5 Professorships within the Framework of Transcultural Studies

The Heidelberg University Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in
Global Perspective: Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows” brings
together scholars in East and South Asian, Middle Eastern and European
Studies. To further develop the transcultural and transdisciplinary
research potential of the Cluster and to strengthen its capabilities in
handling transcultural flows that cross linguistic, geographic, cultural
and media borders, five new professorships have been established. These
are in

(a) Intellectual History (with a focus on translingual concepts)

(b) Visual and Media Anthropology

(c) Art History (with a focus on the global flow of art forms)

(d) Buddhist Studies

(e) Cultural Economic History (with a focus on South Asia)

The professorships will be open in rank from junior professor with
tenure option, to full professor with tenure. The Ph.D. dissertation
must have been completed by the time of application.

The Cluster strongly encourages qualified women scholars to apply.
Handicapped persons with the same equivalent qualifications will be
given preference.

The positions are open as of now. Searches will continue until the
positions are filled. Once a position is filled, it will be announced on
the Cluster web-site. Since the common language of the Cluster is
English, proficiency in English is required. The positions withal entail
teaching duties, so successful candidates are expected to acquire German
language skills within three years of their appointment. All successful
candidates are expected to cooperate in the development of master and
postgraduate programs with a transcultural focus

Further more detailed information see http://www.vjc.uni-hd.de/ and
http://www.vjc.uni-hd.de/jobs.htm

Applications are to be submitted until January 25th, 2008, with the
usual documentation (C.V., list of publications, list of courses taught,
names of three scholars familiar with your work) to

Search Committee
Joint Committee for Transcultural Studies Asia and Europe
c/o Prof. Axel Michaels
University of Heidelberg
South Asia Institute
Im Neuenheimer Feld 330
D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany

For online applications (recommended): Axel.Michaelsurz.uni-heidelberg.de

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Job Announcement
5 Professorships within the Framework of Transcultural Studies

The Heidelberg University Cluster of Excellence “Asia and Europe in
Global Perspective: Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows” brings
together scholars in East and South Asian, Middle Eastern and European
Studies. To further develop the transcultural and transdisciplinary
research potential of the Cluster and to strengthen its capabilities in
handling transcultural flows that cross linguistic, geographic, cultural
and media borders, five new professorships have been established.

These are in
(a) Intellectual History (with a focus on translingual concepts)
(b) Visual and Media Anthropology
(c) Art History (with a focus on the global flow of art forms)
(d) Buddhist Studies
(e) Cultural Economic History (with a focus on South Asia)

The professorships will be open in rank from junior professor with
tenure option, to full professor with tenure. The Ph.D. dissertation
must have been completed by the time of application. The Cluster
strongly encourages qualified women scholars to apply. The positions are
open as of now. Searches will continue until the positions are filled.
Once a position is filled, it will be announced on the Cluster web-site.
Since the common language of the Cluster is English, proficiency in
English is required. The positions withal entail teaching duties, so
successful candidates are expected to acquire German language skills
within three years of their appointment. All successful candidates are
expected to cooperate in the development of master and postgraduate
programs with a transcultural focus.

Further information on the Cluster and its aims can be found at
http://www.vjc.uni-hd.de/

Applications are to be submitted until January 25th, 2008, with the
usual documentation (C.V., list of publications, list of courses taught,
names of three scholars familiar with your work) to

Search Committee
Joint Committee for Transcultural Studies Asia and Europe
c/o Prof. Axel Michaels
University of Heidelberg
South Asia Institute
Im Neuenheimer Feld 330
D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany

For online applications: Axel.Michaelsurz.uni-heidelberg.de

(a) Professorship in Intellectual History (with a focus on translingual
concepts)

Concepts are part of the transcultural flow between and within Asia and
Europe studied in the Cluster. This flow is instrumental in constituting
the conceptual arsenals of the different vernaculars, both historically
and in the present. The development of such translingual concepts has an
intellectual dynamism of its own that links many key concepts through
their common origin to other cultural milieus.

The Professorship in Intellectual History with a research focus on the
dynamics of translingual concepts will contribute to linking and
integrating studies on the flow of key concepts between particular
languages; to developing the methodology for analyzing the dynamics of
these conceptual flows; and to exploring their impact on interlingual
and intercultural communications. It will be the anchor for the
development of a database of translingual concepts and their vernacular
adaptations.

The required qualifications are proven experience and a strong
publication record in researching conceptual flows between Asia and
Europe, with competence in handling at least one relevant Asian
language; familiarity with the methods and challenges of a transcultural
and translingual conceptual history. A solid grasp of the strategies and
options of database development would be welcome. Scholars working in
different fields of intellectual history in Asia and Europe (such as
philosophy or history including the histories of social thought,
science or law) are encouraged to apply.

(b) Professorship in Visual and Media Anthropology

The Cluster will set out to overcome the borders separating different
fields according to the textual, visual, aural etc. media under study. A
strong effort will be made to integrate audio-visual media into the
overall agenda by throwing into analytical focus: their own forms of
coding and communication; their potential and their actual uses for
governments, institutions, and particular - including marginal - groups
or individuals to inform and impact the public; the dynamics of their
diffusion; and their role in forming the imaginaire of communities,
including their images of self and other, governance and civil society,
health, heritage and space/ place.

The professorship in Visual and Media Anthropology will deal with the
methodological, theoretical as well as empirical issues that attend the
transcultural flows of images. These images range from popular culture
to cartoon, film, museum piece, and marginalized or subaltern media; and
these issues involve the agency of their production, dissemination,
consumption/reception, and contestation, as well as their impact. It
will contribute to the relevant aspects of work in the Research Areas
and provide data for and theoretical input into the database for
transcultural images. It will contribute to make these visual data and
their contexts accessible to a wider public. It will contribute to
research work and teaching in general anthropology as well as its
particular area of expertise. The position will come with a joint
appointment in Anthropology.

Qualifications include a strong research record in both the theoretical
and empirical realms of Visual and Media Anthropology. This should show
familiarity with the culture-specific contexts of at least one Asian
country; the ability to speak and/or read at least one Asian language;
experience in image- and media-related ethnographic fieldwork; and a
research focus on the transcultural flow of images.

(c) Professorship of Art History (with a focus on global flow of art forms)

Flows of art forms and objects, of settings and of ways of appreciation
and analysis are constitutive factors in the art of Asia and Europe, and
go far back into history.

The Professorship in Art History (with a focus on the global flow of art
forms) will join the efforts made internationally by researchers in
academic institutions and museums to open the way for the study of these
cultural flows across the borders marked by the established disciplines.
It will contribute to bring these studies into a common focus; will link
them to the broader themes in the Cluster; will play a key role in
defining the conceptual framework and providing the data for a database
on transcultural images that is to be developed by the Cluster; and will
provide an institutional anchor for a teaching program in global flows
of art. It will come with a joint appointment in the Institute for
European Art History and will contribute to teaching in this field.

Scholars working in different fields from medieval to modern art flows
and a competence in transcultural art history should apply.
Qualifications include a strong record of scholarly work (publications,
exhibitions) dealing with the cultural flow between Asia and Europe; a
high competence in European art history; and a familiarity with the
theoretical and methodological issues involved. A solid grasp of the
strategies, options, and pitfalls of developing databases for visual
objects would be highly welcome.

(d) Professorship in Buddhist Studies

The dispersion of Buddhism offers one of the richest historical archives
of a transcultural flow in human history and can serve as an important
testing ground for theories about the relationship between power
projection and cultural flows.

A Professorship in Buddhist Studies will be established. It will deal
with the different aspects of the transcultural flow of Buddhism in
history and modern times; will bring together scholars with a South
Asian, an East Asian and a Western focus in this common endeavor; will
cooperate in the development of the databases on translingual concepts
and transcultural images; and will contribute to the development of
teaching programs with a transcultural focus.

Qualifications include a strong record of scholarly publications in
Buddhist Studies; the proven capacity to handle original sources in at
least two of the major Buddhist languages including Classical Chinese; a
strong record in Chinese intellectual history; and a visible commitment
to cross-disciplinary and transcultural studies.

The position will come with a joint appointment at the Centre for East
Asian Studies with institutional links to the South Asia Institute,
Religious Studies, and Philosophy.

(e) Professorship in Cultural Economic History (with a focus on South Asia)

Research on the historical and cultural aspects of economic activity has
grown in importance and visibility with the growth of economic centers
in Asia and with the increasingly dense transcultural intermeshing of
economically relevant activities.

In order to strengthen its capacity to explore this important field of
research, the Cluster has established a Professorship in Cultural
Economic History. It will have a particular research focus on South
Asia. It will concentrate on the analysis of cultural factors in
economic behavior; will contribute to conceptualizing and profiling the
economic aspects in the history of transcultural flows; will contribute
to the theoretical and empirical foundation of the database for
translingual concepts; and will contribute to the development of
teaching programs with a transcultural focus.

To fill this position we are looking for a historian with a strong
record of scholarly work that shows high competence in (global) economic
history and culture with a research focus on South Asia. Capacity to
handle at least one South Asian language is required.

The position will come with a joint appointment at the South Asia
Institute and will also contribute to teaching in South Asian Studies.