[Andalusi Studies] Fwd: [gdecallataycontacts] PhilAnd ERC project (2017-2022): announcement of 3 post-doc positions at the Université catholique de Louvain

[ISABEL FIERRO BELLO]

----- Mensaje reenviado de Godefoid Decallatay  
<godefroid.decallatay at uclouvain.be> -----
       Fecha: Thu, 14 Sep 2017 10:10:33 +0200
          De: Godefoid Decallatay <godefroid.decallatay at uclouvain.be>
Responder-A: Godefoid Decallatay <godefroid.decallatay at uclouvain.be>
      Asunto: [gdecallataycontacts] PhilAnd ERC project (2017-2022):  
announcement of 3 post-doc positions at the Université catholique de  
Louvain

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

We are pleased to announce that_3 post-doc positions_ are now on offer  
at the Université catholique de Louvain as part of the ERC Advanced  
project 740618: " *The origin and early development of philosophy in  
tenth-century al-Andalus: the impact of ill-defined materials and  
channels of transmission" (2017-2022).

*PhilAnd is a five-year Advanced ERC project to start in October 2017  
at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) under the supervision of  
Prof. Godefroid de Callataÿ. The objective of PhilAnd is to conduct a  
large-scale exploration of how, and under which form, philosophy  
appeared for the first time in al-Andalus. At the crossroads of  
several major lines of enquiries in modern scholarship and in line  
with recent discoveries having important chronological implications,  
PhilAnd focuses on the 10^th century, a period usually disregarded by  
historians on the assumption that philosophy as such was not  
cultivated in the Iberian Peninsula before the 11^th -12^th centuries.  
Its originality is also to put emphasis on ‘ill-defined’ materials and  
channels of transmission, a field which remains largely unexplored.  
PhilAnd will be conducted in partnership with the Warburg Institute  
(University of London).*
*
As part of this project, three post-doc positions of three years each  
(to start from 2^January 2018) are offered at the UCL in relation with  
the three following sub-projects (SP):


1) *the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’*: This SP will aim at producing a  
comprehensive survey of all the elements which are likely to inform us  
about the chronology of redaction and – where applicable – of  
introduction into al-Andalus of the three works that have commonly  
been ascribed in sources to this most influential group of thinkers  
known as /Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’/ (‘The Brethren of Purity’), namely: a) the  
/Rasā’il/ (‘the Epistles’); b) the /Risāla Jāmi‘a /(‘The Comprehensive  
Epistle’) and, c) the /Risāla Jāmi‘at al-Jāmi‘a /(‘The  
Super-Comprehensive Epistle’). This chronology is currently far from  
clear.


2) *Ibn Waḥshiyya and the /Nabatean Corpus/*: This**SP**aims to  
evaluate the impact of the /Filāḥa Nabaṭiyya /(‘The Nabatean  
Agriculture’), a complex and enigmatic Arabic treatise on agriculture  
written in the Orient, on the development of both Islamic and Jewish  
Neoplatonism in al-Andalus from the 10^th to the 12^th century. The  
focus will be on the reception of the ‘philosophical’ and bāṭinī  
(rather than agronomical) aspects of the work, with the aim of  
understanding why this notoriously esoteric work remained so  
influential even to Jewish thinkers like Judah Halevi and Maimonides.


3) *Ibn Masarra*: This SP will lead to the first monograph entirely  
devoted to Ibn Masarra’s /Kitāb khawāṣṣ al-ḥurūf/ (‘The Book of the  
Properties of Letters’), consisting of an extensively annotated  
translation of this mystical treatise, together with an in-depth  
exploration of its place in the history of /‘ilm al-ḥurūf/, the  
Islamic science of letters – including its links with the Jewish  
Kabbala – up to the time of Ibn ‘Arabī. This will fill an important  
gap and provide a valuable resource for the study of Islamic mysticism  
in al-Andalus.

*
The qualifications required for any of these sub-projects are:*


**

-a PhD in Islamic Studies, in Middle Eastern Studies, or related fields;

-an excellent command of Classical Arabic (the knowledge of additional  
languages such as ancient Greek, Latin and in particular Hebrew is  
considered an advantage);

-a first-rate track record and research experience;

-publications of articles in peer-reviewed international journals or  
monographs with recognized academic publishers;

-academic writing and presentation skills in English (the working  
language of the project);

-the ability to work both individually and as part of a team.

These three post-doc positions are full-time equivalent. They are  
offered for a period of 12 months, renewable twice (three years in  
total) upon good performance. The post-docs retained will be required  
to reside in Belgium for the whole period of their fellowship. They  
will be asked to contribute to the intellectual life of the ERC  
project and of the UCL.

*
How to apply?*


**

Applications should be made via pdf files and contain the following:

(1) a cover letter setting out the candidate’s qualifications and  
motivation for applying for one of the three positions offered  
(maximum 2 pages);

(2) a curriculum vitae (maximum 3 pages);

(3) a list of publications;

(4) two samples of published work (articles, chapters) in pdf  
(preferably in English);

(5) a transcript of grades and/or copy of the PhD certificate;

(6) the name (with title, affiliation and email) of four people who  
have accepted to be contacted as potential referees.


*Applications should be made electronically and sent to the following  
address:*

*godefroid.decallatay at uclouvain.be*  
<mailto:godefroid.decallatay at uclouvain.be>**

*The application deadline is 10 November 2017*


Interviews will be arranged between 4 and 6 December 2017.

Candidates selected for the interviews will be contacted by  
mid-November 2017, and asked to write a short research design on a  
topic to be announced at that moment.

Employment should become effective from 2 January 2018.

*Do not hesitate to circulate this announcement widely around you.*


All best,


Godefroid de Callataÿ (PI)
Sébastien Moureau

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