Friday, 14 August 2015

4 Post-doctoral Positions at the New Europe College in Bucharest

Deadline: 15 October 2015
Open to: PhD holders in a relevant historical discipline
Fellowship: salary of EUR 2000 for a period of 2 years
Description
New Europe College is one of the South-Eastern Europe’s leading institutes for advanced studies, internationally appreciated for its high quality and innovative approach to research. Founded in 1994 as an independent institute, it is officially recognized  the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research as an institutional structure for postgraduate studies in the humanities and social sciences, at the level of advanced studies. With strong international links, New Europe College managed to create a stimulating environment for interdisciplinary dialogue and critical debates. Its main aim is to strengthen research in the humanities and social science and to promote contacts between Romanian scholars and their peers worldwide.
Following the European Research Council competition for Consolidator Grants (2014), New Europe College became the Host Institution of such a grant. The project title is “Luxury, Fashion and Social status in Early Modern South-Eastern Europe” and its Principal Investigator is Constanţa Vintilă-Ghiţulescu, researcher at New Europe College and at the “Nicolae Iorga” Institute of History in Bucharest.
The project aims to trace the role luxury played in the modernisation process in South-Eastern Europe, taking into account the specific features of the region and how South-Eastern European peoples, and their Byzantine and Ottoman heritage are viewed through the stereotype of “Balkanism”. Thus, there is a need to examine the traditional society and luxury as a cultural habitus of power; how the luxury tastes developed within the process of “Europenization”; the appearance of consumer society. From the economic point of view, South-Eastern Europe rewards analysis as the intersection of two “world economic systems”, in Immanuel Wallerstein’s terms. Originally located in the Ottoman world economic system, South-Eastern Europe became a periphery of the Western European system as this system rose to world supremacy. An extremely interesting aspect of such peripheral zones is the coincidentia oppositorum principle, especially in evidence in cultural matters. However, other tendencies in the same field did not follow the same trend, offering an excellent subject for economic analysis, especially from the perspective of luxury goods. The project’s findings will help towards a better knowledge of changes in European society in its transition to modernity, and of similarities and differences between the various regions of Europe.
Within the project, 4 post-doctoral positions will be available for the following themes of research:
The luxury goods trade in the Ottoman Empire and the Balkans in the 17th and 18th centuries;
Regional identities and forms of segregation in Early Modern South-Eastern Europe;
Social Elites in South-Eastern Europe;
Fashion and gender in Early Modern South-Eastern Europe.
The post-doctoral researchers will have the opportunity to work on these projects, based on their expertise and research ideas, in consultation with the principal investigator and the other members of the team. They are encouraged to plan research stays at foreign libraries and archives and to be as innovative as possible. At the same time, they are expected to be present at all the team meetings (one every 6 months), and at other events organized within the project, and to discuss their findings. At the end of their activity they must provide, as results of their research, the following: 2 articles in international indexed peer-reviewed journals; 2 chapters in collective volumes and 3 participations at international scientific events. These contributions must be related to their specific theme of research within the project, acknowledge their participation in this project and mention the source of funding.
Eligibility
A successful candidate should have:
A PhD in a relevant historical discipline;
Excellent knowledge of 2 foreign languages (preferably English and French). Knowledge of Greek, Turkish or Russian would be an asset;
Experience in archival research;
Capacity to work both as a creative and independent researcher, and as part of an interdisciplinary international team;
Capacity and willingness to collaborate across academic disciplines.
Fellowship
Four post-doctoral positions can be offered for a period of 2 years, with a monthly gross salary of EUR 2000. The winning candidates will sign a contract with the Host Institution (New Europe College). The contract will be drafted in accordance with the provisions of the Romanian Labour Law.
How to apply?
Applicants should send the following documents (in English):
A letter of intent;
A curriculum vitae (with a recent photo);
Certified, scanned document(s) proving that the applicant holds a PhD title;
A list of publications;
A 1000-word research design proposal (in Microsoft Word or pdf format), in which the applicant presents his/her ideas about one of the projects’ themes. Please specify on the upper side of your proposal for which specific theme you are applying;
2 original letters of reference (in English or French) from academics familiar with your work and explicitly supporting your application for this position.
Candidates are asked to enter in the subject field of their e-mail message: “Application for NEC-ERC LuxFass post-doctoral position”. Please be aware that incomplete or late application files will not be taken into consideration.
The application file should be sent by October 15, 2015 to Nicoleta Roman, email: nroman@nec.ro.
For more information please visit the official website.

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