Authority and Texts: Concepts and Use

Project

This project examines religious, historical and legal approaches to authority, taking account of its use and conceptualisations in the areas of law, history, divinity and religious studies.

What constitutes authority and provides authenticity to texts and what is the role of textual criticism? How should authoritative texts (including religious, legal, and other texts), be used and interpreted, and how is this issue determined? Is investigation of the contextual meaning of texts at their time of composition necessary to understanding and respecting their authority, or do different criteria exist which influence readings of texts? When authoritative texts conflict, should there be a dialogue or a competition, and how critical to this are the authorship, age, purpose, and nature of the texts? What functions do authoritative texts have in governance or persecution? What kind of relationship is there among authoritative texts, institutional authority, and leadership? How do traditional accounts and myths interact with texts and to what extent are these authoritative?

Awards

In this inaugural year of the project 2013/14, we invite applications for 4 PhD studentships from high achieving students to join us in pursuing rigorous disciplinary and/or interdisciplinary research into these questions.

Application Process

A normal application for admission to the PhD programme is required and applicants should make explicit note their interest in being considered for a 'Authority and Texts Studentship' in their application materials.

Information about application procedures can be found here: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply.php

Deadline

All application materials must be received by 8 March 2013. 

For further details of the project and research supervisors involved please click here.