2003 ECSR Summer School
'European Values and Identities'

School of Sociology and Social Policy, Queen's University of Belfast,
Northern Ireland
Saturday August 30th to Thursday September 4th, 2003

Local organizers:
Robert Miller & Bernadette Hayes
School of Sociology & Social Policy
The Queen's University of Belfast
http://www.qub.ac.uk/ssp/

The fifth ECSR Summer School
Integrating Sociological Theory and Research (ISTAR)
Belfast, 30 August - 4 September, 2003

The fifth European Consortium for Sociological Research (ECSR)
Summer School 'Integrating Sociological Theory and
Research' (ISTAR) will be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 30
August - 4 September, 2003. The general topic of the Summer School is
'European values and Identities'. The target participants are
primarily doctoral students working in the various fields of
sociology. The Summer School is being organized by the School of
Sociology & Social Policy at The Queen's University of Belfast.
Deadline for application is 1 June 2003.

Information about the various aspects of the Summer School is below.
- About ECSR Summer School
- This year's topic
- Programme and Daily Schedule
- Summer School Organisers
- Application Procedure
- Accommodation and Fees

About ECSR Summer School
The Euro Summer School Integrating Sociological Theory and Research
in Europe provides intensive, rigorous and systematic graduate
training to young researchers from all European (and exceptionally
also non-European) countries. It represents an attempt to provide
young researchers with the analytical and conceptual tools to address
not only the traditional or long-standing topics of sociological
concern, but also the new issues that will inevitably arise in the
continuing process of Europeanisation. It emphasizes linking theory
to empirical research in the context of the comparative study of
evolving social structures in European societies. It provides a
European forum where young scholars can present their work to their
peers under the guidance of leading practitioners in their fields of
specialisation, and it facilitates the development of European
networks of young scholars.

The Summer School combines two elements of teaching and learning
opportunities: a set of lectures and seminars by eminent sociological
practitioners, and a set of workshops devoted to more in-depth
analysis of specific issues and at which participants' own work can
be discussed alongside that of established sociologists. In this way
the Summer School seeks to combine traditional teaching methods with
the opportunity for young researchers to receive direct, practical
guidance.

The Summer School is organised on behalf of the European Consortium
of Sociological Research (ECSR) and will be co-ordinated with support
from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI, Dublin,
Ireland, coordinator Philip O'Connell). The Summer School takes place
once a year and is carried out each year at a different one of ECSR's
member institutes: in 2003 at the School of Sociology and Social
Policy, the Queen's University, Belfast, and in 2004, at the
Department of Sociology and Social Research, the University of
Trento. Earlier Summer Schools were held in Mannheim, Oxford,
Stockholm and Amsterdam. In this way the Summer School contributes to
the creation of a network of excellence of research centres in Europe
and helps young researchers to get acquainted both with each other
and with the research facilities in various European countries.

This year's topic
Questions about cultural unity and diversity and forging of new
national and supra-national identities in the European Union have
long been at the centre of attention in the European project. These
questions have arisen against a broader background of scholarly
interest in the direction of cultural change in modernising societies
and the nature of identity in a globalising world. Over recent
decades, important data sources have been built up in Europe which
allow for theoretically informed and empirically grounded analyses of
these questions. These include the European Values Study (EVS), the
International Social Survey Project (ISSP), the Eurobarometer series
of surveys, and the new European Social Survey. Together, these
provide rich time series of data on values, atitudes and identity
going back to the 1970s in some countries and now embracing virtually
all countries of Europe.  The 2003 Graduate School will provide an
overview and particular detailed analyses of these data sources and
highlight key questions they can address. It will also provide
participants practical guidance on accessing the databanks in which
these large and complex data sources are held.

Programme and Daily Schedule
The basic structure of each Graduate School event consists of a six-
day programme with about 6 distinguished scholars and about 40
graduate student/young researcher participants. The programme entails
5 'Lecture days' plus one day of parallel workshops. On each of the
lecture days the lecturer gives 2 lectures, one, a state of the
survey lecture emphasising a particular theoretical/methodological
problem of ISTAR, the other, an applied 'science-in-action' lecture
drawing on the lecturer's own recent or ongoing research. Lecture
days begin with a lecture from a leading European researcher
providing a comprehensive overview of their field of expertise,
followed by presentations by two graduate students on sub-topics
related to particular areas within the filed.  The afternoon
programme consists of an applied lecture, where the lecturer provides
a detailed exposition of his/her recent or ongoing empirical
research.  The day's programme concludes with a Workshop paper
presentation by a young researcher or advanced graduate student.
Each individual session is designed to ensure adequate time for
detailed discussion and critique. All papers will be circulated in
advance of the summer school.


Provisional Programme, 2003 Summer School

August 30
Prof. Roger Jowell,
National Centre for
Social Research, London
'The European Social Survey'

August 31
Dr. Daniele Caramani,
Mannheim
'Identity in Europe?'

Sept 1
Dr. Loek Halman,
Tilburg University,
The Netherlands
'Doing cross-national values research : the European values
survey'

Sept 2
Parallel Workshops

Sept 3
Prof. Anne-Marie Aish,
University of Louvain,
Belgium
'Statistical methods for values research'

Sept 4
Prof. Bernadette Hayes,
Queen's University
Northern Ireland
and
Prof. Richard Sinnott,
University College,
Dublin,
Republic of Ireland
'Religion, politics and identity in Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland'

Each of the five lecture days follows the same time schedule. The
lecturers present both a general overview and an applied lecture in
their field of expertise. The seminars are intended to provide
opportunities for advanced graduate students and young researchers to
discuss literature and to present their own work to a specialized
international audience.

Morning
Lecture 1: State of the art survey of substantive research field
Seminar 1: Literature review on specified sub-themes in the
research field, with prepared inputs from two graduate students

Afternoon
Lecture 2: Applied lecture where the lecturer presents
recent/ongoing applied work
Seminar 2 (workshop): Two graduate students/young researchers
present own papers in related research field

The Workshops are intended to provide opportunities to advanced
graduate students and young researchers to present their work to a
specialised international audience.  One day (Day 4 in the Programme
above) is entirely devoted to two parallel but thematically distinct
Workshops.  Lecturers from Day 3 and Day 5 chair the workshops,
provide formal responses to presented papers, and direct discussion
of the presented work.

Summer School organisers
European Consortium of Sociological Research (ECSR) is an association
of leading sociological institutes in Europe, aiming to intensify
exchange and co-operation among social scientists through
conferences, workshops, training programmes and research networks.

Local organisation: Robert Miller & Bernadette Hayes, School of
Sociology and Social Policy, Queens University Belfast.  http:
http://www.qub.ac.uk/ssp/

Co-ordination: Philip J. O'Connell, ESRI, Dublin.  http://www.esri.ie

Contact person: Daphne McNamara Lancha, ESRI, Dublin
 [log in to unmask]

Application procedure
The deadline for the application is 1 June 2003. The selection of
applicants is based on the following documents, which should be sent
to the address mentioned below:

1. A CV of the applicant
2. A brief description of your research, and/or an abstract, in case
you want to present a paper. We prefer students who are willing to
present a paper.
3. A letter of recommendation of the supervisor of the PhD candidate

In the abstract, the applicant should describe 1) the main research
questions and/or hypotheses, 2) the sociological context and the most
important theoretical perspectives of the study and 3) the type of
research that is conducted, the methods used etc. The abstract should
be about 300 - 600 words.
The selected applicants should take into account that they will be
asked to submit their papers before 10 August 2003.

Students from Eastern of Central Europe who wish to apply for grants,
should mention this in the accompanying letter or email. More
information about these grants will follow.

The documents for application can be sent by email to:
Daphne McNamara Lancha, ESRI, Dublin,   [log in to unmask]

or by mail to:
Daphne McNamara Lancha,
The Economic and Social Research Institute
4 Burlington Road,
Dublin 4,
Ireland

Accommodation and fees
The Summer School will be held at the School of Sociology and Social
Policy, The Queens Univserity of Belfast.

The costs for accommodation will be 300 Euro, which includes
accommodation, lunches, and one Summer School Dinner. Travel expenses
to Belfast must be added to this. We are trying to arrange grants
for students from Eastern European countries. More information about
this will follow.

For further information, please contact Daphne McNamara Lancha, ESRI,
Dublin  [log in to unmask]