Yale University seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Associate in ancient and pre-modern cultures and civilizations. This is a two-year position beginning in the academic year 2023-2024 and attached to Archaia: the Yale Program for the Study of Ancient and Premodern Cultures and Societies. Archaia is a collaborative forum that brings together scholars and graduate students working on early and pre-modern cultures and civilizations at Yale in the Humanities and Social Sciences in addition to the Divinity and Law Schools and various University collections and libraries, including the Yale University Art Gallery, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. Participating departments and disciplines include Classics, East Asian Languages and Literatures, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, History, Religious Studies, Archaeology and Anthropology, History of Art, and the Divinity School. In addition to hosting conferences and colloquia, the year-long Ancient Societies Workshop (ASW), and faculty-led study tours, Archaia offers a graduate qualification for students interested in research beyond departmental lines. 

For the 2023-2024 academic year, the ASW theme will be “Ancient Musical Thought,” led by Profs. Pauline Leven (Classics) and Mick Hunter (East Asian Languages & Literatures). Applicants who can contribute to that theme are encouraged to apply, as are others with innovative and cross-disciplinary approaches for a future workshop and core seminar. We especially welcome applicants working in areas beyond the Mediterranean world.

The postdoctoral associate is expected to take an active role in Archaia programming while pursuing research in their own area of expertise. Additionally, the associate’s duties include: (1) in the first year of the appointment, teaching one graduate seminar with the approval of relevant department(s) or program(s); (2) in the second year of the appointment, co-teaching the Archaia core seminar with a Yale faculty member and/or co-organizing the Archaia Study Tour; and (3) serving as a member of the Archaia Steering Committee. The postdoctoral associate will work under the supervision of the Archaia coordinators and will also be provided with at least one mentor from a field/department close to their area of training and expertise.