The eighteenth Democracy & Diversity Summer Institute, organized by the
Transregional Center for Democratic Studies (TCDS) of The New School for
Social Research, will take place in Wrocław, Poland, from July 9-26,
2009. TCDS will welcome forty junior scholars from the US, Europe, and
other parts of the world for this intensive three-week program of study
in society, culture and politics.
Building on the achievements of our Krakow Institute (1991-2008), our
new transatlantic laboratory in Wrocław will offer a full semester’s
worth of studies under the title: “The New World Meets the New
Europe.” The program is designed to facilitate intellectual and
experiential insights into a momentous experiment now under way: the
peaceful construction of transnational Europe. In an increasingly
interdependent world fraught with violent conflicts, wars, and ethnic
and religious tensions, it is vital to understand the past and present
lessons involved in this extraordinary experiment in transborder
institution-building.
Courses
● Cosmopolitanism and its Discontents - GSOC5053, GPOL6336
Professor Andreas Kalyvas, Political Science, The New School for Social
Research
Whether defined as moral and political theory, as ethical ideal - or as
a discourse on social belonging that transcends the national, shapes new
transnational identities, and advances the concept of flexible
citizenship - cosmopolitanism has recently re-entered philosophical,
social and political discourse as an alternative paradigm to the
nation-state and bounded territorial communities. Cosmopolitanism makes
it possible to re-imagine the world as a dialogical polity and a place
that could constitute a home for all. This seminar will examine the
classical foundations of cosmopolitan thought in ancient Greek and Roman
philosophy and trace its modern reappearance in Western Enlightenment,
engage in close examination of its relation to nationalism, democracy,
liberalism, multiculturalism, empire, and globalization, and consider
some of its most vocal critics. Questions pertaining to the relationship
between universalism and particularism, pluralism and difference, war
and peace, and civic life and individual human rights will be central to
the seminar's discussions.
● Gender Stable & Unstable: Case Studies in the Changing Meaning of
Gender - GSOC 6342
Professor Ann Snitow, Gender Studies & Feminist Theory, The New School
for Social Research and Eugene Lang College
The equality-difference debates that are so central to feminist thought
often turn on questions of fixed or unfixed identity. The politics of
equality can make differences (for example, of gender or race) invisible
while a politics that emphasizes difference can obscure important
similarities, a dynamic that has played out in divergent ways and with
very varied political effects. This course will survey a number of cases
of what legal theorist Martha Minow has called “the dilemma of
difference.” All politics configures an imagined constituency - but
how? Examples will include: post-1989 East and Central Europe, where
gender has been actively, aggressively renegotiated by a number of
different actors; queer theory and debates about transsexual identity,
in which some have claimed the right to fix a new identity as an
essential freedom; legal discourses, past and present, in which states,
international bodies (the United Nations, the European Union, or the
World Bank), and social movements have all struggled to define what a
progressive position on the meaning of gender would be and have often
disagreed about how to shape a just and liberating gender-sensitive
politics. We will look at a range of answers to the question of just how
flexible and changeable gender is - or should be. Theoretical and
practical discussions of gender stability and instability are rich,
varied, agonistic, and suggestive for anyone interested in social
change.
● Globalization and the Politics of Public Memory - GLIB 5304
Professor Elzbieta Matynia, Liberal Studies & Sociology, The New School
for Social Research
This course will examine the politics of public memory which have
become particularly tense at a time in which social and political
systems are being dismantled and reconfigured, ethnic identity reemerges
as a powerful source of conflict, and nation-states are challenged by
new global arrangements. The concepts of nation, identity, and
globalization will inform our examination of emblematic locations, among
them the city of Wroclaw itself, with its multilayered Czech, Austrian,
German and Polish pasts. We will discuss the relationship between
history and memory, space and time, globalization and memorialization -
as well as approaches to the crimes of the past in the transformations
from authoritarian to democratic order. While paying attention to
representational strategies designed to elicit the "meaning" of memory
sites, whether in public art or historic districts, we will discuss
memory as a wound, as an erosion, and try to grasp the social meaning of
“good” memory. Finally, we will ask how to deal with the painful
conditioning of memory in societies that are trying to build a new,
better, and more just present. And how does one represent a volatile,
multifarious and sometimes discredited past in a way that will enrich
and amplify its interpretive possibilities rather than diminish them?
● Europeanization - GPOL 5057, GSOC 5057
Professor Sigrid Meuschel, Political Science, University of Leipzig and
former Heuss Professor at The New School for Social Research
The integration process that started in the immediate postwar period
brought into being the European Union of our days. Since the fall of the
Soviet empire, the EU has grown from 12 to 27 member states, yet it has
remained a political animal sui generis: less than a federal state but
more than a confederation of sovereign nation-states. Its polity
displays a unique mix of supranational and intergovernmental structures
and competences, and its modes of decision-making vary widely. Some
policy areas belong to the European, others still to the national
regulatory domain. While economic integration is far advanced, large
parts of interior and foreign politics lag behind. What is
Europeanization supposed to mean today, and which are the preconditions
of further “enlarging” and “deepening” decisions? The seminar
will focus on current legal, political and sociological debates of state
and constitution, democracy and legitimacy, society and cultural
identity. It will try to clarify benefits as well as costs of
post-nationalism in these dimensions, and discuss in which regards
further Europeanization is pragmatically feasible and normatively
desirable.
Extracurricular Activities
This year’s cultural program will include an exploration of
architectural and historical landmarks of Wrocław, such as the modernist
masterpiece Centennial Hall; Wrocław’s Old Jewish Cemetery, and the
Quarter of Mutual Respect, where four temples of four different
religions are in close proximity, including the famous White Stork
Synagogue. The cultural program will also include evening sessions in
Wrocław’s cultural and artistic institutions with prominent
intellectuals and artists from the region including Member of the
European Parliament Jozef Pinior, author and historian Jan Gross
(Princeton University), documentary film maker Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz,
and poet Adam Zagajeweski (Committee on Social Thought, University of
Chicago), and others.
Accommodation
The Institute participants will be housed in the Park Hotel of the
Ośrodka Szkolenia Panstwowej Inspekcji Pracy conference center,
located in Park Szczytnicki near the center of Wrocław. The hotel is
close to the historical part of the city and walking distance from the
famous Centennial hall. Shared accommodations will be arranged for
participants in the modernist dormitory and classes will be held in the
next-door conference center. Breakfast and lunch will be served in the
hotel.
Program Costs
● Participants from The New School:
Tuition: Tuition costs for courses taken for credit at the 2009 Summer
Institute in Krakow are based on the summer 2009 NSSR tuition rates for
graduate students and summer 2009 Lang tuition rates for Lang students.
New School financial aid is applicable. Please contact the Office of
Financial Aid for more information.
Program Fee: In addition to the cost of tuition, there is a program fee
of $2000 which will cover participants’ room and partial board
(breakfast and lunch) for the duration of the Institute, as well as the
cultural program of lectures, tours, opening and closing receptions,
etc. Travel costs are not included.
Scholarships: Scholarships to cover all or part of the $2000 program
fee are available to successful NSSR applicants. Please indicate on your
application form if you would like to be considered for a scholarship.
● Participants from other universities in the US and
universities/NGOs abroad:
Program Fee: The program fee of the 2009 Summer Institute for non-New
School students is $2500, covering tuition (non-credit), room and
partial board (breakfast and lunch), and the cultural program of
lectures, tours, opening and closing receptions, etc. Travel costs are
not included..
Scholarships: A limited number of scholarships to cover all or part of
the $2500 program fee will be available to successful applicants. Please
indicate on your application form if you would like to be considered for
a scholarship.
Eligibility
All applicants except for Eugene Lang College Candidates
Applicants (with the exception of those from Eugene Lang College, see
below) should have completed their undergraduate studies by the time of
the Institute and should be either enrolled in an advanced degree
program or working as junior university teachers or researchers.
Preference will be given to those applicants who can demonstrate active
involvement in civil society and civic life.
Candidates from Eugene Lang College
In order to be admitted into the program, applicants must be enrolled
at the Lang College as juniors or seniors. ELC students in the Social
and Historical Inquiry and Cultural Studies & Media concentrations are
especially encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to those
applicants who can demonstrate active involvement in civil society and
civic life.
How to Apply
Applications are available on the TCDS Web site at
www.newschool.edu/tcds. Please note that applications need to include
CV or resume, application essay and a copy of your academic transcript
(New School students only). Non-New School applicants also need to
include one letter of recommendation. For those non-New School
applicants whose native language is not English TOEFL or other evidence
of substantial English language skills are required.
All application materials can be submitted via e-mail:
tcds@newschool.edu (include WR09 APPLICATION in the subject heading);
via mail: Transregional Center for Democratic Studies, Attn: Wrocław 09,
The New School for Social Research, 80 Fifth Avenue, Room 517, New York,
NY 10011, USA; or via fax: (1) 212 229-5894. Recommendation letter must
be sent from the e-mail address belonging to its author or as an
attachment to the application letter if scanned.
For further information, contact TCDS by phone at (1) 212 229-5580 ext.
3137, by e-mail tcds@newschool.edu, or see our website at
www.newschool.edu/tcds.
The DEADLINE for applications is MARCH 23, 2009.
