From "Piret Peiker" <[log in to unmask]>
Dear colleague,
Please find attached information about the Tallinn Postgraduate Summer
School in Social and Cultural Studies 15-21 August 2006 "Contested
Modernities" at Tallinn University, Estonia.
Among the tutors of the Summer School are Prof. Ágnes Heller, Prof.
Olakunle
George, Prof. Rein Raud, Prof. György Schöpflin.
The same material is pasted in the e-mail field below.
I would be very grateful, if you could pass this on to any postgraduate
students who might be interested. Please do not hesitate to contact me, if
you have any enquiries.
With best regards,
Piret Peiker
Academic Co-ordinator
Estonian Institute of Humanities
Tallinn University
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Address: Uus-Sadama 5, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia
Phone: +372 61 99 555
Mobile phone + 372 58095834
Web: www.ehi.ee
---------------------------------------
Tallinn Summer School
Tallinn Postgraduate Summer School in Social and Cultural Studies
Contested Modernities
15 - 21 August 2006
Hosting institutions: Estonian Institute of Humanities, Tallinn
University;
Centre for Central-Eastern Europe and the Balkans, University of Bologna
Supporters: The British Council, the City of Tallinn, the Embassy of the
United States of America, the European Parliament, the Hungarian Institute
in Tallinn
The organisers invite M.A. and Ph.D. students to participate in the 4th
Tallinn Summer School in Social and Cultural Studies. The course will
investigate the phenomenon of modernity, discussing the widespread social,
political, economic and cultural transformations that gathered momentum
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and are still in motion
today. It will discuss how radically new ideas appear, how these ideas
circulate and transform existing models of understanding one's destiny as
an
individual and as a collective in particular cultural contexts, and how
these ideas are contested, changed and re-shaped in their turn.
The very word "modern" is ambiguous - we talk about "modernising" things
when we mean "updating" them, but "modern" and "modernity" also refer to a
particular era, one that may be coming to an end with the onset of
"post-modernity", though this is strongly contested. What is not in doubt
is
the dynamic, shifting, unsettling quality of the modern era. The once
strongly held belief that there is only one way of being modern, whether
that is Soviet or Western, is now being challenged from a variety of
directions. There is the gap between the US and Europe, the rise of
non-Western modernities (China, India, Brazil) and the gulf between
economic
processes and the absence of political control over them.
The thematics of modernity has a specific relevance in the Estonian
context.
The belated, rapid and in some opinion entirely rootless modernisation,
which developed in Estonia end of 19th-beginning of 20th century has
turned
Estonia into a paradigmatic debate case between leading European
nationalism
scholars (Ernest Gellner, Anthony Smith). In many ways, Estonia's fast
post-Soviet shift to the "modern" Western modernity is an equally
interesting case, as both cultural consciousness and practices are
changing
fast, but certain particular elements of the past remain.
The Summer School analyses modernities not only in relation to political,
social or economic spheres, but also in the realm of more subjective
changes
in the way individuals perceive their lives, as well as in the development
of what we may describe as modern aesthetics. In order to do that, the
Summer School approaches modernity in an inter-disciplinary framework,
comprising Anthropology, Cultural Theory, History, Literary Theory,
Philosophy, Politics, Postcolonial Studies and Sociology, and draws upon a
range of Estonian and international specialists.
Programme
(details subject to changes)
15 August
Keynote. Prof. Ágnes Heller (The New School, New York City)
16 August
Preliminary definitions. Modernity, pre-modernity, post-modernity: the
concepts. What does it mean to be modern? The case for one universal
modernity. Modernities and modernisms.
Tutors: Prof. Bruce Knauft (Emory University, Atlanta), Prof. Mikko
Lagerspetz (Tallinn University), Prof. Lea Rojola (University of Helsinki)
17 August
Formation of modernities. Modernity, statehood and nationhood. Do nations
have pre-modern roots? Can one be modern without being democratic? The
West
and the rest: belated modernities, colonization and "self-colonization".
Tutors: Dr. Eva Piirimäe (Cambridge University), Prof. György Schöpflin
(MEP
for Hungary, formerly University College London)
Student workshop: Ms. Triinu Mets (Tallinn University), Ms. Piret Peiker
(Tallinn University)
18 August
Modernity: discourses and axiologies. The heritage of Enlightment:
modernity, rationality and practical democracy. Modernity and identity,
modern subjectivity. Modernity and gender. Anti-modermity and
post-modernity.
Tutors: Prof. Dorothy Hodgson (Rutgers University, New Brunswick), Prof.
Olakunle George (Brown University, Providence)
19-20 August
Models of modernity. Case studies from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe.
Tutors: Prof. Rein Raud (Tallinn University), Mr. Alari Allik (Tallinn
University)
Student workshop: Mr. Tarmo Jüristo (Tallinn University)
21 August
The Case of Estonia. A study day in Haapsalu, a historical resort town and
the site of the Estonian Railway Museum on the western coast of Estonia.
Tutors: Prof. Tiina Kirss (Tartu University/University of Toronto), Ms.
Anne-Liis Peterson (Tallinn University)
Practicalities
Participation
The Summer School will accept no more than 40 Doctoral or Master students.
If the number of applicants should exceed 40, the Academic Committee of
the
Summer School will make a shortlist based on the academic background and
the
geographic and gender distribution among the applying students. The
language
of the Summer School is English. Students are expected to do (a reasonable
amount of) preparatory reading in order to participate in the Summer
School.
The texts will be announced no later than 15 June. Based upon full
participation in the study programme and the completion of a 2500-word
academic essay the students will be awarded 4.5 ECTS points.
Registration form
To register by e-mail, please find the registration form
www.tlu.ee/?LangID=1&CatID=1932
The form should be sent to Ms. Triinu Mets [log in to unmask]
To register by regular mail and by fax, please find the pdf registration
form on the general Tallinn Summer School homepage
www.tlu.ee/?LangID=2&CatID=2005 This form should be addressed to Ms.
Edith
Sepp, Tallinn Summer School, 25 Narva mnt, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia. Fax:
+372
640 9118.
Registration deadline
31 May 2006
Notification of acceptance
15 June
Non-refundable registration fee
100 EUR, payable by 1 June 2006
The course fee
170 EUR, payable by 20 June 2006
Grants
Ten Tallinn University students and six University of Bologna students are
exempted from the course fee and pay a reduced registration fee of 35 EUR
(550 EEK) as grantees of their universities.
We are able to offer a limited number of additional grants covering the
course fee, privileging motivated students whose home countries have fewer
opportunities to offer grants. If you wish to be considered for such a
grant, please mention it on your registration form.
For information and advice on payment methods, accommodation, visas, etc.,
please see the general Tallinn Summer School homepage:
www.tlu.ee/?LangID=2&CatID=2005
Contact
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Student Co-ordinator Ms. Triinu Mets
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Mobile phone: +372 55958560
Course Co-ordinator Ms. Anne-Liis Peterson
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Address:
Estonian Institute of Humanities
Tallinn University
5 Uus-Sadama Street
10120 Tallinn
Estonia
Phone: + 372 61 99 555
Fax: + 372 61 99 556
|
