Associate Professorship in Islamic Studies and Law, University of Oxford

We are seeking an outstanding scholar and teacher who studies Islamic thought, literature and/or practice in the pre-modern period (up until c. 1800 CE), based on primary sources in Arabic and other languages if appropriate. The successful applicant will have strong expertise in Islamic law. In addition, the postholder will have further expertise in Sufism, the hadith literature or Shi’i Islam. This is an exciting and demanding post in which you will conduct advanced research; give lectures, classes and tutorials; supervise, support and examine students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Islamic studies; and play a part in the administrative work of the Faculty and College.

The holder of the post will be responsible for the Faculty’s undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and supervising in the field of pre-modern Islamic law, with additional teaching in one or more of the areas of Shi’ism, hadith literature and the study of Sufism. This would typically be an average of between six and ten hours a week during term, made up of classes, lectures and individual tuition. All first-year students of Arabic, Persian and Turkish, with or without a subsidiary language, take a paper on Islamic History and Culture, to which the post-holder will be expected to contribute teaching. The upper years of our undergraduate degree include a paper on Islamic Religion taken by all third-year students reading Arabic or European and Middle Eastern Languages (EMEL) with Arabic. The post-holder will also be required to teach other Islam options, at both undergraduate level and at graduate level. In particular, together with other post-holders the successful applicant will contribute to the Faculty’s well-established MPhil and MSt degrees in Islamic Studies and History.

While your undergraduate teaching responsibilities will be arranged through the Faculty, students’ academic homes are their colleges. At Pembroke you will work alongside Professor Nicolai Sinai, the College’s other Fellow in Arabic, to admit our undergraduates, offer them academic and pastoral oversight and advice, and generally manage their academic experience. Arabic is a very important subject at Pembroke and you will also contribute to building community in college – arranging events, mentoring graduate students and serving as a member of the College’s Governing Body, through which you will be involved with all aspects of college life.

For this role it is essential that you hold a doctorate in the study of Islam; an internationally recognisable record of research and publication, appropriate to career stage and individual circumstances, in the domain of Islamic studies before c. 1800 CE; and clear plans for future research; a high degree of expertise in the Arabic language and the ability to instruct students up to doctoral level in the use of primary sources in Arabic; as well as the ability to educate and inspire undergraduate and graduate students. Further to this it is desirable to have expertise in another language relevant to teaching and research in Islamic history, such as Persian or Ottoman Turkish; and a proven record in securing external funding for research projects.

If you would like to discuss this post and find out more about joining the academic community at Oxford, please contact nicolai.sinai@orinst.ox.ac.uk. For enquiries about the college side of the role, please contact nancy.braithwaite@pmb.ox.ac.uk. All enquiries will be treated in strict confidence and will not form part of the selection decision.

Applications must be made through the University’s website https://www.jobs.ox.ac.uk where you will also find full details.

Closes 20 January 2023 at 1200 GMT.  Interviews expected to take place on 13th & 14th March 2023