Summer School “Critical Diversity Studies in Globalized Contexts”
Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (Germany), July 5-13, 2013

The Diversity Studies International Teaching and Scholarship Network (DIVERSITAS), a joint initiative of the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (Germany), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and the University of Mumbai (India), invites applications for its Summer School on Critical Diversity Studies in Globalized Contexts. The Summer School will take place at Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany, July 5-13, 2013. It aims at bringing together 25 international PhD-students and PostDocs from a variety of disciplinary and regional backgrounds, who will work on themes and topics in the field of Critical Diversity Studies. Prior to the Summer School, participants will be asked to prepare relevant reading materials provided by the organizers and meet online in order to get acquainted with the group. During the Summer School, participants will take part in joint seminars and keynote lectures in the mornings, and will work in small groups in the afternoons. Moreover, a number of excursions will invite an examination of ways in which diversity is deployed and experienced in the local and regional context.

The afternoon groups will be organized around the following thematic clusters, with each cluster being facilitated by an interdisciplinary team of academics from the three participating institutions:

1.Diversity and the Dynamics of Cultural Memory
This cluster critically explores the dynamic interplay between the processes involved in cultural memory formation and the construction of notions of difference and diversity, particularly in postcolonial societies.

2.Diversity and/in the Arts/Media: Staging Sameness and Difference in Literature, Performance, and Visual Culture
In this cluster, participants identify and analyze the specific strategies employed by various media and forms of artistic expression to perpetuate and/or undermine hegemonic discourses of oppression and discrimination.

3.Multilingualism and Linguistic Diversity
Starting from a linguistic investigation of bi- and multilingualism, this cluster will focus on identifying and analyzing the linguistic, educational, and social issues involved. It will also explore the role of language and multilingualism in the making of collective identities and the possibilities for linguistic pluralism as an articulation of social equality.

4.Hybrid Identities: Diversity, Subjectivities, and the Social
This cluster takes a closer at politics and practices of individual and collective identity formation in a globalized world. It looks at what has become known as ‘identity politics’ particularly in societies where traumatic pasts may inform the ‘narrative unconscious’ (Freeman 2010) of younger generations.

5.Migration and Mobility
This cluster focuses on the forms and effects of global migration flows. It starts from the observation that the movement of people – along with a set of practices, ideas, and beliefs – has given rise to highly diverse communities and cultural forms of expression, while simultaneously creating new borders and demarcation lines.

The groups can select from a range of methodologies and resources and will present their results during the concluding symposium. The summer school aims at a critical examination of diversity in and beyond academic discussions. Participants are encouraged to critically reflect on their own research as well as practices in the context of “critical diversity literacy” (Melissa Steyn) – a capacity to “read” the prevailing power relations that establish, transform, challenge, and resist structures of privilege and oppression. Particular attention will be paid to cultural and historical specificities as well as transnational interconnections and cross-cultural parallels with respect to different phenomena, forms, modes and representations of diversity. This will enable participants to relate diversity to questions of social justice and equity and to conceive of it as a point of reference for their own theorizing and practice.

In order to apply, please submit:

- CV detailing educational and international experience as well as professional qualifications;
- A two-page letter of motivation indicating the following aspects:
1.Why would you like to participate in the Summer School? Please include both academic and personal considerations,
2.How is the Summer School’s topic relevant to your current or future research projects and/or university teaching, and
3.Select three thematic clusters from the five listed above and list them in order of preference, providing a brief explanation for your choice;
- A letter of recommendation from your supervisor or a senior staff member of your home institution indicating your research and teaching interests, the progress of your research project, and your potential contribution to as well as benefit from participation in the Summer School;
- A copy of your university registration and transcripts;
- A copy of your passport; and
- An overview of estimated travel and visa costs (if applicable).

Deadline for submission of applications: March 31, 2013
Participants will be selected by an international and interdisciplinary committee. They will be notified of the outcome of their application by mid-April. All selected participants will receive fellowships covering travel and visa costs as well as accommodation.

NOTE: Please start inquiries about visa requirements and procedures as early as possible. Participants will receive a letter of invitation to support their visa application.

Inquiries and application submission to: contact@diversitas-network.org

The Summer School is funded by Volkswagen Foundation.