Call for Applications: Gerald D. Feldman Travel Grants

Once a year, supported by the Peters Beer Foundation, part of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors' Association for the Promotion of Humanities and Sciences in Germany), the Max Weber Foundation (MWS) confers Gerald D. Feldman Travel Grants to young academics with an international focus.

The travel grants are meant to improve the career opportunities for humanities and social science academics in their qualification phase. The scientists conduct a self-chosen research project in at least two and at most three host countries which are home to MWS institutes and branches or at the Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History. The total term of funding shall not exceed three months. Placements (at most one month per host country, shorter stays are possible) are to be used for research, especially in libraries and archives. Academics are expected to produce transnational and transregional studies, providing research with new and original ideas. The research placements should ideally be completed within 12 months, or at most 24.

Funding
Funding is based on the rates of Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and covers:
documented travel costs for travel to the foreign institute and back (least expensive route);
daily rates between € 27.00 and € 58.00 depending on the host country;
lodging in one of the institute’s inexpensive guest rooms depending on the host country chosen and on availability.








Countries and Regions

China, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Turkey, USA.

Applications for the country of the applicant’s main place of residence will not be considered.


Conditions for Applications

All application papers must be submitted in German or English. A complete application will comprise the following information:
completed application form;
a detailed presentation (max. 3-5 pages) of the intended research project, stating the sources which justify the stay in the specific host countries or at the institutes;
copies of certificates (examinations, PhD certificate)
list of publications
a reference opinion from an expert which should provide information on the applicant’s status and the progress of work and be sent directly to the Max Weber Foundation’s central office
a letter confirming supervision by the host institution in Germany, if applicable.

The next deadline for applications is 13 October 2017.

Please e-mail your application to feldman@maxweberstiftung.de using the required form (see: "Further information" on our website http://www.maxweberstiftung.de).

Information can be obtained from Hanna Pletziger by e-mail at feldman@maxweberstiftung.de or by phone on +49 (228) 377 86-38.




Contact Info:
Hanna Pletziger
Public Relations Manager
Max Weber Foundation - German Institutes of Humanities Abroad
Contact Email:feldman@maxweberstiftung.de
URL:http://www.maxweberstiftung.de/en/foerderung/gerald-d-feldman-travel-grants.html

National Seminar on The Scourge of Scavenging: Revisiting the Question of Sanitation/Scavenging/Scavengers,08 to 10-Nov-2017, IIAS SHIMLA

Call For Papers:

India has been consistently critiqued, locally and globally, for its inability to ban the inhuman practice of manually cleaning human faeces, otherwise popularly known as manual scavenging. Different stake-holders have consistently argued towards achieving clean and safe practices in sanitation, particularly with respect to the disposal of human waste. In order to do so, governments have set up committees such as the 1949 Barve Committee and programmes such as the Central Rural Sanitation programme to the contemporary Swachh Bharat campaign. The major findings of these committees has been that the scavenging system in India is a customary practice that, along with the social stigma attached to it, is carried forward from one generation to the next. It is in this context that attempts were later made to improve the working conditions of the sweepers and to remove the social stigma related to the occupation, thereby leading to the formation of the National Commission for SafaiKaramcharis towards the rehabilitation of scavengers. The committees and the programmes did not attain their goal towards abolishing manual scavenging. As a result, various civil society groups began arguing against the apathy faced by sanitary workers and campaigning for better working environment through books, documentaries, legal cases. If one NGO focused on the complete ban on manual scavenging, another would focus on introducing toilets that are cost effective. Adding to the already existing problem, financial liberalisation in India has further endangered the job security that scavengers earlier had. If earlier dignity of labour was the fight of scavengers, then after liberalisation even their basic survival was brought to question. With the contemporary resurgence of Dalit movements, the complete annihilation of caste once again became an articulated demand, one that could not be achieved without eradicating manual scavenging and the insanitary conditions within which scavengers are made to work. 

The Indian Institute of Advanced Studies will organize a three-day national conference to revisit the question of sanitation, scavengers, government policies, linguistic and migrant identities, place of toilet in house constructions and in town planning and to debate the position of the manual scavengers and the association of the profession with the wider caste system. The conference will look into the different modes through which manual scavenging has been addressed and raise pertinent questions and criticism regarding the profession as well as the practice of sanitation in South Asia. The influence or inefficacy of government policies and measures, the marginalized status of scavenging community and the social reality of their existence shall also be discussed in an attempt to forge a new understanding of sanitation and scavenging in India and to develop new solutions to the longstanding social concerns surrounding the issue. Students, faculty members, activists, bureaucrats, NGOs, policy makers and independent researchers working on related topics are invited to send their papers/abstracts to <email> by <date>. Selected papers shall be presented during the conference and the selected papers would be brought out as a book.

Sub Theme

• Histories, Sociologies and Anthropologies of Manual Scavenging
• The Indian State and Scavenging
• Scavenging and Media: Photography and Cinema
• The Toilet in Popular and Monumental Architecture
• The Economy and Ecology of Scavenging
• Representations of Scavenging in Literature
• Popular Struggles around Scavenging
• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and the Question of Manual Scavenging
• Critiquing the Gandhian response to scavenging
• Law and Scavenging
• The role of NGOs
• Scavenging and Scheduled Caste

The last date for submission of abstract (500 words) is 15 August, 2017 till 12:00 midnight. 

The Institute intends to send Invitation letters to selected participants by 08 September, 2017.

It is the policy of the Institute to publish the papers and not the proceedings of the seminars it organizes. Hence, all invited participants will be expected to submit complete papers (English or Hindi), hitherto unpublished and original, with citations in place, along with a reference section, to the Academic Resource Officer, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla – 171005 by 31October, 2017. Style sheet for the submission of papers may be downloaded from the IIAS website http://www.iias.org/ content/shss.

IIAS, Shimla, will be glad to extend its hospitality during the seminar period and is willing to reimburse, if required, rail or air travel expenses from the place of current residence in India, or the port of arrival in India, and back.

A limited number of participants will be invited for the Seminar. Those interested in participating should send (preferably by email) an abstract (500 words) of the proposed paper along with their C.V. to:

Dr. B. Ravichandran

Fellow Indian Institute of Advanced Study Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla – 171005.Mobile : 09966208677

E-mail:ravi.ciefl@gmail.com

Ms. RenuBala  

Academic Resource Officer 

Indian Institute of Advanced Study Rashtrapati Nivas, Shimla- 171005 Tel: 0177-2831385Email: aro@iias.ac.in

International Conference on Incorporating Folklore Studies in Management Practices,26th -27th December 2017,KIIT University, Bhubaneswar

Venue: KIIT University

The word, ‘folk’ has wide range of understanding and connotations – ranging from ‘natural’ to ‘native’ to ‘traditional’ to ‘rural’ and in some cases ‘from the heart.’ The ‘outpourings from the heart’ of native or traditional people later takes the form of folklore. folklores are oral traditions, traditional knowledge and beliefs of cultures often having no written language and they are transmitted, generally, by word of mouth. Like the written literature they contain both prose and verse narratives in addition to myths, dramas, rituals etc. All the cultures have their own folklores. In contrast and traditionally, literature is understood to mean any written work.

Literature, in written form, helps in preserving the folklores and oral traditions. But for the literature in this form, the world would have lost almost all the folk and oral traditions. Written books, as recordings of folklores help in passing on the lofty thoughts and ideas to posterity with no or very little changes in contrast to oral traditions where they often get lost in transition. Literature also can highlight the relevance of the stories of the past to the generation of the present, something which the oral traditions cannot strongly do.The existing professional literature would have us believe that the primary managerial action is that of a reflective and systematic planner. Conversations with preservation practitioners and community members led him to identify 14 reasons. These include creativity, architecture, beauty, history, sacred, learning, sustainability, and economics, However ancestors, identity (individual, civil, state, national and universal), continuity, memory, and—perhaps most significantly—community can also be included . Significantly historic preservation needs to pay more attention to "cultural significance.

Heritage tourism, as a cultural tourism segment, is “the evocation of the past and inherently about visions or understanding of the present, and a key justification for the preservation of both material cultures and traditional practices, in what they can tell contemporary communities or tourists about themselves and others. It is something of a paradox of modernity that at the same time that relentlessly seeks modern people, also hankers after something older, more authentic, or traditional”

Incorporating folklore literature in management practices in corporate world can definitely work wonders. It is argued that all businesses must have a plan and, if for but no other reason than by default, it is the manager's responsibility to see that one is developed. Therefore myths, stories, fables etc can be considered as exemplary in our daily life as professionals, leaders in corporate world. 

Places and local communities are also their cultural past which should be valued it in the present, as our respondents point out. It is our belief that only through a participated cultural and territory planning and management it will be possible to value cultural identity and consequently value the tourist experience. Planning and management should lay on a local/regional cultural dynamic concerned with educational values based on the various expressions of art. Regarding folk dance, it should be recognized that once it is closely linked to many other expressions such as music, rituals, festivities, musical instruments, objects, artefacts, ornaments, to promote the folk dance knowledge is to promote knowledge about identity.

In this context, folk dance valorisation, as a touristic resource, should be rethought over so that not only young people but also the ones of other age fringes might integrate this expression of the popular culture as their own more than for the others. This demands several educational dynamics.

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this conference is to bring together researchers, scientists, folklorists engineers, and practitioners , corporate executives, academicians research scholars to exchange and share their theories, methodologies, new ideas, experiences, applications in all areas related to the theme to a common platform. The basic objective of this conference is:

• Emphasizing the importance of both spirituality and skill for leadership and sustainable management. 
• Sensitizing leaders and management practitioners to incorporate folklore in management practice. 
• Exploring mechanisms for developing preservation of tangible heritage of India
• Proposing practical approach and skill based models for leaders and management practitioners. 
• Highlighting role of folklore literature for environmental sustainability. 
• Discussing ways to develop culturally skilled people in developing and under developed economies.

Authors are encouraged to submit their papers describing original work on the conference theme and the following sub theme but not limited to:

Sub-Themes:

Folklore and Culture resources Management

Culture and religion

Folklore and Religious Studies

Folklore and Management Practice

Folklore and Time Management

Cultural Analysis and Management Practices

Inter-cultural Communication and Management 

Folklore, Literature and Management

Developing New management Strategies through Folklore Studies

Teaching ethnology and folklore: what future

Religious texts and Management

Memory and difficult knowledge

“Real” and “fictional” times: culture and new technologies

Time and fairy tales

Time and temporalities of popular and traditional cultures

Management of museums in a digital age 

Folklore and Tourism Management

Economic Practices for Livelihood

CALL FOR PAPERS:

An abstract of about 100-150 words and at least 5 key words must reach the organizers before 30th July 2017 as an email attachment to icfmp1@gmail.com. 

All the papers accepted for presentation will be published in Literaria, UGC listing No. 48685 and Creative Forum UGC listing No 41751 with an ISSN number. The best five papers will be published in Purushartha, Scopus Indexed Journal. The papers should be in MS-Word format with Times New Roman font, 12 point size, 1.5 line spacing(3000-5000 words) and be in the MLA style (7 th. edition).

REGISTRATION FEES:

Delegates: Rs 4000(without accommodation)

Delegates outside India: 5000 INR (without accommodation)

Research Scholars: 2000INR (without accommodation)

Delegates with accommodation: 5000INR

Modest accommodation for the delegates would be provided inside the campus on request.

Address for Correspondence

Dr. Deepanjali Mishra

Assistant Professor

School of Humanities

KIIT University

Bhubaneswar 751024

Personal email id: deepanjalimishra2008@gmail.com

Conference id: icfmp1@gmail.com

Funded Workshop in Transnational Feminism-10-12 May, 2018 Ontario, Canada

Call For Applications:

Women have long organized across national borders, even before the current nation-state regime solidified. Activists have come together around issues including resistance to colonialism, struggles for national liberation, movements for social and economic justice, and other efforts to gain rights. As a field of study, transnational feminism emerged in the 1980s in response to a singular “global” feminism that erased differences within and between nations. While it underscores the emancipatory potential of inter-national networks and alliances for activist women, this scholarship also addresses the challenges to solidarity that arose from, among others, economic globalisation, (neo-)colonialism, and racism. 

It consequently uses multiple frameworks of difference, epistemologies, and methodologies to tackle the complexity of women’s lives and politics. Transnational feminism is a highly interdisciplinary field that seeks to disrupt national narratives and nation-oriented approaches while remaining attentive to differences among women within countries. In the Canadian context, transnational feminist analyses can be used, for example, to think about the country’s multinational realities where Indigenous, Diasporic, and Québécois feminisms each posed a distinct challenge, not only to hegemonic understandings of feminism but also to the nation-state. 

 Organized by the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History at McMaster University, this two-day workshop will bring together scholars from Canada and around the world to address the methodological and epistemological challenges of writing transnational feminist histories. While this workshop is open to scholars in disciplines other than history, proposals from non-historians should indicate the ways in which their paper addresses questions of women’s activism in the 19^th or 20^th centuries from an historical perspective. 

We welcome proposals of 250 words by 30 September 2017. Invitations to present at the symposium will be issued by 15 October 2017. Given that the workshop will involve discussing papers in depth, participants will be required to submit papers of approximately 8000 words by 1 May 2018 to allow for pre-circulation. After the symposium, presenters will be invited to submit papers for the consideration of the editors of the L.R. Wilson Rethinking Canada in the World Series with McGill-Queen’s University Press. The edited volume will stand as a key contribution to ongoing critical work on transnational feminism as well as women’s activism in Canada and abroad. 

The Wilson Institute will provide assistance towards lodging and travel re-imbursement for accepted speakers.

Deadline for proposals: 30 September 2017 

Applicants should submit their proposals and a one-page CV to the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History with the subject line Transnational Feminism to: wilsonch@mcmaster.ca

 If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Ricci, riccia1@mcmaster.ca .

National Seminar on Problematizing Sexuality and Violence: Deconstructing Institutions, Norms and Narratives in India-University of Delhi, 23-24th August, 2017

Organized by

UGC-SAP, Department of Political Science

&

Research Network on

Feminist Engagements with Law and the State (FELS)

University of Delhi, Delhi

Call for Papers

Research Network on Feminist Engagements with Law and the State is an innovative enterprise of the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, wherein we seek to involve versatile inter-disciplinary feminist approaches. Under the aegis of the Network, we successfully held a Workshop on ‘Feminist Engagements with Law and the State’ on 29th March, 2017 dealing with issues like, bodies and rights, sexual violence and sexual harassment, and ‘honour’ crimes. The workshop was also important for identifying themes requiring focus, suitable methodologies to adopt and mechanisms to bring academicians, activists and survivors in the country and abroad to a common platform of deliberation and discussions. This National Seminar is the second in line which would deal with issues like, sexual desires, fantasies and expression, violence against sexual minorities and marginalised men. 

This Seminar is planned under the CAS/SAP theme of Democracy, Norms and Institutions. therefore, the interlinking between the state (democratic),norms (laws and regulations) and institutions (especially, the institutions belonging to the Indian Legal System) with the themes and sub-themes would be an ideal way to author and present the papers. The rationale for choosing this theme is that in the last two decades, sexual and gender based violence have increased globally. One of the reasons behind this is insurrection of the  marginalised sections of society for a dignified life. Multiple narratives are challenging hegemony of heteronormativity internalized and implemented by the institutions of the state. These narratives are also questioning social and cultural norms prioritizing a binary and hierarchical notion of sexuality. Questioning and coming-out is suppressed through violence.

Here the laws are double-edged sword, used both for exploitation and empowerment. This seminar is an attempt to discover varied experiences of sexual/gender categories and to highlight that divisions are more contradictory, fragmented, shifting and ambivalent than the dominant public definitions of these categories suggest. There is an urgency to disrupt binary logic and its hierarchical oppositional constitutive force in addressing issues of sexuality. In this respect, to understand the role of legal system in India is crucial. Thus this seminar focuses on deconstructing institutions, norms and narratives to democratize sexuality and its experiences in India.

In this National Seminar, we intend to focus on the following themes and sub-themes:
1. Sexual Desires, Fantasies and Expression
a. Legal understanding of sexual desires, fantasies and expression
b. Sexual desires, fantasies and expression in heterosexual relationships
c. Sexual desires, fantasies and expression in non-heterosexual relationships
d. Sexual Desires, Fantasies and Expression in Art and Literature
2. Violence against Sexual Minorities
a. Sexual Violence
i. Sexual Violence by known persons
ii. Sexual Violence by State Agencies/Institutions
b. Physical Violence
c. Cultural Violence
d. Economic and Social Violence: Livelihood, skill development and social security
e. Legal Violence: Non-recognition of identity, relationship and property
entitlements and Coming out as a political act
3. Violence against Marginalised Men
a. Sexual Violence
i. Sexual Violence by known persons
ii. Sexual Violence by State Agencies/Institutions
b. Physical Violence
c. Cultural Violence: Food, dress, cinema, religious beliefs, lifestyle and others
d. Systemic Violence of exclusion and discrimination
e. Economic Violence
Any other issue not mentioned in the sub-themes, but connected with the main themes may also be considered.

Important Dates and information
● Last date for abstract submission: 5th July 2017
● Confirmation of selection of abstracts: 15th July 2017
● Full paper submission: 16th August 2017
● Seminar on: 23rd and 24th August 2017
● TA to paper presenters will be given as per UGC norms


Submission: Abstract, paper and any communication in this regard should be made in electronic form and should be sent to 

feministengagements@google.com

Please click here for concept note (http://polscience.du.ac.in/Notice%20Board.htm)

Contact :
Department of Political Science
IInd Floor, Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Delhi
Delhi 110 007
Ph. No. +91-11-27666670