Funding for three new Humanities’ PhD candidates
Three new PhD candidates at the Faculty of Humanities will receive funding from the Programme Office Sustainable Humanities and NWO. The aim of the grant is to boost young talent within the humanities.
Aspect in Languages without Aspect
- Candidate: M.P.M. Bogaards
- Applicant: Prof. dr. L.C.J. Barbiers
Are all languages created equal? Or are some more precise or expressive than others? A classic answer to these questions is that all languages are capable of conveying the same meanings, despite formal differences. This project will challenge this traditional view by investigating languages with richly and poorly grammaticalized aspectual systems. An in-depth comparative case study of Dutch –a language famously 'poor in aspect'– will reveal whether its expressive potential differs from that of 'aspect-rich' languages such as Mandarin Chinese. The results will enhance our understanding of language as a cognitive ability, and they will be useful for second-language teaching.
Ally to Hegemon: The Development of early Manchu Khans’ Understanding of Tibet (1607-1735)
- Candidate: J.W.J. Eijk
- Applicant: Prof. dr. J.F.J. Duindam
The rulers of the Qing empire that merged Tibet with the Chinese empire were not Chinese, but Manchu. This study approaches Qing-Tibetan relations from the Manchu Khans' perspective. It views Qing-Tibetan relations as a continuum, and examines the legitimization of the incorporation of Tibet through the changing discourse used by Qing Manchu Khans. By bringing together Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese sources, this research project detaches Qing-Tibetan relations from the dominant, China-centered narrative, and interprets them from a new perspective.
Changing use, changing needs? The use of amulets from the first century BCE to the early Christian world
- Candidate: P.M.M. Kret
- Applicant: Prof. dr. L. de Ligt
This research project studies transformations in the use of amulets in a period of religious change: from traditional Graeco-Roman religions to Christianity. (Dis)continuities in the use of amulets are studied with ‘encirclement’: the idea that amulets were used to surround and protect bodies and spaces. In this way the objects themselves and the contexts in which they were used are included to gain new insights in the religious choices and motivations of ancient individuals who used objects to deal with everyday uncertainty.
About this funding
The aim of the programme PhD's in Humanities is to encourage young new talent in the field of Humanities. It is financed by the Programmabureau Duurzame Geesteswetenschappen and the NWO-domain Social Sciences and Humanities. A total of 3.5 million euros was awarded to 18 PhD research projects, including one at the Leiden University Faculty of Archeology.