CFP: ISA 2009-Russia in Asia

Russia Encounters Asia: Interests and Identitites
ISA Annual Convention in New York, February 2009

Panel organizers: Dr. Alexander Bukh, Tsukuba University, Japan, and
Dr. Mikhail A. Molchanov, St. Thomas University, Canada

Russia’s identity as not only European, but also a Eurasian nation has always been subject to a debate. With the center of global politics and finance now moving to Asia, this debate acquires new significance from the perspective of changing regional and global orders. The panel aims to explore the relationship between Russia and Asia, broadly defined. Methodology, temporal span as well as the choice of empirical cases are open.

One set of research questions deals with Russia’s evolving engagement with select Asian countries, such as China, India, or Japan, and regional organizations, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the APEC. The overall strategic direction of Russia’s foreign policy in North-East Asia or the lack thereof remains an underexplored issue which the panelists are invited to consider.

Another group of questions concerns the link between the state and national identities and interests, as reflected in these states’ foreign policies. The discursive construction of the states’ identities vis-à-vis regional “others” influences policy formulation and understanding of national priorities. We will therefore invite contributions that consider domestic sources of foreign policy in Russia and Eurasia, as well as the role of Russia-related imagery in foreign policies of such countries as Japan, China, India, Iran, or Kazakhstan.

Please submit your abstract proposals (around 200 words), together with the name, institutional affiliation, present position and contact details to abukh70@gmail.com and mailto:molchan@stu.ca by the 23rd of May 2008.

–
Dr Alexander Bukh
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Science,
Tsukuba University
abukh70@gmail.com
080-56597249

CFP: Clothing, Flesh, Bone: Visual Culture above and below the Skin

Deadline for paper proposals: May 9, 2008

Clothing, Flesh, Bone: Visual Culture above and below the Skin

Chairs: Victoria L. Rovine, University of Florida, Box 115801, Gainesville, FL 32611-5801; and

Sarah Adams, University of Michigan, 3502 Barton Farm Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105

This panel broadly explores new approaches to the study of visual culture that depicts or adorns the human body. We seek papers that address representations of the body in all media, from sculpture, dress, and performance to medical methodologies and mortuary practices. While papers may examine artistic representations of the body and the use of the body itself as artistic medium, they also may push beyond humanities models to consider the body as it exists below the skin—as flesh, blood, and viscera. Papers might explore the body in visual culture from medical, physiological, or biological perspectives. How is the body depicted across cultures, and what do those depictions reveal about shifting concepts of the medical body? How is the biological body reflected in diverse media? How does the history of medicine and science itself influence representations of the human body? Does adornment that conceals, reveals, or enhances the body reflect histories and beliefs about the biological body?

Please send paper proposals to the panel chairs by MAY 9, 2008

Victoria L. Rovine, Assistant Professor - School of Art and Art History, Center for African Studies, University of Florida - P.O. Box 115801 Gainesville, Florida 32611-5801. (352) 273-3069 fax: (352) 392-8453

e-mail: vrovine@africa.ufl.edu

2008-2009 EUROPA FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM

New Europe College - Institute for Advanced Study in Bucharest, Romania -, announces the EUROPA FELLOWSHIPS PROGRAM, supported by the VolkswagenStiftung (Hanover, Germany).

The program targets researchers and academics from South-Eastern Europe (including Romania), as well as young Western scholars working on South-Eastern Europe. Applicants must be doctoral students, or hold a Ph.D. title. Duration of the Fellowship: a) a full academic year (10 months, October through July) or b) a one-term fellowship (October through February, or March through July). Location: New Europe College in Bucharest, Romania.

The Fellowship consists of a monthly stipend of 650 Euro (tax free), accommodation, international transportation to and from the home country of the Fellows at the beginning and the end of the Fellowship, as well as for season holidays. The Fellows who stay for the whole academic year are offered a one-month research trip abroad to an institution of their choice (2,600 Euro for transportation, accommodation, and per diem).

The Fellows will be invited to work as members of a team in the framework of a general research topic entitled Traditions of the New Europe. A Pre-history of the European Integration in South-Eastern Europe. (Please see the appended document for the description of the general research topic!). Each Fellow will contribute with his/her own research, and will take part in scientific events organized by the New Europe College. At the end of their Fellowship, each Fellow is expected to hand in a research paper comprising the results of his/her work over the duration of the Fellowship. The papers will be included in a NEC publication. Working languages: English, French, and German. A good command of English is desirable.

The deadline for submitting the application both by regular mail and e-mail is June 17, 2008. The applications will be evaluated by the Scientific Board of the NEC. Subsequently, the applicants will be notified by e-mail and regular mail on the results of the evaluation process.

The application form and additional information regarding the Program and the New Europe College can be downloaded from: www.nec.ro

Irina Vainovski-Mihai, Program Coordinator
Tel. (+40-21) 307 9910, Fax: (+40-21) 327 0774
Mailing address: str. Plantelor 21, 023971 Bucharest, Romania
Email: imihai@nec.ro
Visit the website at http://www.nec.ro

Postdoctoral Fellowships in East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund

The Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies at Lund University hereby invites applications for two postdoctoral fellowships. The duration of each fellowship is two years, commencing 1 September 2008 and ending on 31 August 2010. In this call for applications, one of the two positions will be awarded for research focusing on contemporary Japan, and the other position for research focusing on contemporary China. The deadline for applications is 23 May 2008.

Lund University
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies
Scheelevägen 15
223 70 Lund
Sweden

phone: + 46 (0)46 222 30 42
Email: roger.greatrex@ace.lu.se
Visit the website at http://www.ace.lu.se/research/postdoctoral-fellowships

Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize

Each year the Friends of the German Historical Institute award the Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize for the two best doctoral dissertations submitted in German history, German-American relations, or the history of Germans in North America. The winners are invited to the GHI to present their research at the annual symposium of the Friends in November. The prize winners receive an award of $2,000 and reimbursement for travel to Washington, D.C.

Candidates are nominated by their dissertation advisers. Their dissertations must have been completed, defended, and authenticated between January 1 and December 31, 2007. The prize committee will accept nominations through May 2, 2008, and announce the prize winners at the end of the summer.

Dissertation advisers should submit a letter of nomination along with an abstract (1-3 pages) of the dissertation to:

German Historical Institute
Fritz Stern Dissertation Prize
c/o Christa Brown
1607 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20009-2562
fax: 202-387-6437
Email: c.brown@ghi-dc.org
Visit the website at http://www.ghi-dc.org/scholarship/prizes/stern.html

Earth Day 2008: Call for Climate

Today, April 22, is Earth Day.  The focus of activities mirrors the different challenges we are facing right now.  Millions of people around the world are rallying behind a Call for Climate, the global warming action theme.  The planet is heating up and with the rising temperature comes the problems associated with global warming (food crisis, rice shortage, changing weather patterns, etc.).  What started 38 years ago in San Francisco, USA, has now spread to all corners of the globe.  In the Philippines, the theme is “Tubig Buhay Natin, Ating Pagyamanin.”  Let us do our part in preserving the Integrity of Creation.  Make every day, Earth Day.

CFP Collective Biography Conf., ANU Canberra, 8-10 Sep 08

This will be a multi-disciplinary conference, covering any aspect of collective or group life writing. Paper proposals on any aspect of this theme, such as networks; families; artistic, political or academic groups; communities; institutional history and prosopography, are welcomed. Papers may be on specific topics or people, or may be reflections on aspects of methodology.

The conference will culminate in the Seymour Lecture on Biography given by Richard Holmes, and a conference dinner.

Please send a title and 500 - word abstract to both mailto:paul.pickering@anu.edu.au and mailto:jane.shaw@new.ox.ac.uk by 25th April 2008.
Dr Paul Pickering
Research School of Humanities
The Australian National University
Australia
+61 2 6125 3451

Email: paul.pickering@anu.edu.au
Visit the website at http://rsh.anu.edu.au/events/2008/collectivebiography/index.php

CFP: Eras Journal

The Eras on-line postgraduate journal is currently seeking submissions of papers for publication for our forthcoming editions in 2008 and 2009.

Eras is a fully refereed on-line journal edited and produced by postgraduate students from the School of Historical Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia which is intended as an international forum for current or recently completed Masters and PhD students to publish original research, comment and reviews in any field covered by the Monash SHS’s teaching and research. We are seeking papers from postgraduate students working in any of the fields listed below, along with a brief description of your current affiliation and thesis topic.

Eras publishes papers from the following disciplines: History, Archaeology and Ancient History, Religion and Theology and Jewish Civilisation. Papers are also strongly encouraged from students in other disciplines, such as Cultural Studies, Indigenous Studies, Gender Studies, Philosophy, Sociology and Politics, providing such manuscripts are relevant to the journal’s primary disciplines.

Eras is a fully refereed journal and all papers will be subjected to the standard refereeing process. Papers should be up to 5,000 words in length and full submission guidelines are available on the journal website: www.arts.monash.edu.au/eras. Please forward all submissions via email to: eras@arts.monash.edu.au by June 1, 2008 for the 2008 edition (submissions received after June 1 will be considered for the 2009 unless space allows inclusion in the earlier edition)

Thank you
L.Grant & M. Katz
Editors-in-Chief
Eras Journal

e-mail: eras@arts.monash.edu.au

Free Webinar: New Technologies in Timbuktu: A Report on Aluka’s Digitization of Manuscripts in Mali

A 45-minute recorded presentation from Harlan Wallach that will cover the background of Aluka’s project to digitize manuscripts from Timbuktu, the geographical and environmental obstacles of the project, and the overall effort to establish and create a fully operational digitization and photography studio at SAVAMA-DCI’s (www.savamadci.org) offices in Timbuktu. The presentation will be followed by a tour of Aluka including a preview of the manuscripts that will be available in digital library.

About the Presenter:
Mr. Harlan Wallach is Architect for Media Technologies at Northwestern University Information Technologies (NUIT) department of Academic Technologies. He is also Director of Northwestern University Advanced Media Production Studio (NUAMPS).

Webinar: New Technologies in Timbuktu: A Report on Aluka’s Digitization of Manuscripts in Mali

Presenter: Harlan Wallach/Michael Gallagher

Session 1 RSVP: April 30, 2008; 1:00PM (EST) [https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/770146770]

Session 2 RSVP: May 5, 2008; 3:00PM (EST) [https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/599086947]

Deadline to Register: April 21, 2008

Javanica Curry
149 5th Avenue, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10010
PH: 212-358-6450
Email: javanica.curry@aluka.org
Visit the website at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/resources/webinar2008.jsp

CFP: Film & History at the NEPCAs

For those of you who are unable to get to Film & History’s biennial conference this fall in Chicago, here’s a wonderful alternative for connecting with other Film & History scholars — join the Film & History area at the Northeast Popular Culture meetings:

Call for Proposals: Sessions, Panels, Papers
Film & History Area
Northeast Popular/American Culture Association
October 31 - November 1, 2008
University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
North Dartmouth, MA

Deadline: June 15, 2008

Proposals for papers, panels, workshops, and roundtables are now being considered for the Film & History Area of the NEPCA annual conference. Proposals for the Film & History area should consider some aspect of the intersection among film, history, society, and culture, exploring films as social and historical artifacts of the culture from which they arise, as well as the role played by film in constructing, shaping, and re-imagining history. Papers may take a single film focus, or make comparative considerations, as well as exploring critical films focused on a given era, individual, or historical event. Examples would include papers that examine the following areas in a given film or films:

* Documentaries: How true is ‘The Truth’?
* Exploring representations of race, ethnicity, and gender in fiction or non-fiction
* Biographies of key artistic, political, military, activist, or cinematic figures
* Representations of wars, the West, borders, national characters and ideologies
* Comedy and social commentary
* Cult, alternative, and independent films and icons through history

Questions and inquiries, as well as submissions of one-page (150-250 word) proposals or abstract may be directed to the area chair, Cynthia J. Miller, at cymiller@tiac.net. The DEADLINE for submissions is June 15, 2008. You can learn more about NEPCA by visiting: http://users.wpi.edu/~jphanlan/NEPCA.html
There are also guidelines for paper proposals and presentations on that site.