Postdoc project (2 years, 1.0 fte), Utrecht University
Anchoring Work Package 7: Canonization of the News (Classical Greece, 550 - 323 BCE)
Supervisors
Dr. Floris van den Eijnde (Utrecht); Dr. Saskia Peels (Groningen); Dr. Luuk Huitink (Amsterdam)
Salary range
A minimum of € 4.332,- and a maximum of € 4.640,-, including benefits.
Sacrality in Archaic and Classical Athens: Anchoring Religious Innovation in Sacred Places
Sanctuaries were the venues par excellence where innovative ideas about human interactions and identities were publicly advertised and anchored in the sacred environment. The neutral space provided by the temenē of the gods was a fertile ground for communication between various groups both within and beyond Athens. They were authoritative centres where appropriate behaviour was both displayed and enacted. As nodes within a wider local, regional, or international network, Athenian sanctuaries were eminently suitable for a variety of coded messaging with regard to social status, political intent, and intercultural exchange. Such statements were incessantly anchored in “sacrality”, sacred narratives and notions that could be expressed through a wide variety of media, i.e., inscriptions, architecture, dedications, ritual acts, and feasting practices. Normative adjustments were constantly expressed in sacral terms in order to give them transformative societal force. In turn, sacrality informed the design, organisation and iconography of sacred monuments and buildings, the objects stored within them, as well as the inscriptions that were written on them.
If sacrality actively shaped the relations between humans in the context of a wider religious framework, the inherent ethical framework was nevertheless meant to be stable and unchangeable. Yet change it did, in many ways: new gods were introduced, groups or individuals were included or excluded from a cult, new architecture, sacrifices or cultic rules were introduced, financial arrangements were changed. In short, sanctuaries were continuously adapted to new circumstances.
This project poses the question how societal ideas were anchored in the sacred landscape of Athens. Various related questions include:
We are looking for historical research, based on archaeological and/or written (epigraphic, literary) sources, on any aspect of innovation in the religious domain with a focus on human agency in Greek religion (e.g. cults, sanctuaries, gods, polis religion, private cults, religious finance, priesthoods, etc.). The successful candidate is prepared to assist in the organisation of workshops and conferences and the writing of grant proposals. You will be embedded in the UU research group Sacrality and the Greek Polis and work together with researchers in Work Package 7 of the Anchoring Innovation project (Canonization of the New) and members of the Oikos research group Cultural Interactions in the Ancient World.
We are looking for a candidate who has:
Candidates from abroad must fulfill the conditions set by the IND to work in the Netherlands.
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We offer:
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For more information, please contact Dr F. van den Eijnde via f.vandeneijnde@uu.nl.
The project will be situated at Utrecht University and supervised by Dr F. van den Eijnde, in collaboration with Dr S. Peels (RUG) and Dr L. Huitink (UvA).
Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.
As Utrecht University, we want to be a home for everyone. We value staff with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and identities, including cultural, religious or ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. We strive to create a safe and inclusive environment in which everyone can flourish and contribute.
To apply, please send your curriculum vitae, including a letter of motivation and a 1,500-word proposal concerning the anchoring of innovation in archaic and classical Greek sanctuaries via the 'apply now' button. Please upload the word proposal under the heading 'PhD diploma'.
Candidates who make the shortlist will be invited for an interview. These may be conducted in person at Utrecht or online. Interviews are scheduled to take place in the week of 6 May.
The application deadline is 15 April 2024.