CfA: Balkan and Central Asia-Caucasus studies workshops for junior scholars, U of Illinois

[Lynda Park]

Call for Applications

University of Illinois
Summer Research Laboratory on Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia
http://www.reec.uiuc.edu/srl/srl.html

Central Asia-Caucasus Studies Training Workshop for Junior Scholars
“From Chechnya to Kabul: New Directions in Central Asian and Caucasus Studies”
June 26–28, 2007

Balkan Studies Training Workshop for Junior Scholars
“Building Balkan Studies: Integrating Multidisciplinary Perspectives”
June 27–29, 2007

The workshops are part of the Summer Research Laboratory on Russia, Eastern 
Europe, and Eurasia; organized by the Russian, East European, and Eurasian 
Center and the Slavic and East European Library at the University of 
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and funded in part by the U.S. Department of 
State Title VIII program.
====================================================================

Central Asia-Caucasus Studies Training Workshop for Junior Scholars

Dates
June 26–28, 2007

Workshop Moderator
Douglas Northrop, Associate Professor of History and Near Eastern Studies, 
University of Michigan

Workshop Goals
The central aim of this three-day workshop is to bring together advanced 
graduate students, junior faculty and other professionals who focus on 
modern Central Asia and the Caucasus in various disciplines to discuss 
their work and issues in the field. The workshop’s objectives are to foster 
a supportive network of colleagues involved in this field and to explore 
recent research paradigms and resources. The workshop will provide a superb 
forum in which to investigate a variety of pressing issues, including, but 
not limited to, the following:

§   State formation and democratization
§   Shifting geopolitical positions vis-à-vis the EU, the U.S., Russia, and 
the Middle East
§   Post-Soviet economic conditions; political economy; oil-gas politics
§   Ethnopolitics and the civil rights of minorities
§   The role of language (identity and citizenship; maintenance, shift, and 
endangerment)
§   Law reform, the writing of new legal codes
§   The place of Islam and other religions
§   Human security (terrorism, trafficking of women and children, organized 
crime syndicates)
§   Demographic movement (displaced peoples, diasporic formations, 
populations on the move, nomads)
§   Environmental politics--the implications of ecology
§   Gender, especially changing roles and images of women in society
§   The culture of socialism and postsocialism
§   Education (rewriting of curricula; establishment of new institutions 
for higher learning)
§   Popular culture and contemporary society (the entertainment industry, 
especially music)
§   The arts, social change, and postsocialist identity (literature, fine 
arts, architecture)
§   Rethinking historiography
==========================================

Balkan Studies Training Workshop for Junior Scholars
“Building Balkan Studies: Integrating Multidisciplinary Perspectives”

Dates
June 27–29, 2007

Workshop Moderator
Victor Friedman, Mellon Professor of Slavic Languages & Literatures and 
Linguistics, Director of CEERES, University of Chicago

Workshop Goals
The central aim of this three-day workshop is to bring together advanced 
graduate students, junior faculty and other professionals who focus on the 
modern Balkans in various disciplines to discuss their work and issues in 
the field. Although massive political change and the Yugoslav wars 
regularly put the region on the front page of major newspapers throughout 
the 1990s, Balkan studies is still a relatively underrepresented field. The 
workshop’s objectives are to foster a supportive network of colleagues 
involved in this field and to explore recent research paradigms and 
resources. The workshop will provide a superb forum in which to investigate 
a variety of pressing issues, including, but not limited to, the following:

§   State formation and democratization
§   Privatization and the creation of new market economies
§   Ethnopolitics and the civil rights of minorities
§   The role of language (identity and citizenship; maintenance, shift, and 
endangerment)
§   Law reform, the writing of new legal codes, and rethinking intellectual 
property rights
§   Human security (terrorism, trafficking of women and children, organized 
crime syndicates)
§   Demographic movement (displaced peoples, diasporic formations, 
refugees, guest workers)
§   The culture of socialism and postsocialism
§   Education (rewriting of curricula; establishment of new institutions 
for higher learning)
§   Popular culture and contemporary society (the entertainment industry, 
especially music and film)
§   The arts, social change, and postsocialist identity (literature, fine 
arts, architecture)
§   The changing position of Balkan states vis-à-vis the EU, the U.S., 
Russia, and the Middle East
§   Islam in Europe (architectural restoration, revival of Sufism, renewal 
of worship practices)
§   Gender, especially changing roles and images of women in society
=====================================================

Workshop Eligibility
The workshops are open to advanced graduate students and junior faculty in 
any discipline and professionals who specialize in the respective regions. 
To be eligible for the workshop housing and travel grants, which are funded 
by a U.S. State Department Title VIII grant, applicants must be U.S. 
citizens/permanent residents and must state the policy relevance (broadly 
defined) of their research in the application. Depending on space 
availability, those who do not qualify for financial support may 
participate in the workshop at their own expense.

Housing and Travel Grants
Participants who are eligible for the workshop may also apply for 
additional Summer Research Lab housing grants­-total of up to 14 days for 
graduate students; 8 for all others. Graduate students may also apply for 
travel grants of up to $200.

Deadline
15 April 2007 for US citizen/permanent resident applications
1 April 2007 for international applications (limited housing grant only)

Application
All participants are considered Summer Lab associates and must submit a 
Summer Research Lab application and application fee. To apply for financial 
assistance, applicants must also submit a one- to two-page research 
proposal that includes a statement clearly indicating the policy relevance 
of the proposed research.  Workshop space is limited.

To download an application form go to 
<http://www.reec.uiuc.edu/srl/srl.html>www.reec.uiuc.edu/srl/srl.html and 
click on “how to apply” in the navigation bar. To request a paper 
application form contact:

Summer Research Lab
Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
104 International Studies Building
910 S. Fifth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-1244; fax (217) 333-1582
<mailto:reec at uiuc.edu>reec at uiuc.edu
www.reec.uiuc.edu



Lynda Y. Park, Associate Director
Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center
University of Illinois
104 International Studies Building, MC-487
910 South Fifth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-6022, 333-1244; fax (217) 333-1582
lypark at uiuc.edu
http://www.reec.uiuc.edu

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