PhD scholarship in Ancient Near Eastern Studies

The School of Theology and Religious Studies invites international applications for doctoral studies. The position is funded by the Dora Plus program. In the fields of literary, scholarly and religious texts from the Ancient Near East the doctoral candidate is expected to investigate their particular forms of creativity and the identities associated with them. The PhD student will be joining a small, but vibrant community of Ancient Near Eastern scholars in Tartu. There is no tuition and a guaranteed scholarship. Application deadline: 1 June 2017.

Forms of Creativity in the Realms of the Cuneiform Literature, Scholarship and Religious Texts

Comparative and cross-cultural approaches are encouraged; the period under consideration should be the second or first millennium BCE. The successful candidate will contribute to the research project funded by Estonian Research Council, which studies the forms of creativity found in different genres of cuneiform texts and how creative methods participated in forming identities in societies. Topics for the doctoral dissertation can cover any field of creativity witnessed by the ancient cuneiform tablets and/or art products. The successful applicant will use the cuneiform philology and other research methods of cultural studies, but some methods of social or cognitive sciences can also be included.

Supervisor: Amar Annus ([email protected]). The PhD position will be part of a research project (titled “Forms of Creativity in the Intellectual History of Ancient Mesopotamia”), currently undertaken by Amar Annus. For more, see: http://www.us.ut.ee/en/current-projects/forms-creativity-intellectual-history-ancient-mesopotamia

For more information about Ancient Near Eastern studies at the School of Theology and Religious Studies see: http://www.us.ut.ee/en/fields-research/history-ancient-near-east-religion

Practical details:

The duration of the studies is 4 years. It is a full-time position. There is no tuition. The position comes with a doctoral scholarship of 422 euros per month.

Application information: https://www.ut.ee/en/phd-theology

Required documents: https://www.ut.ee/en/admission-theology-phd-programme