The International Max Planck Research School for the Anthropology, Archaeology and History of Eurasia (IMPRS ANARCHIE), a cooperation between the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, offers for PhD students starting 1st of October 2017.
The projects of the fourth cohort of the IMPRS ANARCHIE will be devoted to the topic of Representing Domination.
Doctoral students shall investigate how various modes and processes of communication and contestation with regard to (legitimate) domination are determined by practices of representation and by the (usually heterogeneous and often conflictual) dynamics that have shaped these practices of representation through space and time. Students will tackle varying forms of representation, approached as a basic form of human social interaction, by examining and comparing their spatio-temporal variability in past and present Eurasia. We especially invite projects which are dealing with the following topics and their relation to the issue of domination:
- Representation of power
- Representation of space and collective identities
- Representation of status, rank, prestige
- Representation through roles
- Representing the past
- Representing the dead
The aim of ANARCHIE is to renew transdisciplinary agendas in fields where social and cultural anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians have much to gain from cross-fertilisation. For the purposes of ANARCHIE, Eurasia is defined as the super-continent which comprises the whole of Asia and the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean. Previous projects have ranged from Britain and Spain to Mongolia and Vietnam. The IMPRS ANARCHIE is open to students from all countries and offers an international three-year (with the possibility of extension) PhD program in a stimulating research environment. Highly motivated students possessing a Masters degree in Socio-Cultural Anthropology, Archaeology, History or a related discipline are encouraged to apply.
Students work towards their doctorate in one of the three disciplines, but participate in a common programme organised jointly by social anthropologists (Department “Resilience and Transformation in Eurasia” of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology together with the Institute of Cultural and Social Anthropology of the MLU), historians (the Institutes for History and for the Study of the Ancient World of the MLU), and archaeologists (Institute for Art History and European Archaeology of the MLU). ANARCHIE is also embedded in other institutions of the MLU, notably the University’s International Graduate Academy.
The IMPRS is in certain circumstances ready to consider joint supervision of PhD projects with colleagues based at institutions outside Halle, and also a formal Cotutelle agreement with another university.
Except when undertaking field or archival research elsewhere (the costs of which will be covered), students are expected to work in Halle and participate in the life of their respective institutions, especially during the academic terms.
The PhD positions are generally awarded for 3 years, with the possibility of two six-month extensions.