About us:

The ERC-funded project “The Challenge of Islam and the Transformation of Eastern Christian Normative Regimes, ca. 630-1100” (NOMOS), directed by Prof. Dr. Zachary Chitwood and housed at the Chair for Byzantine Studies within the Institute for Byzantine Studies, Byzantine Art History and Modern Greek Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, is hiring three post-doctoral researchers for a period of four years each.

In the crucial half-millennium between the death of the Prophet Muhammad and the First Crusade, an absolutely essential part in the origins of Christian-Muslim relations has been overlooked, namely how the normative regimes of Eastern Christians – including those of Byzantium, the Islamicate world and the space in between – grappled with the rise of Islam. Exploring this history has important implications for our understanding of the development of Christian-Muslim relations in the premodern period, the genesis of Eastern Christian legal regimes and the earlier precedents which Eastern Mediterranean states after the year 1100 might have drawn on in dealing with Islam.

We are looking for you:

Research Associate (Post-doctoral Researcher) in Syriac Studies (m/f/x)

in Munich

Your tasks and responsibilities:

• You will collect information in Syriac-language sources related to the legal status of Muslims in Byzantium and the medieval Islamicate world.
• You will develop and train a module in an AI-assisted manuscript reading program such as Transkribus dedicated to the decipherment of legal texts written in Syriac.
• You will contribute along with the rest of the NOMOS team to a peer-reviewed and open-source Handbook of Eastern Christian Legal Traditions, ca. 630-1100.
• You will write a “mini-monograph” serving as a succinct introduction to the Syriac legal tradition in the long Late Antiquity.
• You will regularly attend project meetings and events.

Your qualifications:

• You have completed a PhD.
• You have excellent knowledge of Syriac.
• You have a good command of either English or German.
• You have experience with Digital Humanities, or the willingness to acquire some.
• You have experience with legal history, or the willingness to acquire some.

Benefits:

• Your workplace will be in the center of Munich with easy accessibility by public transportation
• You will be paid according to the TV-L E13 salary scheme.
• University support for families and children: for more  information on the Family Service of LMU click here.
• Access to discounted health, mobility and promotional offers as a university employee: for more information click here.

LMU Munich is an equal opportunity employer and committed to enhancing the diversity of its faculty.

Also possible in a part-time capacity.

Contact:

Please send your application (including cover letter, CV, list of publications, copies of certificates), a writing sample (e.g., a chapter of your dissertation or a publication) by 15 May 2025 at the latest as a single PDF:  byzantinistik@lrz.uni-muenchen.de. Please indicate in the subject line of the e-mail: “NOMOS application Syriac”.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an (online) interview.

Your tenure in the position should begin no later than 1 October 2025.

If you have any questions, please contact Prof. Dr. Zachary Chitwood (Zachary.Chitwood@lmu.de).

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