University of Birmingham

Call for Applications

Application Deadline: October 27, 2017

The Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham seeks to award 2 PhD studentships to work on the ERC-funded project ‘Creating an Alternative umma: Clerical Authority and Religio-political Mobilisation in Transnational Shii Islam (ALTERUMMA)’ project, led by Professor Oliver Scharbrodt. This interdisciplinary project investigates the transformation of Shii Islam in the Middle East and Europe since the 1950s. The project begins in January 2018 and will in the course of its five-year duration include four post-doctoral researchers and three PhD students.

The PhD students will work on the first thematic area of the project which begins in January 2018. As part of this thematic area, the various ways in which Shii clerical authorities in Iran and Iraq have positioned themselves towards the modern nation-state are explored.

One PhD student will work on how the clerical establishment in Najaf has intervened in and positioned itself towards post-2003 Iraqi sectarian politics and responded to the sectarianization of Middle Eastern geopolitics. For more information, see: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BDE834/phd-studentship-iraqi-clerics-and-the-state-after-2003/

The other PhD student will work on the position of current clerical authorities in Iran towards the Islamic Republic and its underpinning ideology and their religio-political interventions in a political system that fuses clerical and political authority. For more information, see: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BDE835/phd-studentship-iranian-clerics-and-the-state-in-post-revolutionary-iran/

The award includes funding for two full-time PhD studentships to begin in January 2018. The studentships includes a stipend of £20,500 per annum.

The successful applicant will benefit from:

– A fully-funded three-year PhD (fees and stipend of £20,500 per annum*) in a leading UK university

– Guidance from leading experts in the field and research training from the University of Birmingham Graduate School

– Workspace and resources to attend and present at conferences

– An interdisciplinary research team involved in innovative and cutting-edge research on modern and contemporary Shii Islam

– A vibrant research environment in the Department of Theology and Religion.

Applicants should have an excellent first degree and a Master’s degree in Islamic/Religious Studies, Middle Eastern/Iranian Studies, History, Political Science or equivalent.

To apply, please send a CV. and a 5000-word writing sample, together with a covering letter outlining your suitability for the studentship and the names of two referees to calp-gresearch@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

Interviews will be conducted following the closing date and candidates invited to interview will be contacted directly.

Further information about the project could be found here.

Source: University of Birmingham