PhD scholarships in Near Eastern Studies, Biblical Studies and Systematic Theology

The School of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Tartu, Estonia, invites international applications for doctoral studies. Application deadline is 1 June 2017; scholarships are provided by Dora Plus program, for more information see https://www.ut.ee/en/phd-theology.

1. In the fields of literary, scholarly and religious texts from the Ancient Near East to investigate their particular forms of creativity and the identities associated with them. 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.

The supervisor will be Amar Annus (amar.annus@ut.ee).

2. In the field of text, literary and redaction criticism of the Ancient Hebrew psalm literature. The topic of the PhD project should deal with early and late poetic forms in Ancient Hebrew psalms, hence the approach is diachronic and poetological. The aim of the study will be to find and describe formal shifts in the psalm literature through the time. A number of psalms will be prepared text critically and redaction critically, and different forms in distinct literary layers will be described and compared. The successful candidate will benefit from a small but creative research environment where poetological and redaction critical study of the Psalms and the Book of Job as well as the Book of Ben Sira and the Dead Sea Scrolls are highly appreciated.

The supervisor will be Urmas Nõmmik (urmas.nommik@ut.ee).

3. In the field of systematic theology. The study should deal with the concept and the figuration: travels of Philip Hefner's God's created co-creator in contemporary science and religion discussion. Philip Hefner (born 1932) is a retired American Lutheran theologian who has most of his career focused on the interaction of religion and science. He was one of the creators of the Zygon Center for Religion and Science and the editor of the Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. One of his contributions to the interface of science and religion and theological anthropology is the concept (God’s) created co-creator, which has found both supporters and critics. The concept/the figuration/the symbol – it can be used in all these ways and others – is waiting for a thorough examination both within Hefner’s own works and in consequent uses by other theologians, philosophers and scientists.

The supervisor will be Anne Kull (anne.kull@ut.ee).