[NIS_GS:] Critical Sociology Schools for Junior Researchers from Belarus, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia and Ukraine

Please send your application to Adrian Brisku at abrisku@ucss.ge
as soon as possible, and no later than Sunday 20 March 2005.

Critical Sociology Network Seasonal School

Call for Applications

The Critical Sociology Network, supported by the OSI HESP Regional
Seminar
for Excellence in Teaching, is joining forces with the Center for
Social
Sciences and the Sociology Department at Tbilisi State University to
present
a new seasonal school for junior lecturers from Belarus, the Caucasus,
Central Asia, Russia and Ukraine. Five schools of around two weeks in
length
and a range of extra-curricular activities will offer participants the
opportunity to explore new discourses around the disciplines of social
theory and media, gender and cultural studies. Participants will attend
classes covering leading figures from these fields, for example
Benedict
Anderson, Ulrich Beck, Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Michel Foucault,
Anthony
Giddens, Antonio Gramsci, JЭrgen Habermas, Stuart Hall, bell hooks,
Luce
Irigary, Fredric Jameson, Annette Kuhn, Niklas Luhmann, Jean-FranГois
Lyotard, Edward SaОd and Immanuel Wallerstein. These classes will be
complemented by masterclasses in teaching and learning, academic
research
and course design, as well as close personal mentoring. Alongside the
schools themselves we expect to coordinate a variety of follow-up
activities
(from research projects and exchange visits to guest lectures) tailored
to
individual needs. The aim of the programme is to foster the development
of
academic professionals who are not only familiar with contemporary
debates
and procedures across diverse fields but who can use their knowledge
and
competence to help shape the future direction of their home
departments.

Notes for Applicants

You will have an MA and preferably will have completed or be close to
completing a PhD. You will hold a part-time or preferably a full-time
junior
teaching post within a relevant humanities or social-science
discipline. You
will also be fluent in English and committed to playing an active role
in
this initiative throughout its duration. The attendance costs of up to
30
successful applicants will be covered as part of this project.
Unfortunately
we cannot provide support for life partners or dependents. Selection of
participants is by a CV of three to five pages in length, and a
personal
statement of up to 600 words, each following the guidelines specified
below.

Please send your application to Adrian Brisku at abrisku@ucss.ge as
soon as
possible, and no later than Sunday 20 March 2005. If you have not been
notified within six weeks of this deadline, you should assume that your
application has not been successful on this occasion.

Your curriculum vitae should include the following information: surname
and
forename(s) ∙ birth date ∙ correspondence address ∙ phone/fax/e-mail
details ∙ full passport details and a clear statement of your visa
requirements for travel to Georgia ∙ qualifications with dates and
institutions ∙ languages √ please indicate your level of fluency in
speaking, reading and writing English ∙ scholarships and prizes ∙
present
and previous appointments with dates ∙ professional activities ∙
academic
publications with full bibliographies or your most recent conference
papers

In your personal statement please briefly describe: your goals in
participating in this project and your interest in developing your
teaching ∙ your experience in course design ∙ your current teaching and
research agenda ∙ your most recent publications or conference papers ∙
your
interest in working in a multidisciplinary and collaborative setting ∙
your
critical approach to your own teaching and your openness to feedback
from
peers

PLEASE NOTE THAT INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED. YOUR
PERSONAL DATA WILL BE KEPT PRIVATE AND USED ONLY FOR GAUGING YOUR
SUITABILITY FOR THIS INITIATIVE.
Important Dates

SessionDatesStatus

First SchoolSaturday 25 June to Saturday 9 July 2005Fixed
Second SchoolSaturday 20 August to Saturday 3 September 2005 or
Saturday 26
November to Saturday 10 December 2005Provisional
Third SchoolSaturday 4 February to Saturday 18 February 2006Provisional
Fourth SchoolSaturday 24 June to Saturday 8 July 2006Provisional
Fifth SchoolSaturday 13 January to Saturday 27 January 2007Provisional


PLEASE NOTE WHEN APPLYING TO THIS INITIATIVE THAT DUE TO THE LIMITED
AVAILABILITY OF OUR FACULTY MEMBERS IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO ALTER THE
TIMING OF THESE SCHOOLS.

List of Faculty

Salome Asatiani, OSI Fellow in Gender and Cultural Studies at Tbilisi
State
University ∙ Judit Bodnar, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Central
European University ∙ Dave Carter, Freelance Education Trainer and
Consultant ∙ Robert Ferguson, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at
London
University ∙ Iago Kachachkishvili, Professor of Sociology at Tbilisi
State
University ∙ Attila Melegh, Senior Fellow at the Demographic Research
Institute in Budapest ∙ Daniel Moses, Lecturer in Social Studies at
Harvard
University ∙ Ayman Salem, OSI Fellow in Social and Cultural Theory at
Tbilisi State University ∙ George Welton, OSI Fellow in Social and
Political
Theory at Tbilisi State University

About the Partners

The Critical Sociology Network: CSN, founded by Civic Education Project
in
2002, is an international and collaborative group of sociologists who
agree
that sociology is not merely a matter of describing society but can
also
play a role in guiding it. Its members critically explore not only
contemporary culture and society but also their own practice as
academics,
forming a tendency that avoids both the positivist confidence in
scientific
and epistemological certainties found in much of the former Soviet
Union and
the deep scepticism about the effects and ethics of sociology common in
Western postmodern circles, and providing the chance for collaboration,
participation and development among members and non-members alike. For
further information about CSN events and publications please visit
www.civiceducationproject.org/projects/csn.

The Center for Social Sciences at Tbilisi State University: CSS is
dedicated
to assisting the process of democratic reform in the higher education
system
of Georgia. Through major initiatives such as its MA programme at
Tbilisi
State University, CSS aims to assist in developing a new curriculum in
the
social sciences, to introduce innovative teaching methodologies, and to
bridge the present gap between old and new degree structures, forming a
fresh generation of professional academics and policymakers for the
newly
independent Georgian state. For more on CSS and its academic programmes
please contact George Khelashvili on gkhelashvili@ucss.ge.

The Sociology Department at Tbilisi State University: Tbilisi State
University, founded in 1918, is the oldest and largest multi-faculty
higher-education institution in Georgia, and the first in the country
to
offer the systematic teaching of sociology. The Sociology Department's
productive partnerships with research and teaching institutions around
the
world help to maintain the University's reputation for access and
innovation. For more about Tbilisi State University please visit
www.tsu.edu.ge.

NOTE THAT THE PERSONNEL AND PROGAMME OUTLINED IN THIS CALL FOR
APPLICATIONS
ARE PROVISIONAL AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.