CALL FOR PROPOSALS
academic year: 2007-2008
Application deadline: 30 November 2006
(all applications should reach the CRC office by this date)
The Curriculum Resource Center (CRC) of Central European University, funded by the Higher Education Support Program of Open Society Institute, announces a call for proposals to develop new, innovative and relevant university courses.
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Program description
Applicants are invited to develop and teach a one or two semester long course in the discipline areas listed below. The course should be clearly directed towards one of the following levels: introductory, intermediate, advanced, post-graduate.
The competition is open to individuals and groups for 10 month grants. During this period, successful applicants should first prepare and then teach their proposed course.
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Aims of the Program
This competition is intended to encourage the introduction of new courses, which are innovative in content, methodology and teaching approach.
The program funds innovative courses in order to have a measurable impact on the host department’s curricula and its mode of delivery. In this way, the program seeks to further the development and dissemination of new curricula across our region (defined as Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and Mongolia).
The CDC also aims to provide incentives and means for interdisciplinary and international co-operation amongst academics.
Group grants will be awarded to promote innovative, collaborative projects and priority will be given to groups of academics from at least two different countries or cities of the region who aim to design a course from an international perspective.
CDC strongly prefers to fund courses that are at least partially based on applicants’ original research in their field.
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Eligibility
Application is restricted to resident citizens of Eastern- and Southeastern Europe, the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia who are teaching or intending to teach at a university in any country of this region. Citizens of new EU member countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are eligible only if they participate in group projects with colleagues from non-EU countries (in fact such collaborative proposals are strongly encouraged) AND/OR projects are proposed in the special focus area listed at the end of this call (courses on issues related to Roma).
Previous CRC participants may apply for a CDC grant, Academic Fellowship Program fellows may only receive a CDC grant one academic year after finishing their AFP fellowship. Those who benefit presently from another alternative Soros grant should contact the CRC office to discuss their eligibility.
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Requirements for applicants
1. All applicants should show how they intend to apply new teaching methodology to delivering the course.
2. Project proposals should demonstrate the following:
* scientific quality in the selected field
* innovative character and approach
* relevance to regional or global issues
* potential to contribute to curriculum reform at host departments
* potential of being incorporated into the university curriculum for longer term
* feasibility
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Requirements for grantees
At the end of their grant period, all grantees (groups) are expected to submit a final syllabus for the new course they have developed and taught, together with a final activity and financial report. In addition, at the end of the course development period, interim reports will be required on the progress of the grant.
All accepted applicants are required to attend two modular workshops: one workshop at the beginning of their grant period, (focusing on issues regarding course design and curriculum development) , and another before their teaching period begins (that covers matters regarding course implementation and evaluation). The exact dates will be confirmed and announced later for selected applicants. The workshops will cover the following topics:
Modules of the first workshop:
* Introduction to course design
* Advanced course design
* Trends in Higher Education
* Degree structuring
* Major issues in student assessment
* Advanced assessment
* Course portfolio project
Modules of the second workshop:
* Complex lesson plans
* Key teaching techniques
* Complex teaching methods
* Advanced assessment
* Introduction to evaluation
* Advanced evaluation
* Course portfolio workshop
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Course Development Competition Grants
Grants for both individual and group projects will consist of the following:
Each CDC grantee will receive a monthly stipend for a period of ten months. The amount of the stipend is not negotiable. Group stipends for the teaching period will be calculated from the amount of a full stipend in proportion to the degree of involvement of each participant (involvement should be expressed clearly as a percentage in the course plan). Group leaders will, in addition, receive a small group leader’s fee for their extra responsibilities.
An allowance for legitimate course development expenses (book purchases, reader production, teaching materials, photocopying, slides, etc.). Grantees are strongly encouraged to produce readers for their courses (collection of articles, papers, chapters, documents, etc. that represent readings and other materials for the course). The grant will not fund the production of printed textbooks or publication. Please note that the CDC grant cannot fund the purchase of any equipment (computers, scanners, printers, etc.)
An allowance for additional, justified travel costs and administrative expenses in the case of group grants.
By negotiation with the CRC, an allowance for justified travel to a library outside the home city, within the region, for the development of course materials etc. The CRC will not, however, cover the costs of study or conference participation in any country.
Consultation time with CEU professors with knowledge in the relevant topic areas will be offered.
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Selection and Evaluation of Grants
Applications will be evaluated and judged by CEU academics with sufficient knowledge of the higher education needs of the region.
Finished course syllabi will be evaluated by CEU professors, and those meeting the standards of the CRC office will be placed on the CDC website.
The CDC will also conduct course/project evaluation trips, visiting a selected number of grantees during the course implementation period.
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How to Apply
Applications must be presented in English on CRC Course Development Competition forms (photocopied and e-mailed forms are acceptable).
For individual proposals, the application form must be accompanied by a description of the proposed course (in the form of a draft syllabus), preliminary bibliography of materials to be used in preparation and teaching, a curriculum vitae (also highlighting research activity), a letter of recommendation and a letter of endorsement from the host university. The letter of endorsement should include the host university’s commitment to allowing you to teach the proposed course, and should clearly indicate the period when the course will be taught.
For group proposals, the application should be submitted by the project leader. In addition to the above it should contain a list of the individuals involved in the project, their CVs, institutional affiliations, contact information and a letter from each individual stating their willingness to be involved in the project. For group projects letters of endorsement must be submitted from all the institutions that will host the course (Please feel free to duplicate the letter of endorsement form if necessary).
Application forms can be obtained from local CEU representatives, the Curriculum Resource Center at Central European University or from our website, http://www.ceu. hu/crc/cdc/ Applications must arrive to CRC by 30 November 2006 (to the address: CRC - Central European University, 1051 Budapest, Nador u. 9, Hungary or to cdc@ceu.hu - please note that letters of endorsement and recommendation will be accepted by regular mail, as e-mail attachments or directly from the e-mail address of the writer of the letter. Applicants will be informed about the results in mid-December. Courses should be taught during the first and/or second semester of the 2007/2008 academic year.
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Discipline Areas for the Course Development Competition 2007-2008
The CRC invites applications to the Course Development Competition in the discipline/ subject areas briefly described below.
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EU Enlargement
A proposal on this topic should investigate the following issues: a theoretical framework of the extension of the European integration (adoption of the acquis communautaire, fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria), an overview of previous accessions, a more detailed look at the accession process of Central and Eastern Europe and the 2004 'big bang' enlargement, as well as of preparation for the accession of Romania and Bulgaria - both on the part of the EU, and the candidate states. The proposal should also encompass a review of potential scenarios for the future of enlargement and also briefly review the European Neighborhood Policy. Parts of the course may be devoted to an assessment of reforms envisaged by the Constitutional Treaty that would be required for further extension of the EU.
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Gender Studies
This CDC section invites applications from scholars in humanities and social science disciplines who intend to develop a course focusing on gender or women’s studies. We especially encourage proposals for interdisciplinary courses organized around themes (e.g. “Gender, the Body, and Philosophy” or “Foundations in Gender Studies”), rather than courses that apply gender to a single discipline (e.g. “Gender and Sociology” or “Women and Literature”).
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Special focus sub-category:
Gendering Religious Fundamentalisms and Neoconservatisms
We invite proposals to explore the intersection of anti-globalisation, anti modernism, populism and anti-feminism.
Application dealing with ’the imagined community’, idea of Volk, masculinity, the nation and national, anti-immigration, anti modernism, anti Americanism, conspiracy theories, populism, anti-women, anti-feminism, Anti-Europeanism in a comparative, interdisciplinary and gender perspective are strongly encouraged. Courses taught in history, political science, anthropology, sociology and gender-women’ s studies are welcome.
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History
This year we are announcing the CDC in 4 sub-categories within the discipline of History.
Please indicate on the application form which of these topics you are applying in.
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1. Entangled History(ies) in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe
Recent theoretical and methodological innovations stemming from the tradition of comparative history ("shared", "connected", "relational" , "transfer", etc.) attempt to critically re-evaluate the comparative method and to shift the analytical emphasis on multiple levels of connectedness, at various sub-national and supra-national levels. These innovations urge researchers to take into account their own ideological position and involvement in the process of knowledge production, and to reflect on the plurality of viewpoints, academic traditions, terminologies, and categorizations. Such new research methods have started to inspire scholars in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe as well, as they shift their focus from large-scale historical actors and high politics to medium- and small-sized actors (groups, individuals) , and to cultural and social trends, ranging from ideas to belief systems. We are inviting applications for university courses which attempt to
critically
reconsider the interactions between different societies or cultures in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe, in a global context. These courses should be ideally (but not exclusively) built either around the issue of nationalism and national identities in the early modern and modern era, or around the issue of comparative ideologies and political regimes, and should attempt to introduce students to new methods of cross-cultural research, such as transfer studies, connected, shared or entangled history(ies) .
Successful applicants will collaborate and interact with scholars in the History Department, CEU, which, since its beginning, and more systematically since 1995, is specializing in comparative history. In addition to their work on the curricula, successful applicants will be also integrated into research projects organized by Past, Inc., Center for Historical Studies and the academic journal East Central Europe/L'Europe du Centre Est. Eine wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift.
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2. Combining different scopes: Regional, national and imperial narratives in teaching history
One of the key tasks of teaching history in the Universities of East-Central Europe is to depart from traditional national narratives. The proposed projects should transcend the traditional national narratives and investigate the interaction of local and imperial actors. Courses should aim to demonstrate entanglement of processes on local, national and imperial levels. They should address the problems of interaction of “national” and “external” actors, of multiple identifications and loyalties in modernizing empires of the long 19th century.
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3. Organized Internationalism, Past and Present
Organized “reform”-internationa lisms have played an important role in shaping history worldwide in the 19th and 20th centuries. These internationalisms have included organized international movements, as well as international non-governmental and inter-govern- mental organizations. They promoted social and political reform and regulation in favor of majority populations, specific disadvantaged or abused groups. They brought together representatives of certain professions, marching under the banner of international understanding, cooperation, or interest-representa tion in their own professional trades or fields of activity. And they developed an interest in building and expanding an international order based on international law, and de-facto legal structures that would serve the prevention or termination of war and the preservation of peace through international cooperation. “Reform”-internationa lisms, which have played an important, and with time, growing role in global,
regional and national history, and in international relations, included a whole universe of organizations and thematic foci, such as trans-territorial missionary activities, the International Working Men’s Association, South-South women-networks, the League of Nations, the international women’s movement, the UNO, the international Red Cross, Human Rights activism and humanitarian intervention, the abolition of the slave-trade and slavery, the International Labour Organization, the Black internationalism, the Comintern, the Planned Parenthood Federation, scientific cooperation, the World Social Forum, and many more. The complex history of internationalisms invites the exploration of a variety of questions and connections such as: the mapping of internationalisms in terms of scope, outreach and geographical composition; the role of internationalisms in shaping the international polity as well as local and national politics and reform in individual countries; the contribution
of internationalisms to questioning, transforming or challenging global inequality; the connection between and mutual influence of internationalisms on each other in terms of their agendas, networking, and organizing; the relationship between social activism and organization on local and transnational levels; the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in terms of agendas, perspectives and organization; the impact of local conditions and activities as well as international relations on shaping internationalisms activities; the fabric of internationalisms themselves in terms of how they were structured and work internally.
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4. Objects of the Past: Evoking Recent History in Post-communist Eastern Europe
Antiquarianism is certainly not the first term that comes to one’s mind when considering the relationship towards the contemporary past. Collecting and displaying strange and alien objects regularly recalls the image of archeological exhibitions dedicated to demonstrate the richness and fascinating nature of radically distant and different pasts like the ancient or medieval periods of human history. Nonetheless, if one recollects the weird, but characteristic obsession towards obscure relics of the recent past like communist medals, images of the ‘great leaders’ as well as the frenzy of demolishing old statues and erect new monuments or the mushrooming of peculiar museums dedicated to the terror of the dictatorship, the conclusion, that physical objects play a significant role in the relationship to the recent past, becomes obvious. The relationship of the present - the contemporaneity after 1989 - to its recent past -or pasts, since the comprehension of the past before
1989 is inseparably connected to the past before 1945 - is fabricated through a peculiar practical activity concerned with the construction and destruction of things. The fate of themes in the public discussion of contemporary history seems to be bound to the assignment of objects. The subject of the proposed competition is precisely this public discussion of the recent past in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. What is the connection of the emergence and fading away of various issues in contemporary history to the appearance and disappearance of those objects that seem to signify their place in the public representations of the past? This competition would like to encourage applicants to develop courses that address the often complicated relationships between objects and issues which shape the discussion of the recent past, that is of fascism and communism in Central and Eastern Europe or as it is commonly classified in the former communist countries.
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Constitutional Law in Comparative Perspective
In the age of globalization national constitutions have to reflect increasingly the international environment. Constitutional law increasingly develops in a shared global constitutional culture: fundamental rights standards are developed in international conventions and supranational courts. Institutional arrangements are borrowed. The course to be developed should reflect these changes by using comparative constitutional law materials, or alternatively the presentation of comparative material should center on issues which are crucial in the domestic setting. Given that constitutional law is becoming a matter that is increasingly litigated in courts, the course should emphasize the case law method. Constitutional theory is to be embedded into the specific problems of institutional design and rights protection.
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Anthropology
Courses are invited on topics related to social and/or cultural anthropology, including or combining the following elements:
* Introduction to cultural anthropology, exploring cultural variability through the integration of comparative material from both within and outside Europe, covering the standard topics of: Family and kinship, gender roles, economic practices, politics, and religion, among others
* Material culture, examining how different societies use material objects to create and communicate meaning, including perhaps the examination of basic technologies (textiles, traditional architecture, ceramics, dress, metalwork, and so on). A class on this topic could be based on historical and/or archaeological materials.
* Issues in cultural heritage, including topics in managing places of historical and cultural importance, incorporating perhaps the idea of places of memory (lieux de memoire)
* Visual anthropology, using visual sources (historic and new photographs, advertising, art, cartoons) to explicate topics such as observation of cultural practices, interaction in groups, the built environment, technology, and/or the projection of unspoken ideas about social relations such as gender.
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History of Philosophy
We invite proposals for BA, MA or PhD level courses on the history of philosophy. Courses can focus on a single period or on the history of a philosophical theme, question or problem through the ages. Courses could also investigate the large scale history, or a significant period of the interaction between philosophy and other disciplines (theology, the natural sciences, mathematics etc.). We encourage courses that successfully combine historical sensitivity with philosophical analysis, require the study of the source texts and are problem centred. The aim should be to show the philosophical relevance and interest of philosophical texts written in the past.
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Beside the above discipline areas, we are inviting course proposals in the following special focus area. Due to its high priority, the restriction on new EU countries does not apply to this topic.
Courses on Issues Related to Roma
With the goal to further encourage the integration of issues related to Roma into mainstream academic disciplines we welcome proposals for academic courses in all areas of humanities and social sciences dealing entirely or in a significant part with this topic.
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