34.1490, Jobs: General Linguistics: Post-Doctorate, University of São Paulo

Fri May 12 23:05:04 UTC 2023

LINGUIST List: Vol-34-1490. Fri May 12 2023. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 34.1490, Jobs: General Linguistics: Post-Doctorate, University of São Paulo

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Date: 12-May-2023
From: Shigeru Miyagawa [miyagawa at mit.edu]
Subject: General Linguistics: Post-Doctorate, University of São Paulo

University or Organization: University of São Paulo
Department: Biosciences Institute
Job Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Job Title: Post-Doctorate
Job Rank: Post Doc

Specialty Areas: General Linguistics

Description:

Field of knowledge: Linguistics
FAPESP process: 2018/18900-1
Project title: The grammar of prehistoric non-figurative
representations
Working area: Linguistics and human evolution
Principal investigator: Shigeru Miyagawa
Co PI: Mercedes Okumura
Unit/Institution: University of São Paulo
Locale: Biosciences Institute
Requested period: Two years
Deadline for submissions: July 7, 2023
E-mail for proposal submission: miyagawa at mit.edu and okumuram at usp.br

Fellowship context:
FAPESP supports the SPEC (São Paulo Excellence Chair) Project
“Innovations in Human and Non-Human Animal Communities” which includes
a Post-Doctorate Fellowship under the directions above. The SPEC
project aims to reconstruct the evolutionary history of three
allegedly human-specific cognitive abilities, namely: linguistic
competence, symbolic activities, and sophisticated tools.
This project is coordinated by Dr. Shigeru Miyagawa [1], a linguist,
who will also supervise the candidate alongside Dr. Mercedes Okumura
[2], expert in human biocultural evolution and associated researcher
in the SPEC project. A copy of the project can be obtained, upon
request to the e-mail above.
The question of when human linguistic competence emerged has intrigued
archaeologists, paleoanthropologists, anthropologists, psychologists,
and linguists for generations. In search of evidence indicating the
appearance of a linguistically mediated behavior, researchers have
turned to the symbolic material culture of African Middle Stone Age
humans. There is a broad consensus across these disciplines that
symbolic behavior and language are intimately connected, and the
production of symbolic artifacts is consequently viewed as evidence
for the availability of a linguistic competence. However, the
conceptual link between symbolic behavior and language is still, to a
great extent, speculative and calls for more convincing arguments.
This project will address this theoretical gap head-on by creating an
original formal methodology for comparing these apparently
heterogeneous human symbolic expressions – prehistoric engravings and
language –, with the aim of minimizing the vagueness of the
archaeological inferences made thus far. Its primary goal is to
determine, in a principled way, whether the abstract geometric
patterns of prehistoric non-figurative engravings signal the
availability of a formal grammar parallel to that observed in
present-day human language.

The contract signed will be between the candidate and FAPESP. We
strongly advise potential candidates to review the FAPESP site
(https://fapesp.br/en/postdoc) for stipend, requirements, and
obligations, and to apply only if they are eligible and willing to
accept terms. Please note also, from http://www.fapesp.br/7771 (not
available in English), that FAPESP may agree to pay for family travel
and offer a fixed value as a settling allowance, for candidates
meeting certain conditions.

Send the following documents to: miyagawa at mit.edu and okumuram at usp.br,
all in a single message; Subject: ‘SPEC – Postdoctoral Application’.
 - Proof of a doctoral degree in the area
 - 1 or more academic publications in the core topic

Preliminary selection:
 - Summary CV – up to 3 pgs
 - Summary of the proposed research – up to 3 pgs
 - Statement of English fluency
 - Letter of intention
 - 2 letters of recommendation

Application Deadline: 07-Jul-2023
Mailing Address for Applications:
Email Address for Applications: miyagawa at mit.edu
Contact Information:
        Visiting Professor of Biosciences, USP Shigeru Miyagawa
        Email: miyagawa at mit.edu

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