CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
10 POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2008/2009

The Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation
and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin invite scholars to apply for ten
post-doctoral fellowships for the research program

EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST – THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE

This research program seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that
link and divide Europe and the Middle East. The project draws on the
international expertise of scholars in and outside of Germany and is
embedded in university and extra-university research institutions in
Berlin.
'Europe in the Middle East – The Middle East in Europe' supports
historical-critical philology, rigorous engagement with the literatures
of the Middle East and their histories, the social history of cities and
the study of Middle Eastern political and philosophical thought
(Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and secular) as central fields of research
not only for area or cultural studies, but also for European
intellectual history and other academic disciplines. The program
explores modernity as a historical space and conceptual frame. The
program puts forward three programmatic ideas:

1) supporting research that demonstrates the rich and complex historical
legacies and entanglements between Europe and the Middle East;
2) reexamining genealogical notions of mythical 'beginnings'

, 'origins',
and 'purity' in relation to culture and society; and
3) rethinking key concepts of a shared modernity in light of
contemporary cultural, social, and political entanglements that
supersede identity discourses as well as national, cultural or regional
canons and epistemologies that were established in the nineteenth century.

The program 'Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe' is
funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. It supports and builds upon the
following interconnected research fields:

CITIES COMPARED: COSMOPOLITANISM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
AND ADJACENT REGIONS
This research group is directed by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi, both of
the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin. It contributes to the
debate on cosmopolitanism and civil society from the historical
experience of conviviality and socio-cultural, ethnic, and religious
differences in the cities around the Mediterranean;

ISLAMIC DISCOURSE CONTESTED: MIDDLE EASTERN AND EUROPEAN
PERSPECTIVES
This research group is directed by Gudrun Kraemer, Institute for Islamic
Studies, Freie Universitaet Berlin. It analyzes modern Middle Eastern
thought and discourses in the framework of theories of multiple or
reflexive modernities;

PERSPECTIVES ON THE QUR'AN: NEGOTIATING DIFFERENT VIEWS
OF A SHARED HISTORY
This research group is directed by Angelika Neuwirth, Seminar for Arabic
Studies, Freie Universitaet Berlin, and Stefan Wild, Universitaet Bonn.
It situates the foundational text of Islam within the religious
landscape of late antiquity and combines a historicization of its
genesis with an analysis of its reception and perception in Europe and
the Middle East;

TRAVELLING TRADITIONS: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON NEAR
EASTERN LITERATURES
This research group is directed by Friederike Pannewick, Centrum fuer
Nah-und Mitteloststudien, Philipps-Universitaet Marburg, and Samah
Selim, IREMAM, Aix-en-Provence. It reassesses literary entanglements and
processes of canonization between Europe and the Middle East.

TRADITION AND THE CRITIQUE OF MODERNITY: SECULARISM,
FUNDAMENTALISM AND RELIGION FROM MIDDLE EASTERN PERSPECTIVES
Is a special forum, directed by Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin, Ben Gurion
University that attempts to rethink key concepts of modernity like
secularity, tradition, or religion in the context of the experiences,
interpretations, and critiques of Jews, Arabs, and Muslims in the Middle
East and in Europe.

PREREQUISITES AND APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The fellowships are intended above all for scholars of history,
literature, philology, political philosophy, religion and
sociology from the Middle East who want to carry out their
research projects in connection with the Berlin program.
Fellows gain the opportunity to pursue research projects
of their choice within the framework of one of the above-
mentioned research fields and in relation to the program
'Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe'.
In Berlin, they will be integrated into a university or non-
university research institute. The working language of the
research program is English.

Fellows will receive a monthly stipend of 1.800 EUR (supplement
for accompanying spouses: 250 EUR) and are obliged to work in
Berlin and to help shape the seminars and working discussions
related to their research field.
As a rule, the fellowships begin on 1 October 2008 and end
on 31 July 2009. The applicant's doctorate should have been
completed no earlier than 2000.

An application should be made in explicit relation to one of
the research fields and consist of

– a curriculum vitae,
– a 2 to 4 page project sketch,
– a sample of scholarly work (maximum 20 pages from an article,
conference paper, or dissertation chapter),
– and a letter of recommendation by one university instructor.

The application should be submitted in paper form, by fax or
by E-mail in English and should be received by 31 January 2008,
sent in to:

Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe
c/o Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
Attn: Georges Khalil
Wallotstrasse 19, 14193 Berlin
Fax +49 30 – 89 00 12 00
E-mail: [email protected].

For further information on the program 'Europe in the Middle
East – the Middle East in Europe' and for detailed information
on the research fields, please see:
http://www.eume-berlin.de

For information on the research institutions in Berlin
participating in the program, please visit:
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences:
http://www.bbaw.de/

Center for Literary Research:
http://www.zfl.gwz-berlin.de/

Centre for Modern Oriental Studies:
http://www.zmo.de/

Institute for Islamic Studies:
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~islamwi/

Seminar for Arabic Studies:
http://web.fu-berlin.de/semiarab/

Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin:
http://www.wiko-berlin.de/

—
Dr. Nora Lafi (Researcher, DFG)
Zentrum Moderner Orient, Kirchweg 33, 14129 Berlin, Germany
Tel: + 49 30 80 307 239
<[email protected]>