GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP COMPETITION ABOUT CGES RESEARCH COLLABORATIVES AND THE

GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP COMPETITION 2006-07 ABOUT CGES RESEARCH COLLABORATIVES AND THE GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP COMPETITION The Center for German and European Studies aims to train a new generation of German and European experts in the United States by supporting multi-institutional research collaboratives and developing a series of interdisciplinary seminars focusing on Germany and Europe. The Center’s fellowship program provides support for students pursuing a graduate degree with a research interest that contributes to or draws on German and European studies. German and European studies can be defined broadly to embrace the multi-faceted, interdisciplinary study of the geography, history, politics, economics, law, society, and culture of Germany and its role in Europe. The particular place of German and European identities in the reconfiguration of Europe provides a compelling paradigm for interdisciplinary teaching and research, inviting interdisciplinary and comparative examination from all vantage-points and disciplines. Global parallels and intersections with German and European experience provide a wider context for understanding concepts, and offer nonAmerican frameworks that are useful for analyzing social change. Each year the Center establishes two research collaboratives on different themes in German and European Studies with faculty from two or more institutions. These collaboratives last for two years. During the second year, collaborative faculty lead a graduate seminar on a topic related to their research theme. The seminar is held jointly with faculty and students from the UW-Madison and the collaborating institution(s). During the seminar semester, collaborative faculty invite guest speakers to participate in the CGES lecture series on the seminar’s topic. The seminar closes with a collaborative conference (either during the seminar semester or in the semester following) that will involve students participating in the collaborative seminar. RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE THEMES The seminar themes for the academic year 2006-07 are: Eastern Europe in Transition: Property Relations and Society University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Seminar: Fall 2006 DESCRIPTION This seminar examines rural transitions in Central and Eastern European countries. Because of the region’s geopolitical volatility and the crafting of a mythical Eastern Europe, we will consider intra-regional differences in light of the past (experiences with socialisms and capitalisms) and the present (European Union accession, market liberalization), with an eye towards the future. This allows for multiple thematic foci ranging from histories of nationalism, politics of memory, post-socialist change in governance, agrarian reform, and social movements. These foci are arranged around the overarching issue of transitions in property rights. The seminar examines both recent and ongoing transitions. Post-socialism is a period marked by extreme and intensifying differentiation along several dimenstions. EU accession marks a new round of transition, with impacts that are just starting to become clear. In rural areas, many countries have experienced the complete reformulation of land rights and ownership rules. Many rural inhabitants are turning to cultural, eco- or agro- tourism and leaving traditional farming. Nationalism is resurgent, but in new political contours; globalization is seen in the integration of newly created entrepreneurial farms instead of state-directed collectives, changes in labor laws, and local cottage and high-tech industries. Property rights, having been altered many times during modernity, have become elastic or ambiguous even as rural land has become more significant and valuable. Yet the governance of land in EU accession countries requires the creation of a capitalist land ownership supported by a land information infrastructure. Remnant traditions and intraregional differences in land tenure and property rights challenge the development of the cadastre, giving rise to social movements (sustainable agriculture and others) as well as EU policies. Faculty teaching the seminar include: Peter Bloch (Land Tenure Center and Forest Ecology and Mgt, UW-Madison), Stephen Ventura (Nelson Institute and Soil Sciences, UW-Madison), Volker Radeloff (Forest Ecology and Mgt, UW-Madison), Robert Kaiser (Geography, UW-Madison), Francis Harvey (Geography, UMN-TC), and Thomas Wolfe (History, UMN-TC). War, Peace and the Birth of a United Europe, 1648B2003 University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Seminar: Spring 2007 DESCRIPTION In Kant's treatise On Perpetual Peace (1795) one finds the surprising statement that "Nature has chosen war as a means of obtaining peace."This dialectic of war and peace seems like a Mephistophelian principle of history that promotes war and accomplishes peace. We will use this paradox as the theses for our seminar discussions in order to find out how wars in Europe since the 17th century contributed to the development of peace and a United Europe. Especially since the Enlightenment, the hope for a peaceful Europe has been articulated in many texts up to the present which all have a utopian tinge: Saint Pierre, Rousseau, Bentham, Kant, Fr. Schlegel, Fichte, Berta von Suttner, Nobel, Einstein, Freud, Russell and many others. It is this cluster of philosophical, political, and poetic texts, which will be enhanced by secondary analyses of their theoretical grounding, that interest us. The seminar is designed for graduate students in history, political science, and literature. Faculty teaching the seminar include: Professor Klaus L. Berghahn (German and Jewish Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Professor Eric Weitz (History, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities). FELLOWSHIP AWARDS FOR 2006-07 Five fellowships per seminar will be given out to students working in each theme area for 2006-07. Students applying for fellowships should indicate if they have applied for other support (Fulbright, DAAD, etc.) for the same time period. CGES fellowships will be awarded for one semester and in the form of a research or project assistantship. The appointment carries with it tuition remission and health insurance. Students must enroll and participate actively in the collaborative seminar for which they are receiving the fellowship. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS To be eligible for the CGES Fellowship Competition, students must satisfy the following requirements: 1. Full-time graduate student at the UW-Madison (students from all fields and schools are welcome to apply) 2. Must have completed at least one year of graduate-level coursework by the Fall of 2006. 3. Must be able to enroll in the CGES seminar for which the fellowship is awarded. CGES will provide fellowship support for the following types of students: 1. Doctoral Candidates engaged in a course of study that will lead to a dissertation that will benefit from work done in German and/or European Studies. The dissertation might be focused on Germany or Europe but might also draw on research and perspectives offered by German and European Studies fields. 2. Masters Candidates working toward a thesis drawing on or contributing to German and European Studies. 3. Students who have a specific research plan for the semester that relates to the topic of the seminar. This research plan may or may not develop into a Masters thesis or doctoral dissertation topic. APPLICATION GUIDELINES To apply, send the following materials to: CENTER FOR GERMAN & EUROPEAN STUDIES 213 INGRAHAM HALL / 1155 OBSERVATORY DRIVE MADISON, WI 53706 Tel: 608.265-6295 / Fax: 608.265-9541 Email: cges@intl-institute.wisc.edu // Web: http://daadcenter.wisc.edu 1. CGES cover page (download from web). 2. A two to three page, double-spaced description of your research topic and how it is related to the theme of the seminar to which you are applying. In this description, outline your proposed research plan during the period of the fellowship as specifically as possible. If your topic is not on a German and/or European theme, please detail how a German and/or European perspective will inform your work. 3. Two letters of recommendation from UW-Madison faculty familiar with your work (including PhD or directed research advisor). 4. Undergraduate and graduate transcripts (one official copy of each). If you did your undergraduate or graduate work at the UW-Madison, campus copies of your transcripts are acceptable. 5. An up-to-date CV. COMPLETED APPLICATION MUST BE RECEIVED BY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 2006. AWARDS WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY THE END OF MARCH 2006.