CfA Postdoctoral Position (f/m/d) at the Academy for European Human Rights Protection

The University of Cologne is one of the largest and most research-intensive universities in Germany, offering a wide range of subjects. With its six faculties and its interfaculty centres, it offers a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines and interna­tionally outstanding profile areas, supported by the administration with its services.

The Academy for European Human Rights Protection, which is currently being established under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dres. Angelika Nußberger M.A., invites applications for a two-year-post doctoral position.

YOUR TASKS

  • Research in the field of European and International Human Rights protection (linked to general questions of constitutio­nal and international law)
  • Organization and implementation of scientific conferences and projects
  • Participation in teaching (working groups, moot court etc.)

YOUR PROFILE

  • PhD degree (at least magna cum laude)
  • First or second state examination with at least the grade of „vollbefriedigend“ (fully satisfactory) in the state part or an excellent foreign law degree comparable to the first state examination
  • Excellent knowledge of English and a second foreign language
  • Experience in project work and event management
  • Organizational talent, ability to work in a team, resilience of scientific work

WE OFFER YOU

  • Inspiring environment for your research project in the field of human rights
  • Profil-building in the research on comparative law, internatio­nal law and constitutional law
  • Involvement in research projects and practical work in the field of human rights protection
  • Participation in building up the Academy for European Human Rights Protection
  • A diverse and fair working environment
  • Support in reconciling work and family life
  • Flexible working time models, full-time positions suitable for job sharing
  • Extensive advanced training opportunities
  • Occupational health management offers
  • Local transport ticket at a discount for UoC employees

The position is available from the 01.04.2021 on a full-time basis (39,83 hours per week). It is limited to two years. If the applicant meets the relevant wage requirements and personal qualifications, the salary is based on remuneration group 13 TV-L of the pay scale for the German public sector.

The University of Cologne is committed to equal oppor­tunities and diversity. Women are especially encouraged to apply and will be considered preferentially in accordance with the Equal Opportunities Act of North Rhine-Westpha­lia (Landesgleichstellungsgesetz – LGG NRW). We also ex­pressly welcome applications from people with disabilities / special needs or of equal status.

Please apply online at: https://jobportal.uni-koeln.de with proof of the sought qualifications. The reference number is Wiss2102-06. The application deadline is 28.02.2021. Inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Carmen Schmidt (carmen.schmidt@uni-koeln.de).

CfA 6 PhD Positions (f/m/d) at the Academy for European Human Rights Protection

The University of Cologne is one of the largest and most research-intensive universities in Germany, offering a wide range of subjects. With its six faculties and its interfaculty centres, it offers a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines and interna­tionally outstanding profile areas, supported by the administration with its services.

The Academy for European Human Rights Protection, which is currently being established under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dres. Angelika Nußberger M.A., invites applications for 6 positions for PhD students at the Academy for European Rights Protection.

YOUR TASKS

  • PhD in the field of European and International Human Rights protection (linked to general questions on constitutional and international law)
  • Organization and implementation of scientific conferences and projects
  • Participation in teaching (working groups, moot court etc.)

YOUR PROFILE

  • First or second state examination with at least the grade of „vollbefriedigend“ (fully satisfactory) in the state part or an excellent foreign law degree comparable to the first state examination and proven knowledge of international public and constitutional law
  • Excellent knowledge of English and a second foreign language
  • Experience in project work and event management
  • Organizational talent, ability of working in a team, resilience and enthusiasm for scientific work

WE OFFER YOU

  • Inspiring environment for your research project in the field of human rights
  • Profil-building in the research on comparative law, internatio­nal law and constitutional law
  • Involvement in research projects and practical work in the field of human rights protection
  • Participation in building up the Academy for European Human Rights Protection
  • A diverse and fair working environment
  • Support in reconciling work and family life
  • Flexible working time models, full-time positions suitable for job sharing
  • Extensive advanced training opportunities
  • Occupational health management offers
  • Local transport ticket at a discount for UoC employees

The position is available at the earliest possible date on a part time basis (19,92 hours per week/50%). It is limited to a term of two years. If the applicant meets the relevant wage requirements and personal qualifications, the salary is based on remuneration group 13 TV-L of the pay scale for the German public sector.

The University of Cologne is committed to equal opportunities and diversity. Women are especially encouraged to apply and will be considered preferentially in accordance with the Equal Opportuni­ties Act of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesgleichstellungsgesetz – LGG NRW). We also expressly welcome applications from people with disabilities / special needs or of equal status.

Please apply online at: https://jobportal.uni-koeln.de with proof of the sought qualifications. The reference number is Wiss2102-08. The application deadline is the 28.02.2021. Inquiries should be addres­sed to Dr. Carmen Schmidt (carmen.schmidt@uni-koeln.de).

IEG Fellowships for PhDs

Application deadline: February 15, 2021

For IEG Fellowships beginning in September 2021 or later

The Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) awards 8–10 fellowships for international doctoral students in European history, the history of religion, historical theology, or other historical disciplines.

The IEG funds PhD projects on European history from the early modern period until 1989/90. We are particularly interested in projects

  • with a comparative or cross-border approach,
  • on European history in its relation to the wider world, or
  • on topics of intellectual and religious history.

What we offer

The IEG Fellowships provide a unique opportunity to pursue your individual PhD project while living and working for 6–12 months at the Institute in Mainz. The monthly stipend is € 1,350. Additionally, you can apply for family or child allowance.

Requirements

During the fellowship you are required to reside at the Institute in Mainz. You actively participate in the IEG’s research community, the weekly colloquia and scholarly activities. We expect you to present your work at least once during your fellowship. The IEG preferably supports the writing up of dissertations; it will not provide funding for preliminary research, language courses or the revision of book manuscripts. PhD theses continue to be supervised under the auspices of the fellows’ home universities. We expect proficiency in English and a sufficient command of German to participate in discussions at the Institute. The IEG encourages applications from women.

Application
Please combine all of your application materials except for the application form into a single PDF and send your application to: application@ieg-mainz.de
Letters of recommendation should be submitted directly by the referees. You may write in either English or German; we recommend that you use the language in which you are most proficient.

You can download the application form under the following: https://bit.ly/formIEG

The IEG has two deadlines each year for IEG Fellowships: February 15 and August 15.
The next deadline for applications is February 15, 2021.

Please direct your questions concerning the IEG Fellowship Programme to
Barbara Müller: fellowship@ieg-mainz.de

Job Offer: Postdoctoral Researcher at Nuffield College

Postdoctoral Researcher: International NGOs in the Long Humanitarian Century: Legacy, Legitimacy and Leading into the Future

Application deadline: Monday, 21 December 2020.

£34,804 per annum.

Nuffield College intends to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher to support the work of the International NGOs in the Long Humanitarian Century: Legacy, Legitimacy and Leading into the Future research programme. Directed by Andrew Thompson (Professor of Imperial and Global History, Nuffield College) and Sir Mike Aaronson (Honorary Fellow, Nuffield College), the programme explores contemporary challenges facing the aid and the International aid sector, with a focus in the domains of geopolitical change; international relations; institutional leadership, development and ambition; political economy and market factors; and state behaviors and relationships to the state. We seek a researcher whose interests and experience fit into these broad domains.

The Postdoctoral Researcher will conduct independent original research in areas relevant to the overarching research programme, taking the lead in the design, conduct, and interpretation of research; and identifying additional research areas of interest to the programme. She or he will disseminate research results through publications in working papers and academic journals, and presentations at workshops and conferences, as well as producing pieces aimed at non-academic audiences. The postdoctoral researcher will organise workshops, conferences, and other events associated with the research programme. She or he will contribute to a commissioned report on ‘The Future of International NGOs’ targeted at academic, policy and practitioner communities, and will assist with external funding applications. The Postdoctoral Researcher may also undertake ad hoc paid teaching or supervision within the collegiate University in Oxford.

Applicants should hold, or be close to completing, a PhD/DPhil in a relevant social science discipline such as history, political science, sociology, or international relations. They should possess research experience and expertise appropriate for the research programme agenda, including archival research skills, familiarity with archives of non-state actors and NGOs, and experience of fieldwork, including structured interviews and gathering oral history records. Applicants should demonstrate high-quality academic research abilities in their scholarly writing and publications in peer-reviewed journals, commensurate with their career stage. The ability to translate and distil complex research results for non-academic readers, to work collaboratively with non-academic partners, and to undertake cross-disciplinary work are essential. Applicants should possess excellent oral and written communication skills, and organisational skills, together with exemplary interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively within a small research team and under their own initiative. Experience of authoring successful funding bids, or of collaborative working with NGOs would be an advantage.

The post is full-time and fixed-term for three years, starting on 1 March 2021 or as soon as possible thereafter. Applications from candidates who wish to take up the post on a part-time basis will also be considered. The salary will be £34,804 p.a. (pro-rated as appropriate). The post will be based at Nuffield College.

Further particulars and application instructions are available here: https://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/media/4329/jd-ingos-pr.pdf

HOW TO APPLY

To apply online for this vacancy, please click on the ‘Apply’ link below. This will take you to the Interfolio Web Recruitment System, where you will need to register for an account (if you have not done so previously) and log in before completing an online application.

For the online application you will be asked to complete an application form and a recruitment monitoring form, and to upload the following documents:

  1. A covering letter detailing your motivation for applying for this post, highlighting your background in the research areas relevant to the programme of research and your specific research skills;
  2. A curriculum vitae;
  3. Two samples of written work based on research which you have carried out or contributed to. One sample should be aimed at an academic audience and the other at a policy audience. Unpublished work (for example a chapter from a thesis or dissertation or a short report aimed at a policy audience specifically written for this application) will be acceptable.

You will also be asked to ensure that at least two references are received via the Interfolio platform by the closing date. As part of the online application process, applicants will be asked to provide their referees’ names and email addresses which will generate email reference requests from Interfolio to the referees, who will be invited to upload their confidential references directly to the Interfolio platform.

APPLY

If you have any technical difficulties submitting your online application, please contact Interfolio at help@interfolio.com. For other queries, please contact the College Registrar at vacancies@nuffield.ox.ac.uk.

If, for your convenience, you wish to submit a hard-copy application, please contact the Nuffield College Registrar at vacancies@nuffield.ox.ac.uk. Interfolio is a US-based service which processes data on servers based outside the EEA. The Interfolio privacy policy can be viewed here: www.interfolio.com/privacy-policy/. Information submitted via hard-copy is not processed through Interfolio.

The closing date for applications is Monday 21 December 2020.

Nuffield College exists to promote excellence in education and research, and is an equal opportunities employer committed to equality and valuing diversity. Applications are particularly welcome from women, from disabled people, and from black and minority ethnic candidates, who are currently under-represented in posts in the College.

New Book: “Humanitarianism and Human Rights. A World of Differences?”

Michael Barnett (ed.), Humanitarianism and Human Rights. A World of Differences?, Cambridge University Press 2020.

This book explores the fluctuating relationship between human rights and humanitarianism. For most of their lives, human rights and humanitarianism have been distant cousins. Humanitarianism focused on situations in faraway places dealing with large-scale loss of life that demanded urgent attention whilst human rights advanced the cause of individual liberty and equality at home. However, the twentieth century saw the two coming much more directly into dialogue, particularly following the end of the Cold War, as both began working in war zones and post-conflict situations. Leading scholars probe how the shifting meanings of human rights and humanitarianism converge and diverge from a variety of disciplinary perspectives ranging from philosophical inquiries that consider whether and how differences are constructed at the level of ethics, obligations, and duties, to historical inquiries that attempt to locate core differences within and between historical periods, and to practice-oriented perspectives that suggest how differences are created and recreated in response to concrete problems and through different kinds of organised activities with different goals and meanings.

Table of Content:

Introduction: Worlds of Difference, Michael Barnett

Part I Differences or Distinctions?

1 Human Rights and Humanitarianization: From Separation to Intersection, Samuel Moyn

2 Suffering and Status, Jeffrey Flynn

3 Humanitarianism and Human Rights in Morality and Practice, Charles R. Beitz

4 For a Fleeting Moment: The Short, Happy Life of Humanism, Stephen Hopgood

Part II Practices

5 Humanitarian Governance and the Circumvention of Revolutionary Human Rights in the British Empire, Alan Lester

6 Humanitarian Intervention as an Entangled History of Humanitarianism and Human Rights, Fabian Klose

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Die Politik humanitärer Hilfe im Zeichen von Covid-19

Cross-posted from https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungskalender/herrenh%C3%A4user-forum/die-politik-humanit%C3%A4rer-hilfe-im-zeichen-von-covid-19

Die Covid-19-Pandemie wirkt wie ein globales Brennglas: Sie steigert die Ungerechtigkeit, indem sie Armut und Not in vielen Teilen der Welt verschärft. Welche Rolle kann humanitäre Hilfe in dieser Lage spielen? Welche politischen Hürden bei der Bekämpfung des Virus zu nehmen sind, das diskutiert das Herrenhäuser Forum am 28. Oktober 2020.

“Mit Abstand nah dran” – unter diesem Motto freuen wir uns, die Türen des Xplanatoriums öffnen zu dürfen. 

Aufgrund der geltenden Schutz- und Hygienebestimmungen ist eine Anmeldung im Vorfeld zwingend notwendig! Die Anmeldung ist hier möglich! Bitte beachten Sie unsere Schutz- und Hygienemaßnahmen.

Bitte beachten Sie! Systembedingt ist pro Anmeldung eine individuelle Emailadresse erforderlich. Sollten Sie sich gemeinsam mit Ihrem Partner oder Ihrer Partnerin anmelden wollen und nur über eine gemeinsame Emailadresse verfügen, wenden Sie sich bitte telefonisch oder per Email an eine der Ansprechpartnerinnen im Veranstaltungsreferat. Wir helfen Ihnen gern weiter.

Globale Gerechtigkeit in der Krise – Die Politik humanitärer Hilfe im Zeichen von Covid-19

Die Covid-19-Pandemie wirkt wie ein globales Brennglas: Sie steigert die soziale Ungerechtigkeit, indem sie Armut und Not in vielen Teilen der Welt verschärft. Während in Deutschland die Ausbreitung des Virus aktuell gebremst scheint, nimmt sie anderswo rapide zu. Haben sich Hygienemaßnahmen, Gesundheitspolitik und gesellschaftliche Solidarität also bewährt? Ein globales “Ja” als Antwort kann nur geben, wer Augen und Ohren verschließt. Ein Blick in die Flüchtlingslager an den europäischen Außengrenzen oder in einzelne Regionen Lateinamerikas genügt, um zu erkennen, von einer erfolgreichen Pandemiebekämpfung und weltweiter Solidarität kann kaum die Rede sein. Das liegt daran, dass der Kampf gegen Covid-19 keine rein medizinische, sondern auch eine politische Herausforderung ist. Er ist abhängig von den politischen Umständen in einzelnen Ländern und internationalen Beziehungen. Er wird aber auch genutzt, um innen- und geopolitische Vorteile zu sichern sowie Veränderungen zu verhindern.

Welche Rolle können zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen und Initiativen hier spielen? Wie müsste globale Gesundheitspolitik betrieben werden, wie eine Weltordnung aussehen, damit aus Krisen nicht weniger, sondern mehr globale Gerechtigkeit erwächst?

Diese Veranstaltung richtet sich an ein neugieriges Publikum, das sich für aktuelle Themen aus Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft interessiert.

Herrenhäuser Forum
Globale Gerechtigkeit in der Krise
Die Politik humanitärer Hilfe im Zeichen von Covid-19

Mittwoch, 28. Oktober 2020, 19:00 Uhr
Xplanatorium, Schloss Herrenhausen, Hannover

Podiumsdiskussion mit

Chris Grodotzki, Sea-Watch, Berlin 

Prof. Dr. Fabian Klose, Lehrstuhl für Internationale Geschichte und historische Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, Universität zu Köln 

Prof. Dr. Lena Kroeker, Institut für Kulturwissenschaften, Universität der Bundeswehr München 

Katja Maurer, medico international, Frankfurt am Main 

Prof. Dr. Johannes Paulmann, Leibniz-Institut für Europäische Geschichte, Mainz

Moderation: Axel Rahmlow, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Anmeldung zur Veranstaltung

Um die erlaubte Maximalauslastung der Räume nicht zu überschreiten, bitten wir Sie, sich im Vorfeld der Veranstaltung auf unserer Homepage (https://veranstaltungen.volkswagenstiftung.de/) für die Veranstaltung anzumelden. So können wir sicherstellen, die maximale Teilnehmerzahl nicht zu überschreiten und niemanden wegschicken zu müssen.

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Reminder CfA Travel Grants Herrenhausen Conference 2020 “Governing Humanitarianism: Past, Present and Future”

HERRENHAUSEN PALACE, HANOVER, GERMANY

TRAVEL GRANTS AVAILABLE

for Early Career Researchers and Young Professionals

Deadline: March 15, 2020

Apply here: https://call.volkswagenstiftung.de/calls/antrag/index.html#/apply/80

The Topic

Humanitarian organisations across the globe face growing challenges in delivering aid, securing funds and maintaining public confidence. Trade-offs between sovereignty, democracy, security, development, identity, and human rights have become highly complex. The Herrenhausen Conference ‘Governing Humanitarianism’ interrogates present issues and future directions for global humanitarian governance in relation to its pasts. It asks if humanitarian expansion has come at the expense of core values and effective intervention, and how the pursuit of global equity and social justice can be pursued through shifting global and local power structures. The conference features six key themes: Humanitarianism as Global Networks and Activism; Gendering Humanitarianism; Humanitarianism and International Law; Humanitarian Political and Moral Economies; Media and Humanitarianism; Humanitarianism, Development and Global Human Rights.

Photo: www.push2hit.de - stock.adobe.com

Photo: www.push2hit.de – stock.adobe.com

Travel Grants Available

The Volkswagen Foundation offers travel grants for early career researchers (PhD students and postdoctoral researchers up to 5 years since PhD) or young professionals in humanitarian sectors. Applicants can win one of 30 grants to take part in the Herrenhausen Conference ‘Governing Humanitarianism’ in Hanover, Germany, on September 13-15, 2020. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to engage in collaborative, interdisciplinary discussions of key issues shaping the past, present and future of humanitarianism and to produce ‘best practice’ statements on how academics and practitioners can work together to tackle these issues. The grants include travel expenses to Hanover, visa fees (if applicable), and accommodation in Hanover. To apply, please complete the form before March 15, 2020: https://call.volkswagenstiftung.de/calls/antrag/index.html#/apply/80

Your application should contain the following

  • As an academic: An abstract of your research project with your research question, method, results and outlook, research partners and thesis advisors
  • As a young professional: A description of the project or the initiative you are engaging in and your role within this, explaining subjects, agenda, goals and activities
  • A statement which benefits you expect from taking part in the symposium
  • A short CV

Selection

Participants will be selected by the steering committee. Acceptance will be based on qualification of the applicant as well as relevance, originality of the research project/initiative and potential to meet the goals of the conference. We will inform the applicants about the results in May 2020.

Queries

Detailed program: www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en/governing-humanitarianism

Queries: Please contact Jeana Thilla, Volkswagen Foundation, at thilla@volkswagenstiftung.de

Call for Papers: Women, Gender Roles and Humanitarian Aid in the Greater War (1912-1925)

24-25 June 2020, University Foundation (Brussels)

Female-centred humanitarian aid has gained traction in recent years. In 2016, the UN Population Fund stated that ‘to succeed in building a more stable world, leaders will have to address the needs and protect the rights of affected women and girls, and incorporate their leadership and knowledge into all plans.’ In response, humanitarian agencies have launched a number of initiatives that empower girls through education, create cash-for-work programs for women and localise long-term aid in communities through female involvement.

While these issues might seem new and timely, women have shaped humanitarian agendas for more than a century. In the era of World War One, when Europe was also a recipient of help, numerous international aid organisations such as the Commission for Relief in Belgium, the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Rockefeller Foundation, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Save the Children tried to combat poverty, illness and trauma through the education and participation of European girls, women and mothers. The international, national and local civilian aid programs were often carried out by women. Female volunteers (society ladies and nobility members) laboured alongside professionals (home economists, nutritionists, nurses, physicians, social workers and librarians). These relief workers struggled with some of the same challenges humanitarian workers face today: how to reach crisis-affected civilians and particularly women in the private sphere of the home? How, when and where are traditional gender roles maintained, reinforced or disrupted by helping women and employing female humanitarian workers? How to push forward, fundraise for and carry out female oriented humanitarian projects in male dominated organisations and societies?

The two-day conference Women, Gender Roles and Humanitarian Aid in the Greater War will examine these and other questions by looking at the specific humanitarian programs for women and girls in Europe during and after the First World War. We look for contributions that analyse the nature of the programs by and/or for women and girls – both internationally and locally. We especially welcome presentations that go beyond Western Europe. It is envisaged that a selection of conference papers will be published in a special issue.  

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Doppelter Blick auf die Geschichte des Völkerrechts

Presseinformation vom 16.01.2020, http://ukoeln.de/H89VF

Der Historiker Fabian Klose und der Völkerrechtler Claus Kreß begründen Kooperation über die Geschichte des Völkerrechts. Das Projekt startet im April mit einem Seminar für Studierende beider Fächer.

Humanitäre Intervention, Kolonialismus, Freiheitskriege – ein Teil der Geschichte des Völkerrechts ist die Geschichte der großen Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Staaten. Was früher das ius in bello, das Kriegsvölkerrecht war, das hat sich bis heute zum Humanitären Völkerrecht entwickelt. Professor Dr. Fabian Klose, neuer Lehrstuhlinhaber für Internationale Geschichte und Historische Friedens- und Konfliktforschung und Professor Dr. Claus Kreß, Völkerrechtler und Direktor des Institute for International Peace and Security Law gehen das Thema nun gemeinsam an. Beide wollen langfristig in Forschung und Lehre kooperieren. „In Versailles saßen die Deutschen noch auf der Anklagebank“, erklärt der Völkerrechtler Kreß. „Mehr als 70 Jahre später war Deutschland auf einmal eine Kraft, die die Entwicklung des Völkerrechts forciert hat.“ Jeder Staat weltweit hat seine eigene Haltung zum Humanitären Völkerrecht und zum internationalen Strafgerichtshof entwickelt. „Das kann ein Rechtswissenschaftler zwar ansatzweise beantworten, letztlich aber viel besser, wenn er mit einem Historiker zusammenarbeitet, der die jeweilige rechtspolitische Haltung in ihren größeren Kontext einzubetten versteht.“

„Den HistorikerInnen fehlt häufig die allerletzte völkerrechtliche Expertise. Wenn man aber mit jemanden wie Claus Kreß ein derartiges  Kooperationsprojekt starten kann, dann ist das ein großer Gewinn“, so Klose.

Die Zusammenarbeit wird auf drei Säulen ruhen: Forschung, Lehre und einer neuen Vortragsreihe mit internationalen Gastwissenschaftler und Gastwissenschaftlerinnen. „Wir sind jetzt startklar und können den Studierenden nun unser erstes Seminar ankündigen“, sagt Kreß: Für das Sommersemester 2020 bieten Klose und Kreß ein interdisziplinäres Seminar zur Geschichte des Völkerrechts: „Vom Kriegsrecht zum Humanitären Völkerrecht? Das Völkerrecht der bewaffneten Konflikte vom 19. bis 21. Jahrhundert“.
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CfP: Law in Transnational Spaces. Cross-border Biographies in Legal History in the 19th and 20th Century

Writing transnational history comes with its own set of unique requirements. It is challenging to construct a coherent narrative out of the numerous factors involved. A biographical approach is one possibility to operationalize research on transnational networks and institutions. Biographies reveal individuals’ assumptions and attitudes, help contextualize their debates and explain the historical change of norms in their local context.

This also applies to legal histories investigating interactions, entanglements and the circulation of legal knowledge across national borders. The history of international law is incomplete without transnational actors shaping it. Most prominently, recent scholarship has engaged with the question how émigré jurists (most of them Jewish) have influenced the development of international criminal and human rights law in the mid-twentieth century. This has opened up new perspectives on how the individual experience of exile and juridical concepts have influence each other.

Transnational actors were not only significant on the international level, but developed a domestic momentum as well. Transnational reform movements have influenced the discourse on national criminal law. Zooming in on the individuals who shaped these discussions in transnational settings helps to complicate narratives about the seemingly progressive juridification and humanisation of international relations. It reveals the actors’ complex and sometimes even competing interests and underlying ideas about law. This enables research analysing actors’ positions in structures of power as well as gender and race relations.

The workshop “Law in Transnational Spaces” on 19 and 20 March 2020, in Berlin invites junior researchers to critically engage with actor-centred approaches in transnational legal history, in particular biographies. It offers the opportunity to discuss research projects that use a biographical lens. More specifically, the following questions might be tackled in the papers:

  • What methodological challenges result from a biographical approach to transnational legal history?
  • Were transnational legal networks a resource for people who came from what was perceived as “periphery”, or did they manifest existing power dynamics?
  • What influence did transnational networks have on women engaging in legal debates?
  • What resources did émigré lawyers have to participate in transnational discussions and legal networks and shape the history of law?

The workshop is part of the research project “The London Moment”, funded by the Volkswagen-Stiftung, at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Papers should be based on original material and 20 minutes in length. Accommodation during the workshop and travel expenses within Europe will be covered within reasonable limits. Interested scholars are invited to submit an abstract of 300 words and a short CV to sara.weydner@hu-berlin.de by 31 January 2020.

CfA Travel Grants Herrenhausen Conference 2020 “Governing Humanitarianism: Past, Present and Future”

HERRENHAUSEN PALACE, HANOVER, GERMANY

TRAVEL GRANTS AVAILABLE

for Early Career Researchers and Young Professionals

Deadline: March 15, 2020

Apply here: https://call.volkswagenstiftung.de/calls/antrag/index.html#/apply/80

The Topic

Humanitarian organisations across the globe face growing challenges in delivering aid, securing funds and maintaining public confidence. Trade-offs between sovereignty, democracy, security, development, identity, and human rights have become highly complex. The Herrenhausen Conference ‘Governing Humanitarianism’ interrogates present issues and future directions for global humanitarian governance in relation to its pasts. It asks if humanitarian expansion has come at the expense of core values and effective intervention, and how the pursuit of global equity and social justice can be pursued through shifting global and local power structures. The conference features six key themes: Humanitarianism as Global Networks and Activism; Gendering Humanitarianism; Humanitarianism and International Law; Humanitarian Political and Moral Economies; Media and Humanitarianism; Humanitarianism, Development and Global Human Rights.

Travel Grants Available

Herrenhausen Palace, the venue of the Herrenhausen Conference on “Governing Humanitarianism”

The Volkswagen Foundation offers travel grants for early career researchers (PhD students and postdoctoral researchers up to 5 years since PhD) or young professionals in humanitarian sectors. Applicants can win one of 30 grants to take part in the Herrenhausen Conference ‘Governing Humanitarianism’ in Hanover, Germany, on September 13-15, 2020. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to engage in collaborative, interdisciplinary discussions of key issues shaping the past, present and future of humanitarianism and to produce ‘best practice’ statements on how academics and practitioners can work together to tackle these issues. The grants include travel expenses to Hanover, visa fees (if applicable), and accommodation in Hanover. To apply, please complete the form before March 15, 2020: https://call.volkswagenstiftung.de/calls/antrag/index.html#/apply/80

Your application should contain the following

  • As an academic: An abstract of your research project with your research question, method, results and outlook, research partners and thesis advisors
  • As a young professional: A description of the project or the initiative you are engaging in and your role within this, explaining subjects, agenda, goals and activities
  • A statement which benefits you expect from taking part in the symposium
  • A short CV

Selection

Participants will be selected by the steering committee. Acceptance will be based on qualification of the applicant as well as relevance, originality of the research project/initiative and potential to meet the goals of the conference. We will inform the applicants about the results in May 2020.

Queries

Detailed program: www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en/governing-humanitarianism

Queries: Please contact Jeana Thilla, Volkswagen Foundation, at thilla@volkswagenstiftung.de

CfA IEG Fellowships for Doctoral Students

Application deadline: February 15, 2020
For IEG Fellowships beginning in September 2020 or later

The Leibniz Institute of European History (IEG) awards 8–10 fellowships for international doctoral students in European history, the history of religion, historical theology, or other historical disciplines.

The IEG funds PhD projects on European history from the early modern period until 1989/90. We are particularly interested in projects

  • with a comparative or cross-border approach,
  • on European history in its relation to the wider world, or
  • on topics of intellectual and religious history.

What we offer

The IEG Fellowships provide a unique opportunity to pursue your individual PhD project while living and working for 6–12 months at the Institute in Mainz. The monthly stipend is € 1,350. Additionally, you can apply for family or child allowance.

Requirements

During the fellowship you are required to reside at the Institute in Mainz. You actively participate in the IEG’s research community, the weekly colloquia and scholarly activities. We expect you to present your work at least once during your fellowship. The IEG preferably supports the writing up of dissertations; it will not provide funding for preliminary research, language courses or the revision of book manuscripts. PhD theses continue to be supervised under the auspices of the fellows’ home universities. We expect proficiency in English and a sufficient command of German to participate in discussions at the Institute. The IEG encourages applications from women.

Application

Please combine all of your application materials except for the application form into a single PDF and send your application to application@ieg-mainz.de.
Letters of recommendation should be submitted directly by the referees. You may write in either English or German; we recommend that you use the language in which you are most proficient.

You can download the application form under the following: http://bit.ly/IEG_2020-1

The IEG has two deadlines each year for IEG Fellowships: February 15 and August 15.
The next deadline for applications is February 15, 2020.

Please direct your questions concerning the IEG Fellowship Programme to
Barbara Müller: fellowship@ieg-mainz.de

Please also visit our website
http://www.ieg-mainz.de/en/fellowships  

CfA Worlds of Social Policies: Local and Global Dimensions of Change Since 1945

6-7 February 2020, Lisbon, Portugal

Organization: Research project Worlds of (Under)Development: processes and legacies of the Portuguese colonial empire in a comparative perspective (1945-1975), Center for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Keynotes: Sandrine Kott (University of Geneva) and Joseph Hodge (West Virginia University)

Scientific Committee:

Joana Brites (University of Coimbra)

Cláudia Castelo (University of Coimbra)

Philip Havik (New University of Lisbon)

Joseph Hodge (West Virginia University)

Steven Jensen (Danish Institute for Human Rights)

Miguel Bandeira Jerónimo (University of Coimbra)

Alexander Keese (University of Geneva)

Sandrine Kott (University of Geneva)

Damiano Matasci (University of Geneva)

José Pedro Monteiro (University of Coimbra)

Call for papers:

Prolonging and reinventing dynamics visible in the interwar period, one of the most salient processes associated with the aftermath of the Second World War was the internationalisation of arguments, debates, norms and policies dealing with social issues. The tentative definition and implementation of standards and policies aiming at human welfare, through the (re)distribution of and access to goods and resources, increasingly included international and transnational actors and expertise. The League of Nations had already promoted social policies in the fields of rural development, public health, labour, the protection of minorities, human trafficking and child welfare, but the range of topics being debated “internationally” would be greatly expanded after 1945. The emergence and consolidation of the United Nations, and its various specialised agencies, contributed to that process, creating platforms for cooperation and exchanges, and for disputes, between international (including imperial and colonial), transnational and national experts. The UN system fostered or expanded existing networks, which promoted the production, accumulation and circulation of different types of expertise. As a result, it standardised and perfected statistical tools while developing major doctrines of social engineering and specialised forms of local intervention in a global context. Thus, rethinking and planning societal change became a “hot topic”, and a subject of heightened competition during the Cold War. Heterogenous visions of “modernity” related to early Cold War dynamics had a direct bearing upon policies introduced by modernising colonial empires and post-colonial projects of state-building and found expression in the implementation of large-scale developmental schemes. Continue reading

Report of the Fifth GHRA (2019)

Academic Conveners: Fabian Klose (University of Cologne), Johannes Paulmann (IEG Mainz), Andrew Thompson (University of Exeter) in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (Geneva)

Date: 07.07.2019-19.07.2019, Mainz / Geneva

The fifth edition of the Global Humanitarianism Research Academy (GHRA) took place at the Leibniz Institute of European History Mainz and the Archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva from July 7 to 19, 2019. It approached cutting-edge research regarding ideas and practices of humanitarianism in the context of international, imperial and global history thus advancing our understanding of global governance in humanitarian crises of the present. With the Chair in International History and Historical Peace and Conflict Studies at the Department of History of the University of Cologne, a new partner joined the GHRA 2019. As in the last four years the organizers FABIAN KLOSE (University of Cologne), JOHANNES PAULMANN (Leibniz Institute of European History Mainz), and ANDREW THOMPSON (University of Exeter) received again a large number of excellent applications from more than twenty different countries around the world. Eventually the conveners selected eleven fellows (nine PhD candidates, two Postdocs) from Brazil, Cyprus, Egypt, Ireland, Japan, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The multitude of disciplinary approaches from International Law, Political Science, and Medicine proved to be very rewarding just as the participation of guest lecturer CLAUS KREß (University of Cologne), visiting fellow JULIA IRWIN (University of South Florida, Tampa) as well as STACEY HYND (University of Exeter) and MARC-WILLIAM PALEN (University of Exeter) as long-standing members of the academic team.

First Week: After the intense discussion of a previously prepared reading list on Day One, the Second Day was reserved entirely for the presentations und discussion of the participants’ projects. The range of studies on historical forms of humanitarianism and human rights encouraged a productive atmosphere of exchange, critique and pondering among the peers. Concretely, the topics presented encompassed the history of humanitarian aid in authoritarian states and the comparison of projects of Oxfam and Médecins sans Frontières from the 1970s to 1990s (MARIA CULLEN); a longue durée view of displacement and hospitality in an African borderland (Uganda/South Sudan) by conceptualizing languages of aid and lands of refuge (MITCHELL EDWARDS); a glance on new colonial challenges in the Portuguese Colonial War (1961-1976) and the role of international intervention and humanitarian assistance in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique (ANA FILIPA GUARDIÃO); the history of psychiatry in refugee camps dealing with uprooting, trauma and confinement in various case studies from the 1940s onwards (BAHER IBRAHIM); an interdisciplinary historical legal investigation of international humanitarian law in the Republic of Cyprus from 1963 until 1971 in light of the 1949 Geneva Conventions (NADIA KORNIOTI); an ‘imperial’ history of the Salvation Army’s overseas settlements and colonies between 1890 and 1939 (ADAM MILLAR); the role of international humanitarian relief and local female aid in counter-insurgency warfare in Kenya 1952-1960 (BETHANY REBISZ); a multifaceted history of refugee politics, foreign aid, and the emergence of American humanitarianism in the early twentieth century (KYLE ROMERO); the legal history of slave trade suppression and the reimagining of peace in 19th century international law with a focus on dynamics between Britain and slave-based Latin-American states (ADRIANE SANCTIS DE BRITO); a history of disaster, recovery, and humanitarianism focussing on the Japanese Red Cross Society between 1877 and 1945 (MICHIKO SUZUKI); the scale of a humanitarian turn in the BBC External Services and the benevolence of British internationalism from 1965 to 1995 (STEPHEN WESTLAKE).

Continue reading

CfA Research Fellowships in Global History, Winter Term 2020/21

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, one of the leading research universities in Europe, with a more than 500-year-long tradition, is advertising up to five research fellowships for scholars active in global history. The university is committed to the highest international standards of excellence in research and teaching. Fellows will be based at the interdisciplinary Munich Centre for Global History. During their stay, they will work on a research project in global history or its neighbouring fields. Fellows have no teaching obligation. They are expected to actively engage with the scholarly community at the university and particularly at the centre.

The fellowships are open to postdoctoral researchers from all disciplines. Scholars who are already advanced in their academic careers and have a strong international track record are explicitly encouraged to apply. Depending on the situation of the applicant and the character of the project, the duration of the fellowship will be between one and three months. Fellowships for the winter term 2020/21 should be taken up between mid-October 2020 and the end of February 2021.


The fellowship entails economy travel to and from Munich, a monthly living allowance, free housing in a furnished studio apartment in Munich as well as office space at the Munich Centre for Global History. Health insurance or other social benefits are not part of the fellowship and the responsibility of the fellow.


Applications will include a letter of motivation, a short outline of the research to be done during the fellowship (1-2 pages) and a CV. Please also include information as to the preferred time and duration of the fellowship. All application material should be send electronically as one PDF-file to Dr Susanne Hohler (susanne.hohler@lmu.de) until 30 November 2019.


Enquiries should also be directed to Dr Hohler or to the centre’s founding director Professor Roland Wenzlhuemer (roland.wenzlhuemer@lmu.de). More information on the Munich Centre for Global History can be found at www.lmu.de\globalhistory.