Applications: History and Society during the Mamluk Era (1250-1517) Fellowships

The Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg “History and Society during the Mamluk Era (1250-1517)” (https://www.mamluk.uni-bonn.de/) has opened the call for applications for ten scholarships with a prospective start date of September 2018. The Kolleg is a center for advanced studies funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) that is devoted to the study of the Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517). For the coming year ASK’s research will focus not only on the Mamluk empire but also on a broadened classification of the Middle Islamic Period (12th -17th centuries CE), including the early Ottoman period.

You can apply for a project for a period of ten months. Included is a working space in fully equipped offices.

The grant for PhD-students consists of:

• a monthly stipend of Euro 1200,-
• travel allowance
• basic accommodation

The fellowship for Post-Doc graduates consists of:

• a monthly stipend of Euro 2300,-
• travel allowance
• basic accommodation

The fellowship for senior scholars (tenured professors or the equivalent)

• a monthly stipend (for further information please contact Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann)
• travel allowance
• basic accommodation

Scholarship and fellowship holders are expected to participate actively to the Kolleg’s overall line of research and embrace its inter- and multidisciplinary environment. Regular attendance at the Kolleg is required, what includes two research meetings and one informal gathering a week. Residency in Bonn or the region nearby is implied. The ASK is primarily an Englishlanguage institution. Therefore, fellowship applicants should have a high level of proficiency in spoken and written English.

Programming theme for 2018-2019

The programming theme of the upcoming academic year at the Annemarie-Schimmel-Kolleg (2018-2019) is the study of mobility and immobility, material culture, environmental history, borders, intellectual history and poetry during the transition period from the Mamluk Sultanate to the Ottoman Empire. This will be conceptualized in terms of social and transcultural interactions that don’t focus on the dynastic decline of the Mamluk era (1250-1517) as a turning point in history. The Annemarie-Schimmel-Kolleg incorporated this approach in its second phase (2015-2019). On account of this, the ASK has expanded the focus of its research in two respects. Firstly, instead of the classical understanding of history structured around political dynasties, it adopted a broader system of periodization based on the concept of the “Middle Islamic Period” (12th -17th centuries CE). The main focus of the ASK’s research remains history and society during the Mamluk period in Egypt, Bilād al-Shām and the Ḥijāz. Utilizing this broader periodization, however, permits us to include –through process based analysis– the Early Ottoman time into our research. Secondly, the ASK tackles the question of historical developments without considering the changeover of power as a decisive criterion in studying history and society during the transition period from the Ayyubids to the Mamluks or from the later dynasty to the Ottoman Empire. The social and trans-cultural interaction that took place during the transition period from the Mamluk Sultanate to the Ottoman Empire has not been studied systematically so far. Therefore, we highly encourage senior and junior scholars of the Mamluk and/or Ottoman periods to apply for a fellowship with projects that fit into this theme and approach.

Application procedure for PhD-Candidates, Post-Docs and senior scholars

Applications should contain:

– A 1-2-page statement outlining the candidate’s current and longer term academic interest and a project description in English

– A concise Curriculum Vitae with a list of principal publications

– A graduate-level transcript (is applicable ONLY to PhD-Candidates and Post-Docs)

– Two letters of recommendation (is applicable ONLY to PhD-Candidates and PostDocs)

All files, including letters of recommendation, should be sent in PDF format to Dr. Abdelkader Al Ghouz ([email protected]).

The deadline for application is March 31st 2018

Successful candidates will be informed by April 30th 2018.

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.