[Fwd: Opportunities in Michigan]

[Ildikó Nagy]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Opportunities in Michigan
Date: Sat, 4 Nov 2000 11:00:02 GMT
From: Dr Jane Ribbens-McCarthy <jcmccarthy at brookes.ac.uk>
Reply-To: Dr Jane Ribbens-McCarthy <jcmccarthy at brookes.ac.uk>
To: family-and-household at mailbase.ac.uk


Theme: Childhood in a Changing Global Order from a multidisciplinary =
perspective.=20
Participation: Year long faculty-student seminar.=20
Fellowship opportunities available for students, faculty, pre-doctoral,
=
post-doctoral=20
scholars and professionals.


CONTESTED CHILDHOOD IN A CHANGING GLOBAL ORDER

Faculty Chair:  Pamela Reynolds

The Advanced Study Center of the International Institute at the
University=
=20
of Michigan will devote the year 2001-2002 to an investigation of the =
topic=20
of contested childhood in a changing global order.  The program will=20
feature a year-long faculty-student Seminar supported by the Sawyer =
Seminar=20
Series of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Our intention is to take childhood as a vital intellectual topic, the=20
excavation of which can have practical manifestations that shape the=20
world.  We shall draw on the wide range of knowledge, care, and
involvement=
=20
of experts in many spheres so that we can celebrate that which is well =
done=20
as we accompany children and dissect our failures and the hypocrisy in =
the=20
claims we make to serve their interests and to use resources on their=20
behalves.  A major focus will be on how children and youth are
represented=
=20
in public policy and cultural politics, and on how transformations in=20
nation-states and institutions affect children and are, in turn, =
affected=20
by the young.  The series will explore changes in family, church, =
school,=20
courts, the media, intermediate technology, and genetic engineering.

The membrane between the local and the global is porous.  At this =
border,=20
the position of children is in flux.  In some communities, the membrane
=
may=20
tear, challenging their abilities to sustain children well enough.
In=20
contrast, the description of an ideal of childhood has recently been =
given=20
powerful expression through international policy mechanisms and=20
institutions.  The question is: are these flexible enough to
countenance=20=

difference; to reflect changes in social norms and conventions; and
to=20
incorporate youth's actions and responses to social expectations and=20
pressures?   Ideals can obscure the reality of experience.  Profound=20
alteration in children's security and opportunities can occur rapidly =
when=20
communities are dislocated and when accepted forms unravel.  The nature
=
of=20
the times calls for meticulous attention to and acknowledgement of=20
contestations that imbue young lives with inordinate stress.  A keen=20
awareness of transformations and participation in realigning the =
contours=20
of policies may contribute to the resolution of conflict.
Scholarship over the last two decades has been innovative in the=20
exploration of childhood; in the careful description of children's=20
predicaments; and in documenting the manner in which children bring =
about=20
change, often despite adult resistance.  There is, perhaps, an
originative=
=20
contestation between adults who resist forces that militate against =
their=20
desire for continuity and the young who step forward to meet the=20
new.  There has been a recent hiatus in theoretical advances so that we
=
are=20
left bereft of insights into the condition of children and youth as we =
tip=20
over the cusp of the millennial divide.  The aim of the Seminar is to=20
stimulate theory and influence policy by taking a broad view of the =
manner=20
in which we conceive of childhood, especially in disputation, and =
describe=20
the effects of ideals and policy on children's passage from conception =
to=20
full citizenship.  We shall interrogate researchers and their methods as
=
we=20
attempt to describe the effects of ideals and policies.

Children's needs and interests range across the full gamut of human =
affairs=20
and therefore, it is difficult to both concentrate on their special=20
interests as well as consider the character of their lives in the =
fullness=20
of their unfolding.  The Seminar offers an opportunity to boldly paint =
the=20
landscape children inhabit and to define the pointillistic specificities
=
of=20
their situations.

The Seminar will include presentations, discussions of empirically =
grounded=20
case studies, comparative analyses, and theoretical reflections.  In=20
encouraging cross-specialization and cross-regional conversations, we =
shall=20
pay particular attention to language, history, and culture in the=20
definition of contemporary childhood as it is variously delineated =
around=20
the world; and to the dislocations and reconstruction in the situations
=
of=20
children when their worlds are turned upside down by war, natural=20
disasters, or other traumatic events.  We shall encourage a broad=20
disciplinary reach and the participation of professionals from a range =
of=20
disciplines, including social work, education, public policy, public=20
health, and medicine..  Attention will be paid to values and meanings=20
assigned to childhood in different societies over the course of a =
Seminar=20
exploring the following themes:

Conceptions of Childhood: Contestation and Change
* Philosophy and the Child
* Uncovering and Recovering the Position of the Child in the Past
* Morality in Relation to Children in Conflictual Situations
* Genetics and Kinship
* Human Rights as they Incorporate, Subsume, and/or Enhance the Rights =
of=20
the Young, Especially in Contested Situations

Child as Social Actor:  Conflict and Consciousness
* Violence:  Pain and its Expression
* Children, Youth, and Conflict - Innocence and Experience
* War's Aftermath: Childhood Foregone and the Burden of Reconciliation
* Children's Experiences of the Consequences of Conflict:  Focus on=20
Refugees and Defining Exclusion
* Children, Labor and Reproduction
* Politics, Representation, and the Involvement of the Young

The Contest over Creativity and the Child - Use and Abuse:  Control
and=20
Nurturance
* Internet:  Fresh Access to Information and a Reconsideration of the=20
control of Knowledge
* Internet and Formal Education:  Contestation over the Character of =
Knowledge
* Children and Serious Contest in the Realm of Expression, Repression, =
and=20
Impression, Competition, and Measurement in Relation to the Body and
Mind
* Childhood as Recalled in Autobiography

Child and Relationships:  Succor and Stress:
* HIV and AIDS:  The Shifting Sands of Ignorance, Fact, Prejudice,
and=20
Understanding
* Sexuality:  Contested Relationships Around the Control of Desire and =
Action
* Care:  Welfare - Policy and Reality
* Healing the Hurt Child:  Cause and Cure in Relation to Current
Spiritual,=
=20
Moral, and Medical Assumptions
* Food and the Child:  Competition for, Contributions to, Control over,
=
and=20
Distribution of resources
* Globalization, Citizenship, Nationality, and the Child's Contest for =
a=20
Place in the World


The Advanced Study Center
The Advanced Study Center provides a format for visiting scholars
from=20
around the world to join students and faculty at the University of =
Michigan=20
in rethinking multi-disciplinary and multi-regional issues for
various=20
audiences. The International Institute of the University of Michigan=20
established the Advanced Study Center in 1994 in order to stimulate =
fresh=20
research that is responsive to a world undergoing profound change. =
Previous=20
Seminars have been convened to consider: the Cold War and its
aftermath;=20=

nation, community, and culture in the aftermath of empire, religious=20
toleration and intolerance; violence and ethics; empires, states, and=20
political imagination; and archives, documentation, and the institutions
=
of=20
social memory.


Participation
The Advanced Study Center invites applications from scholars and=20
professionals to participate in the Seminar.  University of Michigan=20
students and faculty, as well as pre-doctoral and post-doctoral =
scholars,=20
and professionals may apply.  Nominations will also be welcomed.  The=20
Advanced Study Center is accepting applications for the following types
=
of=20
fellowships:

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP
The Advanced Study Center will award one post-doctoral fellowship for up
=
to=20
$36,000.  The Fellow will have a one-year appointment as an Assistant=20
Professor in an affiliated department of the University of Michigan and
=
a=20
one-year appointment as a Post-Doctoral Scholar of the Advanced Study=20
Center.  The Fellow is expected to teach one course for the Fall 2000 =
term=20
and one course in Winter 2001.  This appointment is not tenure-track.  =
Any=20
subsequent appointment of an ASC Fellow to a position at the University
=
of=20
Michigan would be subject to the rules governing new=20
appointments.  Applicants who are awarded the fellowship and are not
US=20
citizens or permanent residents must have visas to permit employment at
=
the=20
University of Michigan for the full term of the fellowship.  The ASC=20
Post-Doctoral Fellow must be in residence in Ann Arbor for the
academic=20
year of appointment.  Fellows are asked to cite their affiliation with =
the=20
Advanced Study Center of the International Institute in any
publications=20=

that result from work done during their tenure and to provide the =
Advanced=20
Study Center with copies of such published work.  Fellows are expected =
to=20
attend the Seminar throughout the year and to be available for
scheduled=20=

ASC lectures and discussions.

SHORT-TERM FELLOWSHIPS
The Advanced Study Center may provide fellowships of up to $4,000 for=20
scholars or professionals who work on a topic related to contested=20
childhood for short-term visits to the University of Michigan to=20
participate in selected sessions of the program.

PRE-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS
Fellowships of up to $6,000 per semester will be available for
students=20
enrolled in a pre-professional MA or in a doctoral program in any=20
field.  The Advanced Study Center awards the majority of its
pre-doctoral=
=20
fellowships to University of Michigan students, but graduate students =
from=20
other institutions are encouraged to apply. ASC Pre-Doctoral Fellows =
are=20
expected to be in residence in Ann Arbor for the 2001-2002 academic =
year,=20
to attend the Seminar throughout the year, and to be available for=20
scheduled ASC lectures and discussions.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES AND DEADLINE
The deadline for receipt of applications and nominations is February =
15,=20
2001.  Award decisions will be made by the Advanced Study Center by =
March=20
31, 2001.

Applications must include 6 collated and stapled sets of the
following=20
materials:
* cover letter
* a statement of no more than 1,200 words describing how your
particular=20=

interests relate to the Seminar themes
* curriculum vitae
* completed application form found on the Seminar announcement
* one letter of recommendation sent separately by a referee familiar =
with=20
your work

Nominations should be made by letter of recommendation and should =
include=20
the following information:
* how the nominee's participation would engage the field of inquiry
* the nominee's qualifications and affiliation
* contact information for nominee, including address, telephone, and =
fax=20
numbers and
e-mail address
* curriculum vitae of nominee if readily available

Applications and nominations should be mailed* to:
Advanced Study Center Fellowships
International Institute
University of Michigan
1080 S.  University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106
USA

E-mail:  asc.info at umich.edu=20

Information on the Advanced Study Center and fellowship opportunities =
can=20
be found in electronic form on the World Wide Web=20
at:  http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/asc=20

*E-mailed applications and nominations will NOT be accepted without =
prior=20
approval.


--
Dr Jane Ribbens-McCarthy
Director
Centre for Family and Household Research
School of Social Sciences and Law
Oxford Brookes University
Gipsy Lane
Headington
Oxford OX3 0BP

Tel 01865 483750
Fax 01865 483937