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PhD Position - Towards a New 'Book Archeology'

Employer
KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
Location
Leuven, (BE)
Closing date
5 Jan 2020

This PhD position is part of the interdisciplinary research project “Innovation through Education: Pioneering Change in Law and Theology in Louvain’s Golden Age”. The project is led by an interdisciplinary team of KU Leuven researchers consisting of LECTIO members Prof Wim Decock (Roman Law and Legal History, spokesperson), Prof Wouter Druwé (Roman Law and Legal History), Prof Randall Lesaffer (Roman Law and Legal History), Dr An Smets (KU Leuven Libraries) and Prof Violet Soen (Early Modern History), with the support of Prof Mark Depauw (Ancient History/Digital Humanities), Prof Wim François (History of Church and Theology) and Prof Jan Papy (Latin Literature). The successful candidate will be affiliated to the Department of Modern History at KU Leuven's Faculty of Arts and supervised by Prof. Violet Soen and Dr. An Smets. For more information about LECTIO, please visit http://lectio.ghum.kuleuven.be/. Website unit Project This book historical project investigates how the most important professors of law and theology during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries adapted their teaching content to the changing needs of society, in order to prepare the future elite for tackling the religious, political and economic challenges of their time. The source material consists of student notes that will be compared with printed material such as treatises and textbooks of the professors involved.

 

 

 

This vacancy is part of the large-scale project "Innovation through Education. Pioneering Change in Law and Theology during Leuven's Golden Age”, which will be conducted by 5 PhD students and their supervisors in the Faculties of Arts, Law and Theology. It investigates how Louvain professors in law and theology during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries adapted the content and methods of their teaching to the changing needs of society, in order to prepare the future elites for tackling the religious, political and economic challenges of their time. The source material consists of student notes that will be compared with printed material such as treatises and textbooks of the professors involved.

 

  More specifically regarding to the work package "Book archaeology", it is the intention that this comparison between written and printed sources, in combination with archival material, can provide answers to questions such as: What was the influence of the printing press on the content and the organization of education? Was there an evolution in the use of printed material?, Was there a difference between the faculties with regard to the sources, and if so, how can this be explained?, ... To this end, the PhD student will create a database within the ODIS infrastructure.  

 

 

 

More information on the book historical research and ODIS within the research group Early Modern History: https://www.arts.kuleuven.be/nieuwetijd/english/book-history

 

   

 

Profile   • Within the period of four years, you write a dissertation within the C1 project "Innovation through Education".

 

• You are working on a database within ODIS on Leuven manuals and lecture notes. 

 

• You actively participate in the monthly seminars organised within this project.

 

• You present your research at (inter)national congresses, on social media and through education.

 

• You write scientific articles for national and international journals based on your research.

 

• You will participate in the organisation of study days and congresses organised within the framework of this project.

 

 

 

• You have a master's degree in history, language and literature or equivalent, with excellent results. Students who will obtain their master’s degree in 2020 are invited to apply.

 

• You have a proven interest in university history and/or book history.

 

• You have experience with printed and/or written historical sources from the new era.

 

• You have good palaeographic skills. 

 

• You are accurate and have sufficient ICT skills to enter your research data into the ODIS database.

 

• You have a good command of languages (oral and written) in English and French. You have sufficient knowledge to work with Latin sources and at least a good passive knowledge of Dutch to be able to read the secondary literature.

 

• You are prepared to carry out library and archive research in Belgium and abroad.  

 

• You are good at dealing with deadlines. 

 

• You are communicative, creative, cooperative and interdisciplinary, given the teamwork within the project. 

 

• You will be present at your office in Leuven several days a week.

 

  Please add at least one letter of recommendation to your application and a digital copy of your master thesis. Offer The net amount of the scholarship will be approx. 2000 euro/month, depending on age, professional experience and family status; in addition, the fellowship provides for social and health benefits, office space and a benchfee for research expenses.   Subject to positive evaluation after the first year and the second year, the scholarship has a total duration of 48 months (1+1+2).    The start date of the doctoral position is negotiable, but should not be later than 1 September 2020.   KU Leuven offers a wide variety of courses for PhD candidates, a minimum of which must be followed as part of the compulsory doctoral training program, the specific content of which may vary from one faculty to another.   The PhD candidates will benefit from a unique experience in an interdisciplinary environment with junior and senior experts in the fields of book history, digital humanities, history of law, history of church and theology, early modern history, religious history, and philology.    Interested? For more information please contact Prof. dr. Violet Soen, tel.: +32 16 32 49 88, mail: violet.soen@kuleuven.be, Dr. An Smets, mail:an.smets@kuleuven.be, tel.: +32 16 32 46 22 or Prof. dr. Wim Decock, tel.: +32 16 32 52 39, mail: wim.decock@kuleuven.be. You can apply for this job no later than February 15, 2020 via the online application tool KU Leuven seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us at diversiteit.HR@kuleuven.be.

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