Vacancy
Research Associate at the Orient-Institut Istanbul – Standing Working Group Iran and Beyond: Breaking the Ground for Sustainable Scholarly Collaboration (IRSSC)
The Orient-Institut Istanbul is currently seeking a doctoral or postdoctoral researcher to work on a project in the framework of the
Standing Working Group Iran and Beyond: Performance of Culture, Religion and Body as Strategies of Self-Empowerment in the Islamic Republic Iran
for the following position, available immediately (April, 1 2019):
Research Associate (90%), 37 hrs / week for 36 months (salary based on the salary scale of German institutions in Turkey for locally hired personnel; currently about 6,375 TL net per month)
About the project
The Standing Working Group IRSSC, funded by a grant of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, seeks to explore possibilities and limits of cooperation of German and Turkish scholars with Iranian colleagues and academic institutions by employing innovative research topics in an interdisciplinary framework. Cultural, social and religious connections in the transregional continuum stretching from Anatolia to Iran and beyond to Pakistan are in the focus of attention. Creative appropriation of practices and discourses under the conditions of an authoritarian state aiming at social and individual self-assertion happens in a relationship of tension and in reciprocity with hegemonically enforced norms and practices. These are for example related to Shiite Islam, e.g. concerning body habitus, religious ritual, gender roles as well as active and passive access to music. Conditions of modern-day mediality and the multiplication of social interaction caused by it help create a larger, internally more differentiated and hybrid repertoire of behavior in dealing with ruling institutions as well as with an international public, e.g. via social media. These questions will be investigated with methods of cultural and social studies in relation to the cultural areas of music, religion and (body-modifying) therapeutic and non-therapeutic medicine. One of the chief aims of the Standing Working Group is to set up an international research network integrating scholars from the region, especially from Iran, into international processes of scholarly communication and production.
Requirements
Applicants are expected to hold a master degree (PhD preferred), ideally in social sciences or humanities. Those interested in or working on issues of Sociology of Medicine, Medicine, Science and Technology Studies, Ethnomusicology or Cultural Anthropology/Cultural Studies (with a focus on religious topics) in Iran or Pakistan are especially encouraged to apply. Candidates have to be willing and able to conduct ethnographic fieldwork in Iran.
Candidates from Medicine, Science and Technology Studies or Sociology of Medicine, should have an interest in conducting a comparative analysis of the human genome project in Turkey and Iran, in particular its bio(geo)political factors and impacts on health policies.
Additionally, coordinating and organizing skills are beneficial. Academic Turkish and English skills are required, Persian is preferable. Workplace of the project will be at the Orient-Institut Istanbul, Beyoğlu.
The Orient-Institut Istanbul
The Orient-Institut Istanbul is an independent turcological and regional scholarly research Institute of the Max Weber Foundation. Much of our work is conducted in cooperation with universities and independent academic institutions, both in Turkey and abroad. The Institute also contributes to the scientific exchange between Germany and Turkey.
The Orient-Institut Istanbul is committed to raising the number of women in research. Female researchers are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants with disabilities are treated with preference given comparable qualification.
Application
Applications should be submitted as one single pdf document including a letter of motivation, the outline of a proposed project (one page), academic CV and certificates. Please include the contact information for two academic referees.
Application deadline: March 18, 2019
Please submit your complete application to:
Prof. Dr. Raoul Motika
Director of the Orient-Institut Istanbul
Susam Sokak 16 D.8
34433 Cihangir-Istanbul
Turkey
For any question about the application, please contact:
PD Dr. Judith Haug at haug@oiist.org (Musicology)
PD Dr. Rober Langer at langer@oiist.org (Religious Studies)
Dr. Melike Şahinol at sahinol@oiist.org (Human, Medicine and Society)