The Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 933 “Material Text Cultures. Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies,” has been set by the German Research Council to commence work on 1 July 2011 at the Ruprecht Karl University Heidelberg. Researchers working in the field of cultural studies will investigate the material presence of writing in “non-typographic societies.” The fundamental research by the CRC 933 “Material Text Cultures” on text-bearing artefacts, especially those of the circum-Mediterranean zone, will be performed within a conceptual framework that has been developed recently in cultural studies. This should lead in the longer term to an array of methodological instruments for the analysis of script-bearing artefacts for use by those branches of cultural studies engaged in text interpretation. Among the central aims that inform the structure and policies of the CRC 933 “Material Text Cultures” is, moreover, the fostering of up-and-coming researchers in the attendant disciplines, which will primarily be performed under the auspices of the Integrated Graduate School “Text Anthropology.”
As a participant in the Collaborative Research Center, the Institute for Papyrology seeks a junior scholar to conduct research on the topic of “Antike Briefe als Kommunikationsmedium” (“The Ancient Letter as Communication’s Medium”). The goal of this project is to investigate ancient Greek and Latin letters preserved on papyrus, ostraca, tablets and other script-bearing material substrates as complex objects elucidating certain societal norms within definable social networks. The research results should be published in a monograph.
Requirements: PhD in Classics or Ancient History; excellent knowledge of Greek and Latin; previous experience in documentary papyrology is desired but not required. Applicants should also show willingness to engage in intensive interdisciplinary cooperation within the Collaborative Research Center. Basic knowledge of German is recommended.
The successful candidate will be employed with a full-time postdoctoral position (TVL 13) at the Institute for Papyrology, University of Heidelberg, until 30 June 2015.
Applicants should submit a letter of application, CV, publication list, and addresses of three potential referees to the project’s director, Dr. Rodney Ast, <rodney.ast@zaw.uni-heidelberg.de. Review of applications will begin September 26 and continue until the post is filled.
