Postdoctoral Fellow Positions

Area of Research: Evolution of the Jewish Family in North Africa

Description of duties: 

The Evolution of the Jewish Family in North Africa working group is offering a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto that will begin on July 1, 2024. The fellowship is to be held in the History Department and the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies. 

Candidates must have a good working knowledge of rabbinic Hebrew and familiarity with Jewish legal sources. Knowledge of Arabic and familiarity with Islamic sources is strongly desired. Candidates should also demonstrate both a collegial interest in working with a team of faculty and graduate students, as well as the ability to write engagingly for a wide, non-specialized audience. 

The postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to either pursue their own independent project, or to aid us in the following team project. Our team is putting together an English-language database of rabbinic responsa (from the Maghreb to Egypt, from the 9th to the 19th centuries) that will eventually be freely available online. We are looking for a scholar, potentially the post-doctoral fellow, to search through collections of North African teshuvot and summarize and tag those relevant to the study of the family. 

In your proposal, please explain either your independent project or specify which collections of teshuvot you are interested in working on for the team project and why they would be particularly useful for understanding and illustrating aspects of Jewish family life in Islamic contexts. Please also include an idea for a public-facing component that can be hosted on our group’s website (e.g., a lesson plan for a class, an online exhibition, a podcast, etc.)

By the end of their fellowship, the fellow is expected to contribute either an original paper or a translation of a primary source to an edited volume and also to teach about their area of expertise in a week-long intensive workshop for graduate students. 

The successful candidate will be in residence. There will also be a possibility for the candidate to teach a course in the History Department for additional remuneration. Rates for sessional remuneration may be found here https://people.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CUPE-U3-rates-2021...

Salary: CAD $47,000

Required qualifications: Candidates for the fellowship must have received a Ph.D. within the last 5 years and have a Ph.D. in hand by July 1, 2024. Knowledge of rabbinic Hebrew. Knowledge of Arabic and familiarity with Islamic sources is strongly desired.

Application instructions

All individuals interested in this position must submit a cover letter, a CV, project proposal, three letters of recommendation, a writing sample, and a proposed undergraduate course to Alan Verskin (alan.verskin@utoronto.ca) by the closing date.

Closing date:    February 15, 2024.

Supervisor: Alan Verskin

Expected start date: July 1, 2024

Term: 2 years

FTE:     The normal hours of work are 40 hours per week for a full-time postdoctoral fellow (pro-rated for those holding a partial appointment) recognizing that the needs of the employee’s research and training and the needs of the supervisor’s research program may require flexibility in the performance of the employee’s duties and hours of work

Employment as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto is covered by the terms of the CUPE 3902 Unit 5 Collective Agreement.

This job is posted in accordance with the CUPE 3902 Unit 5 Collective Agreement.

The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.