The Divided Societies Course and Conference
The conference, now in its ninth year, is a two-week, interdisciplinary course that combines conference-oriented presentation of scholarly research with an intensive and rigorous academic curriculum for graduate and advanced undergraduate students. In addition, the course offers personal inter-cultural experience of students and faculty from other cultures in the unforgettable setting of a city that was itself the target of a destructive societal conflict. The broad theme of "The Challenge of Institution-Building" will serve as the organizing principle of the research and teaching for the 2006 course.
Course
Divided Societies IX: The Challenge of Institution Building
For societies facing sharp internal divisions and the uncertain transition from one regime-type to another, one of the most commonly prescribed solutions is the development of stable, valued, recurring patterns of behavior, a process known as institutionalization. This course focuses on opportunities for institutionalization, the relative benefits and dangers of particular institutional patterns, the means for overcoming forces that undermine or discourage institutional development, and the circumstances in which institutionalization may actually contribute to conflict. The course will focus specifically on the following institutional realms:
* European Union enlargement and deepening, with specific reference to efforts to draft a constitution and remedy the so-called democratic deficit;
* International legal structures, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as they relate to the building and strengthening of national-level institutions;
* Other supra-national institutions, including NATO and the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe;
* National-level institutions including constitutional design, electoral system design, minority rights regimes, political parties and party systems;
* Non-governmental institutions including local, national and international non-governmental organizations.
Conference
Dayton in Comparative Perspective
Ten years ago, international mediation and multilateral military pressure resulted in the conclusion of the Dayton-Paris Agreement. The accords helped to bring an end to military conflict in Bosnia-Hercegovina, but ushered in a troubled and controversial period of post-conflict reconstruction in a country with many displaced persons, little rule of law and shattered political institutions. The settlement starts its second decade with mixed evaluations, with some seeing a model for the resolution of other conflicts, and others asserting the superiority of other models. This conference looks at the events of the last ten years in Bosnia-Hercegovina in comparative perspective, exploring the lessons that the Dayton Agreement have to offer to others and the potential applicability of lessons from elsewhere for improving Bosnia’s current institutional architecture.
Call for Papers
Conference organizers invite seminars and paper presentations from faculty and advanced graduate students on any of the topic areas discussed in the program description. Papers may focus on the experience of particular countries or regions (not limited to the former Yugoslavia) or broader multi-national and historical comparisons.
Paper Proposal Application: Please complete the on-line registration form and also send 1) an abstract of approximately 250 words and 2) a curriculum vitae to: dividedsocieties@centrum.sk
Deadline: March 1, 2006(earlier submissions will receive preference in scheduling).
Call for Student Participation
Conference organizers invite participation from graduate and advanced undergraduate students. Past conferences have included student participants from western, central and eastern Europe, as well as North America and South America. Student activities include daily seminars and lectures, films, dinners with fellow students and excursions in southern Croatia. Participating students may apply for academic credit through Wayne State University in Detroit.
Student Application: Please complete the on-line registration form.
Deadline: March 1, 2006
For more information, contact: Kevin Deegan-Krause, Department of Political Science, Wayne State University, 2053 FAB, Detroit, MI 48202 USA, Tel: (313) 577-2630, Fax: (313) 993-3435, Email: dividedsocieties@centrum.sk
About the Course/Conference:
View the brief video on the course prepared in 2002 (the video requires software compatible with the Real Player, which is available online at www.real.com): http://streaming.lib.wayne.edu:8080/ramgen/special/Deegan-krause/dubrovnik.rm
A radio interview about the course is can be found at: http://www2.bc.edu/~niebuhro
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