Research Fellowships at KHK "Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe", Bochum

The fellow program has come to an end and will not be reopened

The Käte Hamburger Kolleg Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe invites applications for Research Fellowships for periods of 3 to 6 months during the academic year October 2018 - September 2019.

The KHK invites applications from scholars who are working on case studies of religious encounters with a focus on a particular geographical region, a particular period of time and a particular constellation of encounters between two or more religions. Each case study will map the occasions as well as the historical and social contexts of such encounters. Most importantly, the proposals will have to address the issues (e.g. doctrine, practice, cosmology, etc.) relevant to the respective contact situations.

Case studies concerning any period, religion or area within Eurasia are welcome. However, in the following you find a list of periods and areas that are of particular interest for us:

Antiquity & Late Antiquity

• Religious contacts in the Byzantine empire in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (particularly with regard to the Balkan region and the Christianisation of Eastern Europe);
• Religious contacts in Island Mediterranean: Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes;
• Religions and religious contacts in Pre-Islamic Arabia;
• Religious contacts between North-Africa and Southern Europe in Late Antiquity;
• Religious contacts in South Asia in the phase of “Indianisation”.

Medieval Times

• Religious contacts during the Early Middle Ages in Europe and the rise of early medieval Christian mission;
• Religious contacts during the rise of the Cathars and Bogomils: Cathar/Bogomil-Christian-Jewish;
• Religious contacts in medieval Sicily;
• Religious contacts between Latin West and Mongol Empire;
• Religious contacts in/within the Mongol Empire (including Nestorian and western Christians; indigenous Mongol religions as well as Islam and Buddhism);
• Jewish-Christian contacts in Northern Europe;
• Religious contacts in early Islamic history (7th-9th century CE);
• Religious contacts with/within medieval Islamic Empires;
• Religious contacts during the Crusades and in the Latin East;
• Religious contacts in the medieval Baltic;
• Religious contact in Western Central Asia in Medieval times and with regards to Islam (e.g. its contact with Buddhism, Nestorianism or Manichaeism);
• Religious contacts in South Asia in the Middle Ages;
• Religious contacts in Medieval and Early Modern Iran.

Early Modern Times

• Religious contact in and within Safavid Iran and Mughal dynasty in India;
• Religious contacts in Italian city states;
• Religious relations in the Ottoman Empire;
• Religious contacts between the Ottoman Empire and the Latin West;
• Religious contacts in the Baltic region in Early Modern times, specifically from the secularization of the State of the Teutonic Order 1525 to the third partition of Poland 1795;
• Religious contacts in and of the Lutheran Swedish Empire (1617-1726) with special regard to the 'Conventicle Edict' of 1726;
• Religious contact in the multi-religious Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795);
• Religious contacts in Portuguese Seaborne Empire;
• Religious contacts in Dutch Seaborne Empire;
• Religious contacts in Island Southeast Asia in the phase of Islamization;
• Religious contact in Northern Central Asia (particularly in Early Modern and contemporary times and with regards to Shamanism);
• Religious contact in Western Central Asia in Early Modern and contemporary times and with regards to Islam.

Modern Times

• Religious contacts during the Napoleonic Empire;
• Religious contacts in Southeast Asia in the colonial period;
• Religious contacts in modern Israel
• Religious contact in the Russian federation in post-Soviet times;

What we can offer

• time and space for research in a high-quality interdisciplinary environment;
• up to EURO 5,800 per month fellowship as a grant or as a salary for fellows, as a substitute at their home institution;
• an excellent infrastructure (location near Bochum Campus in Germany, libraries, inter-library loan etc.);
• travel expenses related to research activities (subject to approval);
• means for organizing conferences or workshops on religious contacts (subject to approval).

What we expect

• the publication of results from your case study in the form of one or more articles as a contribution to our online journal Entangled Religions;
• the willingness to make use, in your case study, of theoretical concepts developed at the KHK over the past years, including specific critical evaluations of of e.g. “purity”, “secret”, “tradition”, “media”, “the senses”, “the immanence/transcendence-distinction” and “dynamics/stability”;
• your residence and continuous presence in Bochum during your fellowship;
• your committed participation to the activities of the Käte Hamburger Kolleg.

Requirements

• Applicants must at least hold a Ph.D.