Postdoc Position: Early Christian Studies

Are you a specialist in early Christianity and interested in questions of equality and inequality? Do you enjoy working in a team with other scholars to tackle big questions that are relevant to the present as well as to the past? Then please consider applying for this postdoctoral researcher position at Radboud University in the Netherlands.

The Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at Radboud University is seeking to appoint an early-career researcher to join the NWO project Ethnicity and (In)Equality in Early Christianity. The aim of this project is to develop a thorough and nuanced understanding of the full spectrum of Christian views on ethnic equality/inequality during the first-fourth centuries CE.

As one of the postdoctoral researchers in this project, you will analyse how key early Christian authors depict people with ethnic backgrounds other than their own. A central question in this connection is the degree to which these early Christians rejected or reinforced traditional ethnic stereotypes and prejudices, and what these depictions suggest about the degree and nature of ethnic equality operative in their corpus. You will also engage in preliminary research that aims to uncover if and how these early Christian texts exerted influence on later ideas about race and ethnic difference.

A more detailed description of the research project is available here. You are strongly encouraged to consult this description to prepare your application. As part of the application process, you will be asked to submit a brief statement in which you discuss two early Christian authors or texts that you would analyse and provide a motivation for this selection that takes into account your own expertise and the relevance of the selected authors to the overall project. All Christian authors from the first four centuries CE are eligible for inclusion.

In this position, you will conduct independent research, produce sole-authored articles and contribute to collaborative publications. You will present your work at conferences and workshops, host visiting fellows with expertise in your field and help organise international conferences. If you are interested, you will be given the opportunity to engage in public-facing activities. No teaching is required but you may take on limited teaching and PhD supervision if you wish. #J-18808-Ljbffr