[URBANTH-L]FUNDING: Vulnerable Populations Fellowship (Emory U)

[Angela Jancius]

Feminism and Legal Theory Project
Emory University Law School
Vulnerable Populations Fellowship, 2008-09

Call for Applications

The Feminism and Legal Theory Project at Emory University Law 
School is launching a Vulnerable Populations Project and invites  
applications for a one-year post-doctoral fellowship, beginning fall,  
2008.  This fellowship is for someone interested in doing critical  
interdisciplinary scholarship on vulnerable populations. Applicants  
must be either (i) recent PhDs; (ii) ABDs who will complete all  
requirements for the PhD by July 15, 2008; or (iii) JDs who receive  
their degrees within the past few years. The postdoctoral fellow, who  
will find a vibrant interdisciplinary Emory University community,  
will be formally affiliated with the Feminism and Legal Theory  
Project at Emory Law School. The teaching load is one seminar 
course per year on a topic related to vulnerable populations.

The basic premise of the Vulnerable Populations initiative is that  
our current ways of defining who is entitled to legal protection and  
state subsidy and support are rapidly becoming inadequate, perhaps  
even irrelevant. Political alliances and analytical categories  
organized around race, gender, disability, sexuality, and class have  
proven limited and often divisive.

Although post-modern fear of essentializing makes us wary of  
generalities, both theory and politics require some appeal to the 
universal. The concept of vulnerability has the potential to unite across 
differences and will be explored from the perspectives of legal
and cultural studies focusing on important theoretical and political  
questions emerging in wake of decades of identity politics. The  
project will consider both advantages and potential pitfalls inherent  
in an effort to find commonalities which will allow us to reformulate  
communities independent of traditional identity-based categories.

This project will have important implications for legal and scholarly  
debates on rights, freedom, and the legacies of liberal humanism. The  
initiative will also have an international and comparative dimension  
as we undertake imagining the next stages of feminism on the world  
stage and the unfolding of critical gender, race, disability, and  
sexuality scholarship under the shadows of globalization;  
multiculturalism and the rise of religious fundamentalisms.

Applications are encouraged from scholars interested in a broad range  
of law, social science and humanities fields, with a preference for  
those committed to interdisciplinary research. The ideal candidate  
should combine theoretical sophistication and comparative
awareness with rigorous and demonstrated research and writing skills.  
A background in law is helpful, but not required. The relation of the  
applicant's research to some dimension of the Project's broad themes  
can be referenced in letters of application.

The post-doctoral fellowship stipend is $52,000 per year plus  
benefits. In addition, the Fellowship provides for some additional  
research funding and for relocation expenses.

Candidates should submit:

(1) letter of application that describes background, research  
interests, research plans during the period of the fellowship

(2) CV/Resume

(3) 1-2 page abstract and an annotated table of contents of the  
doctoral thesis or description of related JD coursework

(4) 1-2 page statement concerning teaching background and course  
development interests

(5) one dissertation chapter, conference paper, article, or  
equivalent writing sample

(6) names, titles, and full contact information (including e-mail and  
phone) for three references

Final deadline for receipt of application materials is 12:00 noon,  
January 31, 2008.

Application materials should be e-mailed as files in standard MS-Word  
format attached in one single message with the subject line  
"Vulnerable Populations Fellowship Application."

All materials should be e-mailed to Nancy Stafford at the Feminism  
and Legal Theory Project

nstaffo at law.emory.edu.

Inquiries may be directed to nstaffo at law.emory.edu or to Professor  
Martha Albertson Fineman at

mfineman at law.emory.edu.

Emory University is an EEO/AA employer.