One doctoral studentship in Philosophy as part of the Experimenting with Traditions: The Life and Afterlife of 20th Century Jewish Intellectual Culture in the Baltic Sea Region research project

Södertörn University is a higher education institution in Stockholm that conducts education, research and collaboration with the surrounding community for sustainable societal development. Education and research are conducted in the humanities, social sciences, technology and natural sciences. The university also provides police and teacher education programmes with intercultural profiles. A significant amount of our research is multidisciplinary and specialises in the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe. At Södertörn University we combine subjects, perspectives, people and experiences, searching for surprising syntheses, challenges and development.

Södertörn University welcomes doctoral proposals in Philosophy, to be conducted within the research project: “Experimenting with Traditions: The Life and Afterlife of 20th Century Jewish Intellectual Culture in the Baltic Sea Region”, funded by the Foundation for Baltic and Eastern European Studies. This project explores the philosophical, theological, and literary developments within the Jewish minority of the Baltic Sea region in the first half of the 20th century. It examines how the encounter between Rabbinic-Hassidic thought and Enlightenment philosophy gave rise to unique intellectual experiments, combining religious and philosophical traditions into new forms of thought and expression. The aim of the project is to trace, describe, and explain these accomplishments, from within the tensions between margin and centre, minority and majority, national belonging and diaspora, and relate them to the larger context of Eastern European Rabbinic learning culture, and to the survival and reappearance of pre-war Jewish philosophical and religious thought in intellectual developments into the present, especially in non-hegemonic discourses such as feminism and post-colonial thought. 

Philosophy at Södertörn University comprises both practical and theoretical philosophy. Our educational focus is on modern continental philosophy (phenomenology, hermeneutics, critical theory, modern French philosophy), German idealism, ancient philosophy, feminist philosophy, and post-colonial theory. We have a strong research profile with several multidisciplinary research projects and an active higher seminar series, as well as frequently hosting international researchers and symposia. As of 2024, Philosophy employs eight scholars and has five doctoral students. For more information, please click here. For a Swedish version click here.

Doctoral studies at the Department of Philosophy are conducted as part of the research area of Critical and Cultural Theory, which is an interdisciplinary research environment with seven subjects in the humanities. Research focuses on critically motivated studies of cultural artefacts and human practices. For more information, please click here. For a Swedish version click here.

Description of the doctoral position: The project that the successful candidate will undertake will focus on the crossover of languages, identities, and cultures in the writings of women of Central and Eastern European Jewish origin. Depending on the interests and language skills of the doctoral student, authors to be studied may include, but are not limited to, Dvora Baron (whose short stories and novellas explore women’s lives in the Eastern European shtetl from an exile perspective); Bertha Pappenheim (who founded the Jewish feminist movement Jüdischer Frauenbund in Frankfurt in 1904, and taught at Franz Rosenzweigs’s Freies Jüdisches Lehrhaus); Edith Stein (whose autobiography could be described as an “intimate history” from inside a Jewish family, meant as a counter-narrative to the National Socialist vision of Jews in Germany); and Debora Vogel (whose Yiddish and Polish modernist poetry contained indirect references to her Jewish background). 

The successful applicant will write the thesis as part of the research project “Experimenting with Traditions: The Life and Afterlife of 20th Century Jewish Intellectual Culture in the Baltic Sea Region”. For more information about this project as a whole, please contact the project manager (see below).

Entry requirements

The general entry requirements are:
1. a second-cycle qualification, or 
2. fulfilled requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle, or 
3. substantially equivalent knowledge acquired in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

The Faculty Board may permit an exemption from the general entry requirements for an individual applicant, if there are special grounds. (Ordinance 2010:1064)

Specific entry requirements

The specific entry requirements are met by a person who has knowledge equivalent to at least 90 credits in Philosophy (theoretical and/or practical), including a degree project worth at least 15 credits at second-cycle level. The ability to assimilate academic material in English and to command the language necessary for work on the thesis are prerequisites for admission to the degree programme.

An additional requirement for this position is proven language skills in one or more Eastern European languages relevant to the doctoral project outlined above. These language skills must be sufficient to be able to successfully conduct the outlined project. 

Admission and employment 

This position includes admission to third-cycle education, i.e. research level, and employment on a doctoral studentship at the School of Culture and Education at Södertörn University. The intended outcome for admitted students is a PhD. The programme covers 240 credits, which is the equivalent of four years of full-time study. The position may be extended by a maximum of one year due to the inclusion of departmental duties, i.e. education, research and/or administration (equivalent to no more than 20% of full-time). Other grounds for extension could be leave of absence because of illness or for service in the defence forces, an elected position in a trade union/student organisation, or parental leave.  Provisions relating to employment on a doctoral studentship are in the Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Sections 1-7. The holder of the position is expected to take an active part in the academic environment at the University.

Date of employment: 1 September 2024.

General Syllabus for third-cycle programmes in Philosophy: English version or Swedish version.

Information about admission regulations including selection criteria, and third-cycle education at Södertörn University: English version or Swedish version

Application procedure

For more details, see this website under FAQ, english version or swedish version. Please use Södertörn University’s web-based recruitment system “ReachMee”. Click on the link "ansök" (apply) at the bottom of the announcement.

Your application should be written in English and must include:

- an application letter

- curriculum vitae

- degree certificate and certificates that demonstrate eligibility to apply for the position (if not written in English or Swedish/Norwegian/Danish, you must enclose translated versions)

- Bachelor’s essay and Master’s dissertation in the field in accordance with the entry requirements (if not written in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or English, you must enclose a summary of 5-6 pages, approx. 14,000 characters, to the copy of the essay)

- a statement outlining how your previous studies, language skills and other qualifications will enable you to successfully complete the project outlined above

- two references, with contact details, and a short note on their relation to the applicant (for example supervisor).

If available, a maximum of three publications may also be attached. 

Incomplete applications will not be processed.

Application deadline: 13 February 2024 at 23:59

Further information
Ulrika Björk, Philosophy, Project Manager and Director of Studies (third cycle) ulrika.bjork@sh.se
Jenny Sundén, Chair of the Board of Critical and Cultural Theory jenny.sunden@sh.se
Martina Sundström, Human Resources Officer, School of Culture and Education, martina.sundstrom@sh.se

Welcome with your application! 

Publications referred to must be attached to the application.

An application that is not complete or arrives at Södertörn University after the closing date may be rejected.

The current employment is valid on condition that the employment decision becomes valid.

Union representatives:
SACO: info.saco@sh.se
ST: st@sh.se
SEKO: Henry Wölling tel: +46 8 524 840 80, henry.wolling@ki.se 

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