[URBANTH-L]SSRC Dissertation Development Workshop: Governing Eurasia

[Angela Jancius]

Social Science Research Council Eurasia Program
Dissertation Development Workshop
Governing Eurasia: Social Transformations and Governance Through Time
Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
March 4-6, 2005

Application Deadline: November 30, 2004

The Eurasia Program of the Social Science Research Council invites
applications for a three-day dissertation development workshop focusing on
issues of social transformation and governance, broadly conceived.  The
workshop will be held on March 4-6, 2005.  Graduate students from relevant
social science and humanities disciplines, who are at any stage of the
dissertation process (from proposal to write-up), and whose projects examine
Eurasia are eligible to apply.  Proposals may examine any aspect of social
transformation and governance, whether from a historical or contemporary
perspective.

Governance encompasses the processes of interaction through which power is
exercised in the distribution of economic, political and cultural resources
among and between individuals and socio-political institutions. These
processes can be examined at global, regional, national and local levels.
Those interactions have tremendous influence over the health and welfare of
individuals, social forces and associations, family forms, state capacity,
and economic development.  Within a society, the process of governing occurs
through various channels and means, including:


·          civil society organizations
·          social and economic networks
·          systems of cultural production
·          formal state institutions at national and sub national level



Issues of governance and social transformation may be found among a diverse
range of subject matter such as, but not limited to:

·          relations of power, authority, and hierarchies
·          health and welfare of the population
·          urban processes
·          state capacity, and
·          social movements (including religious and democratization
            movements)

The practical setting in which these broad problems may be investigated
varies from scholar to scholar.  Thus, we are soliciting applicants from
various disciplines across the humanities and social sciences, including
history, literature, anthropology, sociology, political science, regional
studies, and other scholarly fields.  Each individual scholar's interests
will vary; however, we encourage projects that recognize the ways in which
social systems produce and reproduce governing relationships, understanding
that governing relationships exist both within and outside of state
institutions and that they change over time.  We particularly invite
applications that propose theoretical perspectives and methodologies and
that encourage the rethinking of expected relationships by emphasizing
historical, social and cultural issues.

In order to participate, individuals must be U.S. citizens or permanent
residents who are currently enrolled in an accredited PhD program and
working at some stage on their dissertation projects.  They must also submit
the following materials by November 30th, 2004:

-     A five-page, double spaced summary of the dissertation project,
highlighting the dissertation's relationship to the themes and objectives of
the workshop
-     One letter of recommendation from the applicant's primary advisor
-     Curriculum Vitae

The five-page summary and CV should be submitted electronically to
eurasia at ssrc.org.  The signed letter of recommendation must be received by
mail at the Eurasia Program by the application deadline.  If selected,
participants will be required to submit a 15-25 page dissertation chapter or
writing sample for circulation, along with their CV and initial five-page
summary, prior to the workshop.

Funding for this workshop is provided by the United States Department of
State, Program for Research and Training for Eastern Europe and the
Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII).

Additional workshop details may be found on the SSRC website at
www.ssrc.org/programs/eurasia/Title8_Dissertation_Workshops

Social Science Research Council
Eurasia Program
810 Seventh Ave 31st Floor
New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-377-2700/Fax: 212-377-2727
Email: eurasia at ssrc.org