University of Copenhagen, ERC-project: SOLITUDES, Department of Church History

Senior researcher seventeenth-century architectural history (13 months)

The Danish-based research project Solitudes: Withdrawal and Engagement in the long Seventeenth Century (SOLITUDES), funded by the European Research Council, advertises a post as a senior researcher in architectural history.

Starting 1 Sept 2013 (negotiable).

SOLITUDES is grounded in an interdisciplinary and collaborative examination of seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century forms of religious withdrawal from the world (Catholic and Protestant) and of the texts, artworks, music, buildings and artefacts which are produced around this withdrawal.

The project’s ambition for the research team tests a vision of an interdisciplinary work form which does not aim simply at an assemblage of parallel specialized studies but seeks an integrated approach in which a team of schol­ars challenge and inspire each other in a joint pursuit of the textual, visual, architectural, material and musicological aspects of one common set of cases.

As the specialist on architectural history in the project you will be expected to contribute to the project research and perspectives on architecture as a ‘devotional instrument’. Some of the places studied in the project were built for their purpose, some underwent renovation in the period in focus. How did the space thus constructed sustain withdrawal from the world? Which zones of respectively retreat and interaction with the world were created? Which spatial, pragmatical and aesthetic strategies went into the lay-out of e.g. the chapels, the chambers and the gardens of each place as a space of retreat? What can be said of the artistic environment, the craftsmanship and the aesthetic paradigms that shaped these spaces?

Applicants must have a PhD degree in architectural history or an expertise which covers the field of architectural history. Relevant research experiences related to interdisciplinary scholarship and academic collaboration will be considered an important qualification. We expect you to be an expert within either French or German seventeenth- and eighteenth-century culture and to be ready to engage in work on both worlds.Interest in material culture is welcome. Specialist knowledge is important. Just as central is, however, readiness to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration on the material and in theoretical and source-related discussions towards an integrated methodology for interdisciplinary cultural studies.

The project language is English. You must be able to work with sources in German and French.

The application should be in English and include: 1) a motivation letter for the application, including a plan for your employment on the project (1 A4 page), 2) CV with documentation of education and highlighting of experience with interdisciplinary and collaborative work, 3) a complete list of publications, with a commented highlighting of five publications which you  consider relevant in relation to the project, 4) a presentation of how your envisage your contribution to the research project, including a preliminary presentation of potential source material and proposed methodology (max 3 A4 pages), 5) three samples of writing (articles or book chapters)

Applications must be submitted electronically no later than 3 January 2013.