Summer School on Transitional Justice and the Politics of Memory

Venues: Cres, Croatia
Period: June 24 - July 4, 2013
Application deadline: April 15, 2013

This intensive 10 day summer school will explore transitional justice and the politics of memory in the context of the Mediterranean region with a particular focus on the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East and North Africa. In addition to the summer school academic program which will include an international panel of experts, this course will also include excursions, guest lecturers from government officials, civil society activists, journalists and academic experts and will also mark Croatia’s accession to the European Union on 1 July 2013.
Recently, the former Yugoslavia and North Africa have experienced significant political transformations as a result of conflicts, state formation and transitional processes.  Themes that will be covered during the course include regional perspectives on: Transitional Justice, politics of memory, democratization, state of emergency law and political changes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. This unique summer school combines expertise on Transitional Justice in the Mediterranean, as well as the politics of remembrance and contested sites of memory in the former Yugoslavia. 

The dual geographic foci reflect recent political changes in the Mediterranean region. For example, the Tunisian Upspring in January 2011 that led to the ousting of a long-time dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben left Tunisia confronted with a number of challenges that include constitution drafting and lustration. Libya is also dealing with the task of post-conflict state building, as are other North African and Middle Eastern facing a variety of socio-political transformations. Meanwhile, in the former Yugoslavia, a wide range of civil society actors have been involved in transitional justice processes, the most notable being a regional truth and reconciliation initiative (REKOM).  Scholars and civil society activists will work closely with the students to explore the theoretical and practical aspects of Transitional Justice from the post-conflict Balkans to the still turbulent streets of Tunis and Tripoli.

The language of the Summer School is English.

Tuition: €2000 (this includes 10 nights in Hotel Kimen [3 stars] with 2 meals per day, 2 field trips including meals, and materials such as the reader for the summer school)

A limited number of students from the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia) who are accepted for the summer school are eligible for grants. These grants are limited and cover travel and/or accommodation costs up to a set amount.

Applications should be submitted to: cres.summer.school@gmail.com by April 15th, 2013, but space is limited.

Applicants will be notified about their acceptance in early May 2013.

The application should include:

- letter of motivation (1 page max.)
- brief description of current research project (1 page max.)
- short CV (no more than 3 pages)
- contact information (email, telephone and postal address)
- indication of interest in applying for grant to cover travel and/or accommodation costs.

Prof. Vjeran Pavlaković
University of Rijeka
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Cultural Studies
address: Sveučilišna avenija 4, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia
e-mail: vjeranp@gmail.com
 

Dr Andrej Zwitter and Dr Chris Lamont
University of Groningen, Netherlands