International conference(Funds available) on The Experience of Faith in Slavic Cultures and Literatures in the Context of Postsecular Thought Warsaw, 16 – 17 October 2017

Organised by 

The Institute of Western and Southern Slavic Studies, University of Warsaw,

The Faculty of Polish Studies, University of Warsaw

The University of Warsaw

The Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences

Call For Papers: 

Our conference will focus on West and South Slavic cultures, which can reveal unrecognised but not unimportant areas of metaphysical subjects and experience that cannot be captured using the atheist/confessional dichotomy. Postsecular thought is particularly useful in this respect, as it requires adopting a new approach to relations between the sacred and the profane. At the same time, we are aware of different level of interest in postsecularism in different Slavic countries.

For this reason, our conference is not devoted to postsecularism as such, but to modifications of the picture of religiosity which can provide a more nuanced vision of the problem thanks to postsecular ideas. By examining religious phenomena in Slavic countries from this perspective, we wish to open a discussion about the modes of experiencing the transcendental that belong to the “grey zone” between atheism and institutionalised religiosity. We are particularly interested in the record of this experience in literature and art of Slavic countries in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

The proposed subjects include such issues as:

• contemporary (literary and cultural) religious imagination transgressing religious orthodoxy
• a specific nature of contemporary religious experience beyond postmodern interpretation; blasphemy, heresy and constructing hybrid idioms of faith
• the phenomena of “invisible” and “weakened” religiosity
• the phenomenon of “unserious” beliefs in Slavic countries and the state of research on non-confessional religiosity
• the crisis of traditional language of Christian religions; the new languages of literary expression of religious experience; strategies of parody, irony and other forms of derision; Can we go beyond postmodern interpretation?
• religious experience in gender perspective
• communism and the Slavic experience of postsecularism
• postsecular literature: fact or theoretical invention?
• postsecularism in Slavic cultures: the state of research, interpretations of the phenomenon (timeline and characteristics)
• the risks of postsecular approach to religious phenomena: how to distinguish between the right to freedom of religion and belief and the acceptance of potentially dangerous or criminal activity in this domain. 

Selected papers will be published in a volume of conference proceedings.

The abstract of your proposed paper (in English, 300 words maximum), including your affiliation, should be submitted to cfp.postsecularismstudies@gmail.com by 31 August 2017.

Conference proceedings will be held in English.

The conference receives financial support from the funds of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland) allocated for activities disseminating science (DUN)

Contact Info: 

Conference secretary:

Mgr Agnieszka Słowikowska,

Institute of Western and Southern Slavic Studies, University of Warsaw 

Contact Email: 

cfp.postsecularismstudies@gmail.com

Fulbright-Nehru Master's Fellowships for Indian Nationals -2018-19

The Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowships aim to provide Indian faculty, researchers, and professionals residing in India the opportunity to teach, conduct research, or carry out a combination of lecturing and research at a U.S. institution. Depending on the U.S. host institution, it is likely that the grantee may contribute towards developing curriculum and conducting workshops and seminars. These fellowships are for four to nine months. If you are applying for a Flex Award, the minimum length of the total grant is four months and the maximum is six months.

Applications are invited in the following fields only:

Agricultural Sciences; Bioengineering; Climate Change Sciences; Computer Science (with emphasis on cyber security and digital economy); Economics; Education Policy and Planning; Energy Studies; International Law; International Security and Strategic Studies; Materials Science (with emphasis on environmental applications); Neurosciences; Public Health; Public Policy; Study of India (limited to anthropology, history, sociology, and visual and performing arts); Study of the United States (limited to anthropology, history, sociology, and visual and performing arts); Urban and Regional Planning (with emphasis on waste management and smart cities); and Women’s and Gender Studies.

Research:

Applicants must demonstrate the relevance of the proposed research to India and/or the U.S., its benefit to the applicant’s institution, the feasibility of accomplishing the research goal within the stipulated period, and the need to carry out the research in the U.S.

Grant Benefits

The fellowships provide a round-trip economy class air ticket (two round-trip economy class air tickets for Flex), a monthly stipend, Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges per U.S. Government guidelines, a modest settling-in allowance, and a professional allowance. Subject to availability of funds, in case of grantees on eight or nine month grants, a dependent allowance and international travel may be provided for one accompanying eligible dependent provided the dependent is with the grantee in the U.S. for at least 80% of the grant period. Flex grantees are not eligible for dependent benefits.

Eligibility Requirements

In addition to the General Prerequisites:

Faculty/researchers should have a Ph.D. degree or equivalent published work with at least five years of relevant teaching/research experience;

professionals outside academe should have a Master’s degree or equivalent published work with recognized professional standing and at least five years relevant experience;

you should upload a recent significant publication (copy of paper/article) in your online application; and

If employed, at the time of submitting the application, please follow the instructions carefully regarding employer’s endorsement. The employer must indicate that leave will be granted for the fellowship period. Please obtain the endorsement from the appropriate administrative authority on the FNAPE Employer’s Endorsement Form. 

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted online at: https://apply.embark.com/student/fulbright/scholars/30/

Please carefully review the FNAPE Applicant Instructions before starting your online application

Please refer to FNAPE Applicant Checklist before submitting the application. 

In addition, you must complete and upload the following documents on your online applicaiton: 

FNAPE Applicant Annexure

FNAPE Employer's Endorsement Form

FNAPE Reference Report Form

Application Due Date: July 17, 2017, 23:59:59 hrs (IST)

Timeline and Placement Process

July 17, 2017                             Application due date for 2018-2019 awards

August 2017  :Field-specific experts review applications to short-list candidates

End-October 2017 :National interviews of short-listed candidates in Delhi

Novemberr 2017:USIEF notifies principal and alternate nominees that they are recommended

December 2017 : USIEF forwards applications of recommended candidates to the U.S. for J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB)  approval and placement

March-April 2018  :          USIEF notifies finalists

May-June 2018  :      Pre-Departure Orientation

August-September 2018   :       Program begins

IMPORTANT: 

You can apply for only ONE Fulbright-Nehru fellowship category during a competition cycle.

Plagiarism in the application will lead to disqualification.

Unless otherwise specified, Fulbright-Nehru applications are to be submitted online.

Applications received after the deadline will NOT be considered.

Extensions and transfers of visa sponsorship will not be permitted.

For More Detials: http://www.usief.org.in/Fulbright-Nehru-Fellowships.aspx

Funded Popular Cultural Association Conference on "Education, Teaching, History & Popular Culture" 2018

The Area of Education, Teaching, History and Popular Culture is now accepting submissions for the 2018 Popular Culture and American Culture Association National Conference, Indianapolis, IN, to be held March 29-31, 2018 at the J.W. Marriott, Indianapolis, IN. 

Educators, librarians, archivists, scholars, independent researchers and students at all levels are encouraged to apply. Submissions that explore, connect, contrast, or otherwise address area themes of schooling and education, teaching throughout history (including preparing teachers/preservice teacher education), history, archival studies and/or their linkages to popular culture from all periods are desired. Sample topics for papers include, but are not limited to:

Successful use(s) of popular culture in teaching at all levels in all contents;

Debating whether there can, in fact, be a form of “popular” culture among students today;

• Reflections/linkages between schooling and popular culture;
• International/multinational/cross-border lenses through which popular culture/popular perception of schooling can be viewed;
• The role of history in education, teaching, or preservice teacher education;
• The importance of/re-integration of historical foundations into teacher education;
• Linkages between archival research and popular culture studies;
• Representation(s) of teaching and/or schooling in popular culture through history;
• How schooling/education has impacted/has been impacted by popular culture;
• How LGBTQ studies has impacted/been impacted by schooling/education;
• Queering classrooms/queering education;
• Tapping into (or resisting) popular technology to improve education; and/or
• Exploring the intersections of social media, social identity and education.

To be considered, interested individuals should please prepare an abstract of between 100-250 words. Individuals must submit electronically by visiting http://pcaaca.org/national-conference/proposing-a-presentation-at-the-conference/ and following the directions therein. Please be sure to complete/ensure the accuracy of all presenter information. 

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for proposals is October 1, 2017.

Decisions will be communicated within approximately two weeks of deadline. All presenters must be members of the American Culture Association or the Popular Culture Association and fully registered for the conference by December 15: http://pcaaca.org/national-conference/membership-and-registration/.

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for “Early Bird” registration is November 15, 2017; the deadline to register for the conference (else be removed from the program) is December 15, 2017.

Graduate students, early career faculty and those traveling internationally in need of financial assistance are encouraged to apply: http://pcaaca.org/grants/

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for applying for travel grants is December 1, 2017.

Graduate students are STRONGLY encouraged to submit their completed papers for consideration for conference award: http://pcaaca.org/journal-awards/. 

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for applying for a JPC or JAC Graduate Student paper award is January 1, 2018.

Any further inquiries can be directed to:

Dr. Edward Janak

Department Chair, Educational Foundations and Leadership

Email: Edward.janak@utoledo.edu

Phone: (419) 530-4114

Contact Email: 

edward.janak@utoledo.edu

For detailed information please see http://pcaaca.org/national-conference/.

Funded Liberal Arts International Conference "Local Dreams, Global Visions: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives" February 4-6, 2018, Texas A&M University, QATAR

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Liberal Arts Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for its Sixth Annual Liberal Arts International Conference (LAIC)

The sixth annual Liberal Arts International Conference investigates the relationship between local entities and the wider global community. 

In our definition, “local entities” include countries, nations, communities, tribes, interest groups, collectives, corporations, NGO’s, as well as local and regional-based associations and networks. Although globalization is the most powerful force at work in the modern age, can local entities play a creative part in the future of our planet? How do they respond to present-day problems such as economic inequality, mass migration, refugees, human trafficking, war and conflict, climate change, pollution and other environmental problems, healthcare, disaster management, culture change, the loss of local identity, indigenous and minority rights, and other challenges? What role do the liberal arts have in identifying issues and formulating answers? How can the global community benefit from local initiatives and ideas?

Since 2013, Texas A&M University at Qatar’s annual Liberal Arts International Conference has attracted more than 300 scholars from 80 different academic institutions in 45 countries and 6 continents, to share their findings with fellow researchers from all the disciplines within the liberal arts.

We welcome submissions from all disciplines in the liberal arts, including politics, linguistics, anthropology, history, philosophy, ethics, rhetoric and language studies, religion, law, and cultural studies, among others.

The conference committee will make an effort to provide travel and accommodation funds for international participants who require funding.

The deadline for submission of panel proposals or individual papers is September 30, 2017.

Please refer to https://www.qatar.tamu.edu/programs/liberal-arts/conferences for detailed information about the online submission process or go directly to the submission page at Liberal Arts International Conference 2018 Submission Form.

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

Mark van de Logt,

Zohreh Eslami, 

Sara Hillman, 

Phillip Gray, and Paul Lee

Contact Info:

Mark van de Logt
Assistant Professor of History
Department of Liberal Arts
329 D Texas A&M Engineering Building

Texas A & M University at Qatar
PO Box 23874 | Education City, Doha, Qatar
tel. +974.4423.0656 | GMT +3







Contact Email: martinus.van_de_logt@qatar.tamu.edu
URL: https://www.qatar.tamu.edu/programs/liberal-arts/conferences/laic-2018

Funded Workshop on Representations of Change: Time, Space, and Power in Qualitative Research on The Mena Region and Europe

February 22 – 24, 2018 

Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) 

Philipps-Universität, Marburg, Germany

Since the start of the 21st century seemingly unpredictable change, in all its different guises, has fueled the preoccupations of academic and non-academic publics. The financial crisis, the ‘Arab Spring’, protest movements in southern Europe, the rise of Daesh and right-wing populism, as well as the environmental crisis all make it very difficult to rely on Francis Fukuyama’s theory of “end of history”, which now seems to merely reflect the euphoria of liberal elites following the collapse of the Soviet Union (1992). Such examples of historical assessments should teach us to be cautious of blind spots when we write about our times. The ‘turning points’, ‘crises’, ’revolutions’ and ‘transformations’ being announced and debated on a regular basis only represent the most visible elements of the conceptual and theoretical apparatus that economists, political and social scientists, as well as scholars from the humanities, deploy to grasp a wide array of social, political, economic processes of the past 20 years. 

The grand narratives they refer to in order to decide which elements are relevant for understanding change are often out of touch with empirical inquiry. Furthermore, theories describing modernization, individualization, secularization and democratization, for instance, offer broad schemes of interpretation and generalization, but the coherence and strength of their philosophical underpinning only gives a limited account of the intricacies of observable situations. For example, nowadays, many consider the events in Egypt and Syria, heralded as revolutions and moments of fundamental change by many scholars in 2011, as yet another example of the region’s supposed resistance to change. The situation seems to have reversed to the familiar scenarios of autocratic regime or war. Likewise, many recent processes in Europe, most spectacularly the Brexit, appear to observers to be a return to national paradigms that were thought obsolete. Endorsing such assessments is not neutral. They have their own impact on the social and political environment. Statements on change or lack thereof are always performative. They have effect on the confi gurations even when they pretend to merely describe them. They have deep implications on the way regions are being represented, which in turn can impact political and economic relations. In a previous workshop (Snapshots of Change: Assessing Social Transformations through Qualitative Research) that took place at the University of Zurich in 2015, we focused on the methodological tools researchers can develop to study change. 

This new workshop, entitled Representations of Change: Time, Space, and Power in Qualitative Research on the Mena Region and Europe and to be held in 2018 at the Philipps-University Marburg, intends to refl ect more closely on the webs of power affecting both the researcher and ‚the researched‘ when they intend to represent change. We invite papers that address any of the following three major aspects:

 1. METAPHORS AND GRAND NARRATIVES OF CHANGE What terms and metaphors do we use to represent change? What does, for example, a concept like ‘social acceleration‘ (H. Rosa), ‘overheating’ (Th. Hylland Eriksen), or a popular metaphor like ‘Arab Spring’ imply? What role do ’turning points’ play in delimiting the scope of our research, and how do we conceive such turning points? What narrative strategies  do we use in writing about change and which concepts of temporality do they imply?

2. THE POWER TO REPRESENT CHANGE IN ACADEMIA 

Who is legitimized and granted the authority to explain, define, describe or narrate change, as well as identify potentials of, or necessities for, change? More specifically, how do the power structures of academia influence the way we write about change? Which range of autonomy can Academia claim toward other sources of discourse on change? Who has the power to name social and political change? And what is the role of social science in the current regime of historicity in defi ning the relation and coherence of past-present-future (F. Hartog)?

 3. RESEARCH ENCOUNTERS AND THE STUDY OF CHANGE: 

This section addresses what appears as a blind spot in much of social research: How do the researchers’ social situations, their political and other belongings, influence their choice of subject, representations of change, methodology and sampling strategies? How do the representations of time and space that ‘research participants’ use when they speak about change differ from those of the researchers? Which common language can they rely on when they refer to the past, present and future in assessing change, and where may misunderstandings arise? 

The presentations should be supported by concrete examples. 

An abstract (150-200 words), a CV and a list of publications should be sent to the organizers before the 4th of September, 2017. 

The workshop language is English. 

Costs for travel and accommodation will be covered for the participants. 

This workshop is a jointly organized by the Research Network “Re-Configurations” (funded by the BMBF), the Leibniz-Research Group “Figures of Thought | Turning Points” (both CNMS, Philipps-University Marburg) and SQUARE / University of Zurich.

 ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE: 

University of Marburg (main conveners):

 Dr. Felix Lang: felix.lang@staff.uni-marburg.de

 Dr. Christoph Schwarz: christoph.schwarz@staff.uni-marburg.de University of Zurich:

 Dr. Yasmine Berriane: yasmine.berriane@uzh.ch 

Dr. Aymon Kreil: aymon.kreil@uzh.ch

https://www.uni-marburg.de/cnms/forschung/re-konfigurationen

Interdisciplinary Conference on Sexual and Gendered Violence 2- 3 December 2017,Vienna, Austria

Statistics provided by international health and human rights organizations, such as the WHO, UN Women or Unicef show a grim reality when it comes to sexual and gendered violence: 

Sexual and gendered violence is a matter that affects individuals, communities and societies alike. Present in its many various forms in all cultures and walks of life, it ruins lives, destroys families, breaks trust and encumbers economies. 

Our first interdisciplinary Sexual and Gendered Violence conference seeks to create a lasting network of professionals in all fields related to this topic, to isolate, discuss and explore the main issues, pressing matters and recent developments in this field of activity, to identify areas to be subsequently explored in further depth and to generate collaborative action that will lead to real, lasting change in the way sexual and gendered violence is perceived and approached in institutional settings and that will bring a useful contribution to the curbing of this phenomenon on a local and global scale. We welcome any relevant and insightful kind of contribution, from classic presentations to proposals for workshops, topics for debates, panels or round tables, brainstorming sessions for creating policy materials or research instruments, sharing of event-appropriate professional or personal experience, all the way to meaningful forms of artistic expression (film, poetry, photography exhibitions etc.)

Themes:

Some of our suggested main issues to be approached include (but are not limited to):

Exploring the notion of Sexual and Gendered Violence and its varied forms (sexual abuse, sexual harassment, domestic and intimate partner violence, sex trafficking, child marriages, rape as a weapon of war, hate crimes against the LGBT population etc) – definitions, numbers, challenging existing assumptions, introducing new hypotheses, historical or anthropological approaches, local and global specifics etc.

Consequences and implications of Sexual and Gendered Violence – ranging from an individual level to a social, economic, cultural view.

Understanding and assisting survivors of sexual and gendered violence – survivor categories, narratives and profiles, case studies, innovative therapeutic approaches, institutional good practices, institutional dysfunctionality in assisting survivors.

Perpetrators – profiles, case studies, motivations, risk factors, innovative solutions for identifying and deterring them, punishment versus education/reformation etc.

Policy – existing and necessary policy programs, impact studies, local and global policy trends and their respective effectiveness, policy analysis and outcomes, unmet needs etc.

Legal Concerns – existing legal frames and their effectiveness, necessary laws, unjust laws, sentences for sexual and gendered violence, constructing and trying sexual and gendered violence cases etc. 

Prevention – existing and necessary measures of prevention on a local and global scale, effectiveness of existing prevention mechanisms, best practices, the role of education in prevention etc. 

Media, Technology, and Sexual Violence: (new)media role in the normalization or prevention of sexual and gendered violence, new forms of sexual and gendered violence via new media and technology, survivors and media exposure, media coverage of the phenomenon, media propaganda upholding state violence etc.

Professing in the field of sexual and gendered violence - issues, hardships, frustrations, communication needs, big and small victories and bright, hopeful moments of professionals working with sexual and gendered violence, with survivors, with perpetrators, in policy, prevention, health and healing etc. 

Our main goal is to facilitate dialogue and spark innovative collaborations and discussions at an international level, in a dynamic and interactive setting. Thus, we welcome participants from all relevant disciplines, professions and vocations (mental and physical health professionals, educators, therapists, researchers, activists, counselors, social workers, policy makers, journalists, lawyers, politicians, volunteers, business owners, military personnel, correction institutions personnel, human resources specialists, historians, sociologists, psychologists, economists, anthropologists, social media experts, artists and many more) 

What to Send

The aim of this interdisciplinary conference and collaborative networking event is to bring together academics, professionals, practitioners, NGO's, voluntary sector workers and many more in the context of a variety of formats: papers, seminars, workshops, panels, q&a’s, performances etc.

300 word reviews of your proposed contribution (paper abstracts, proposals for workshops, collaborative works or round tables, overviews of artistic projects or any other relevant forms of participation you are interested in) should be submitted by Friday 4th August 2017.

All submissions will be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind) conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Advisory Team and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and quadruple reviewed.

You will be notified of the panel's decision by Friday 11th August 2017.

If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of your contribution should be submitted by Friday 17th November 2017.

Proposals may be in Word, PDF, RTF or Notepad formats with the following information and in this order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in the programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.

E-mails should be entitled: Sexual and Gendered Violence 

Submission

Where to Send

Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chair and the Project Administrator:

Kristine Seitz: kristine@kristineseitz.com

Project Administrator: viennaviolence@progressiveconnexions.net

For further details and information please visit:

http://www.progressiveconnexions.net/interdisciplinary-projects/gender-and-sexualities/sexual-and-gendered-violence/conferences/ 

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