In the Labyrinth of National Identity: Russia and Europe

Venues: Budapest, Hungary
Period: 11 July - 20 July, 2016
Application deadline: 14 February, 2016


Brief description: The aim of this course is to explore national identity and nationalism in Europe and Russia disentangled from the news and to reveal hidden historically embedded patterns. The course will be built on texts and data of recent research materials. Interdisciplinary, comparative and empirical, its overall objective is to raise participants’ awareness of the synergy resulting from interdisciplinary, comparative and empirical approaches. Course faculty has been selected based on the balance of academic excellence and disciplinary competence.
The course’s basic idea stems from the FP7 Project EUinDepth started in 2014. The aim of this project is to bridge the cultural, political, and social psychological gap between Russia and the countries of the EU.
The summer course in 2016 will continue to take up these issues and explore them further by inclusion of experts both from within and outside of the FP7 project. The course will provide cutting edge knowledge concerning the change of the patterns of national identity worldwide. National identity will be conceptualized in constitutional, political, economic, anthropological, sociological and social psychological contexts. Quantitative as well qualitative methods of investigation will be used.

Target group
The program encourages applications from junior career faculty as well as graduate students and researchers in nationalism studies, history, political science, international relations, sociology, anthropology, and Slavic studies.  The course attracts students from around the world, allowing participants to explore conflict resolution from diverse perspectives and contexts.  While this is an academic course on European and Russian national identity, it is offered not only for students, but also for professionals interested in public policy and inter-ethnic conflict resolution. Undergraduates without a university degree will not be considered.

Pre-requisites
Participants will be expected to arrive with a basic understanding of global and national framework conditions for the transformation crisis in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. They will also be expected to be familiar with core concepts of theories of nationalism, historical conditions of the area and principles of research methods through advanced studies, reading, research and/or practice. High level of fluency in written and spoken English will be a requirement for participation.

Language requirement
The language of instruction is English, thus all applicants have to demonstrate a strong command of spoken and written English to be able to participate actively in discussions at seminars and workshops. Some of the shortlisted applicants may be contacted for a telephone interview.

tel.: (36-1) 327-3811
fax: (36-1) 327-3124
e-mail: summeru@ceu.edu
Skype (free Internet telephone): ceu-sun