 - 1,0 fte)

Job - 2 PhD researchers 'Reconfiguring Diaspora, the Transformation of the Jewish Diaspora in Late Antiquity' (1,0 fte)

Follow the links for further particulars. The adverts say to apply within twelve days, so don't dawdle.

Thanks to Prof. dr. Leonard V. Rutgers for drawing the project and positions to my attention.