The Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence (Max-Plack-Institute) is pleased to announce a non-residential doctoral/postdoctoral fellowship program for the academic year 2009-2010, entitled : Art, Space and Mobility in the Early Ages of Globalization. The Mediterranean, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent (MeCAIS) 400-1650. The program is sponsored by the Getty Foundation. It rethinks the postcolonial agenda through a study of premodern "world orders" and historical concepts of space and mobility with special attention to artistic objects, monuments and heritage.
The fellowship program is intended for young scholars who are working towards a Ph.D. as well as those candidates who already possess a Ph.D. (obtained not earlier than 2004). The fellowships are mainly open to archaeologists, art historians and, in exceptional cases, to scholars of related fields like anthropology, history, philology and religious studies. The program especially welcomes applications from young scholars of Mediterranean countries and Asia. We seek fellows whose work combines the thorough study of objects with a broad appeal, and whose interests focus on the intercultural and interartistic agency, the mobility of ideas, artists and works of arts, as well as the creation or transformation of spaces within the chronological and topographical framework of the program. Applicants should be interested in the study of premodern models of globalization from an art historical point of view, adopting an interdisciplinary perspective in their study of objects, images and texts. They are invited to participate in the creation of a research network that will connect specialists in Western, Islamic, Byzantine, Indian, Central and East Asian art. Projects may consider the following questions according to the thematic focuses of the program : The (Trans)formation of Topographies / The Spaces of Power and Religion / Borderlines between Nature and Culture / Visual Culture and Systems of Knowledge / Transforming Artistic Languages / Making, Remaking and Exchanging : Art and its Techniques / Historiographies and Narratives.
The fellowships are non-residential. Research could primarily be conducted at the fellows' home institutions. At the same time, fellows will participate in a series of workshops in Berlin and Florence as well as Summer schools and seminars to be held in countries of the MeCAIS region. A conference organized by the directors of the program will be designed specifically for this research program. The working language is English.
Fellowships are for one year. Their amount follows international standards and varies according the specific conditions of the applicants. A second fellowship year will be considered upon presentation of the researcher's first year results.
The deadline for application is September 15, 2009. Results will be announced in early October 2009. Applicants should send a C.V., a research proposal, one substantial writing sample or a portfolio, and two letters of recommendation to :
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf, Director, Kunsthistorisches Institut (Max-Planck-Institute), Via Giuseppe Giusti 44, I - 50121 Firenze, Italy. The envelope should be marked "Art Space and Mobility". Applications by email are particularly welcome ; these and questions concerning the program should be sent to the following address : dirwolf@khi.fi.it.
The Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence is an affirmative action equal opportunity employer and educator.
Contact
Kunsthistorisches Institut - Max-Planck-Institute
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Wolf
Via Giuseppe Giusti 44
50121 Florence, Italy
E-mail : dirwolf@khi.fi.it