 |
 |
http://www.ifk.ac.at/fellowships-en.html Aims The IFK Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften was founded in Vienna in 1993. It is an independent institute for advanced study that aims to support and develop the intellectual enterprise of transdisciplinary cultural analysis and the study of culture. To achieve this objective the IFK focuses its work on the following areas: a.. Offering young scholars possibilities to undertake research, do projects, and hold discussions through its Junior Fellowship b.. Internationalizing the humanities in Austria by hosting renowned scholars as Visiting Fellows and Research Fellows c.. Extending the reach and utility of the study of culture by developing and supporting new Research Foci d.. Promoting a problem-oriented, method-conscious, transdisciplinary, self-reflexive, intellectual culture by its sponsorship of Lectures & Conferences e.. Communicating the best and most innovative research results by publishing Papers The IFK's International Advisory Board judges fellowship and project applications and advises the Director and the Board of Directors on the design and realization of its many outstanding academic program. Vision To further the development of the relatively new discipline of cultural studies, it is important to thematize the realm of culture (art, literature, architecture, sciences, media, life-styles, and the culture of everyday life) in a comprehensive manner. Culture cannot be grasped merely historically as the memory of a society in which the past and conflicting interpretations of it are deposited. It is equally important to understand culture as a realm of discourse regarding the future of a society. Culture may be understood as a dynamic process that produces and interprets meanings and pragmatic orientations. This process gives expression to political, social and economic conflicts and thereby permits their negociation. The task of cultural studies is not only to analyse the "interior" of given aesthetic, literary, and popular practices, but also to assay their external conditions. Culture as the sum of life-forms and life-styles of human beings, differently determined according to place, society, ethnos and history, is not self-referential. Rather, its articulations are products as well as snap-shots of the societal processes enveloping them. Consequently, cultural studies can also be understood as a project of deciphering cultures as textures of the social; that is, as the other side of the social. In this reading culture is neither one factor (among others) nor a hermetic sphere, but rather it suffuses the whole texture of social life. For research and debate this implies: a.. that culture(s) and its/their manifestations are not to be misconceived as something that occurs in a social and economic vacuum, but that is anchored in social life and receives b.. that culture(s) and its/their material and symbolic products have to be referred back to the "lived experience" of their creators that mirrors economic, social and political conflicts concerning power; inequality; ethnic, gender, or religious dominance and marginality; cultural climates (such as crises), etc. c.. that culture(s) and its/their manifestations have to be analyzed with respect to their institutional framework, i.e., their economic foundation must be thematized. d.. that cultures have to be grasped in their longue duree of developments in the history of mentality. That is, it has to be taken into account that cultural creations presuppose the transmission of competences, skills, norms of taste, etc. e.. that cultures have to be seen in the context of so-called "innovative milieus"; one has to examine to what extent innovation or stagnation in everyday life, in the arts and sciences, are connected with particular combinations of geography, structures of communication, institutions, economic trends and crises, educational institutions, and relations of power. f.. that, last but not least, cultures have to be understood also as contingent phenomena, i.e., as chance products and chance processes. The IFK is currently attempting to realize this approach in its research focus The Metropolis in Transition. Taking as its point of departure the multiplicity of cultures, cultural studies can be conceived only as a plurality of disciplines. Its specific innovative moment cannot consist in a one-sided commitment to one method and one paradigm; rather, it consists in the productive exchange with and in the critical discussion of different concepts of theory and method. The IFK attempts to foster this approach through its research focus The History of Cultural Studies. To be sure, this exchange is not an end in itself, but is supposed to contribute to the internationalization of research and to the comparison of cultures so that geographical as well as intellectual limitations of local cultures of knowledge can be transcended. Visiting Fellowships are preferably awarded to internationally recognized scholars who would like to pursue their own research and are interested to cooperate with Austrian colleagues. Applications will be peer-reviewed by IFK's International Academic Advisory Board. Application deadline for the academic year 2005/2006: 31 July 2004 Research Fellowships are preferably awarded to Austrian Postdoctoral scholars and scholars who would like to take a paid leave from their university. International applicants have to present an equivalent research project. Applications will be peer-reviewed by IFK's International Academic Advisory Board. Application deadline for the academic year 2005/2006: 31 July 2004 Junior Fellowships are preferably awarded to young Austrian doctoral students who are not older than 35 of age and hold an academic degree in the humanities or social sciences. The final selection will be based on personal interviews with the candidates. Application deadline for the academic year 2004/2005: 10 January 2004 Cooperations: Urban Fellowships: jointly awarded by IFK and the City of Vienna