Utah State U: Director, Heravi Peace Institute (USA)

“Job

Director, Heravi Peace Institute, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA. Deadline: Review of applications begins 2 January 2023 and continues until position is filled.

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University invites applications for a founding Director of the newly created Heravi Peace Institute. Applicants will be considered at the rank of tenured Associate or Full Professor, in a social sciences or humanities discipline, or—depending on credentials and experience—as an advanced Professional Practice (non-tenure track) rank. Reporting to the Dean of the college, the Director will also be appointed to a faculty position (associate or full professor) in an academic department within the College. Rank and status are dependent on the Director’s qualifications and experience. For this hybrid administrative-faculty position, they seek to hire an individual with a proven track record of excellence in leadership, teaching, research and/or praxis in peace and/or transformative conflict. The ideal candidate will demonstrate success in fundraising, grant-writing, and public outreach. This position is located on the Logan campus, with the responsibility to make Institute programming accessible to USU’s statewide students and campuses. The Director will confer with a faculty advisory board who will provide ideas, opinions, and feedback. This is a fiscal-year position with an anticipated start date of August 2023.

The successful candidate will be expected to:

  • Provide effective administrative and strategic leadership of the HPI
  • Supervise Institute staff
  • Coordinate with the CHaSS Dean, department heads, the Institute’s faculty advisory board, and other faculty members and leaders across the college and university
  • Collaborate with affiliated faculty and other leaders to establish and fulfill the Institute’s strategic initiatives and priorities
  • Work with faculty to develop curriculum addressing issues of transformative conflict and peacebuilding
  • Partner with the Dean and advancement officers in fundraising for the Institute
  • Seek grant funding from external sources to support the mission of the Institute
  • Build partnerships with local, state, national, and global entities to enhance the Institute’s programming, internships, and other opportunities for students
  • Enable extra-curricular activities addressing issues of transformative conflict and peacebuilding
  • Teach undergraduate peace and conflict courses, with the option of teaching in a disciplinary field
  • Maintain an active profile as a researcher and/or practitioner in peace and/or transformative conflict

U Cambridge: Research for Equitable Access and Learning Postdoc (UK)

Postdocs
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Research for Equitable Access and Learning, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK. Deadline: 11 December 2022.

The Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre within the Faculty of Education wishes to appoint a Research Associate to work on a project that maps research in Sub-Saharan Africa from African-based universities and research institutions, with a focus on foundational literacy and numeracy.

This study is in collaboration with the charity, Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA) with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It will involve the further development of the African Education Research Database, established by the REAL Centre together with ESSA. The postholder will be involved in extending the database to include publications in French, along with more detailed mapping of research on foundational literacy and numeracy. They will also undertake more detailed searches of literature within selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa on this topic. The postholders will provide an analysis of the scope of research in the region/selected countries with a particular focus on foundational literacy and numeracy, and identify gaps for potential future research. They will work under the direction of Professor Pauline Rose in close collaboration with ESSA.

Applicants must hold a PhD in a relevant subject area (Education, Economics, Sociology or Development Studies, or other area that uses relevant literature and research methods); have excellent research and computer skills in particular for searching and analysis of literature; an ability to critically review reports and other documents, and to prepare drafts of reports emerging from this analysis to a high standard.

Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order 2023

AwardsThe Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order is given to those who have taken on issues of world importance and presented viewpoints that could lead to a more just and peaceful world. Award: $100,000. Deadline: 31 January 2023.

The Award is presented annually to the winner of a competition designed to stimulate the recognition, dissemination and critical analysis of outstanding proposals for improving world order. Submissions will be judged according to originality, feasibility and potential impact, not by the cumulative record of the nominee. They may address a wide range of global concerns including foreign policy and its formation; the conduct of international relations or world politics; global economic issues, such as world trade and investment; resolution of regional, ethnic or racial conflicts; the proliferation of destructive technologies; global cooperation on environmental protection or other important issues; international law and organization; any combination or particular aspects of these, or any other suitable idea which could at least incrementally lead to a more just and peaceful world order.

Stockholm School of Economics: MERITA Postdoc (Sweden)

Postdocs
Postdoc with MERITA, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden. Deadline: open until position is filled; they prefer a start date in January 2023.

The Center for Responsible Leadership at the Stockholm School of Economics is seeking candidates for a 1-year 80% Post Doc position within the MERITA project. Candidates should have a research background in topics related to migration studies. They especially seek candidates with a multi-disciplinary academic background to organize the research activities of the MERITA project. As a Postdoc in the MERITA project, you will be central to the organization of the forum, the development of a research application and at least one co-authored publication.

CFP Cosmopolitanism in a Postdigital, Postmigrant Europe, and Beyond (Germany but Online)

ConferencesCall for papers: Cosmopolitanism in a Postdigital, Postmigrant Europe, and Beyond, Researching Digital Interculturality Co-operatively, Germany but Online, 26 June-7 July 2023. Abstract Deadline: 31 January 2023.

The idea of cosmopolitanism remains multifaceted and fit for purpose. It may be seen, for example, as a philosophical concept, or viewed as a theoretical and empirical tool used to describe and understand contemporary society, culture and interculturality. But cultural theory and empirical research have not remained stagnant, and a number of recent ideas have been proered as further theoretical and empirical tools. These include the concepts of postdigitality and postmigrancy. The “post” in these terms does not denote an end (of digitality or migration), but the transformation of a society indissolubly interwoven with digitality and migration. Similarly, the term postmigration implies that the structures of society have been fundamentally altered by migratory processes; supposedly clear dichotomies of “migrant” /“native” or “assimilated” /“segregated” become dissolved, while established distributions of resources and power structures have increasingly been called into question and become renegotiated. Indeed, the mere fact of continuously shaping a (post)migrant society and of being immersed in super-diversity with cultural and linguistic implications needs to be accepted. Thus, the new theoretical and empirical postmigrant and postdigital realities call for new perspectives on the concept of cosmopolitanism and adjoining concepts, such as Europeanism. These ideas, though very applicable to European societies and lifeworlds, are not limited to Europe but are found and may be investigated in a variety of contexts.

A Comedian’s Take on Cultural Differences

Intercultural Pedagogy

Sundermann, Killian. (21 October 2021). Irish and German people offering things. Twitter.

I just ran across this very cute video where comedian Killian Sundermann demonstrates the difference between German and Irish ways of offering cake, and the confusion that ensues.

For further information about the video, which went viral and resulted in 10 million views, watch the 4-minute version, which includes an interview with Sundermann. He grew up in Ireland with German parents, and so obviously has a good sense of how cultural differences can be displayed through interaction. Apparently the incident with the cake is based on reality. He says “I’m really just stealing my family’s stories.”

Weekend Breakfast with Alison Curtis. (3 November 2021). Killian Sundermann chats to Alison Curtis. Today FM.

Either video would make a good classroom resource for teaching about intercultural communication. See also KC1: Intercultural dialogue, and KC5: Intercultural communication.

 

 

IREX: Multiple Positions (USA)

“Job

Multiple positions, International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), Washington, DC. Deadline: varies by position.

IREX has a surprising number of positions listed currently, including:

NOTE: IREX started as the International Research Exchange in 1968; they’re a non-profit based in Washington, DC. Their current organizational description says: “IREX is a global development and education organization. We focus on people, not on vaccines, roads, or wells. We work in more than 100 countries on issues such as education, leadership, information, and youth.” They currently have over 600 employees around the world.

Anna Lindh Foundation: Several Positions (Egypt)

“JobSeveral positions are available at the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation, Alexandria, Egypt. Deadline: varies by position.

The Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures (ALF), created in 2005 and based in Alexandria, Egypt, is registered by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an international intergovernmental organisation. Its aim, according to its statutes, is to promote the dialogue between cultures and to contribute to the visibility of the Barcelona Process through intellectual, cultural and civil society exchanges.

Corporate Communication Manager. Deadline: 18 December 2022.

The Corporate Communication Manager, working from the ALF Headquarters in Alexandria, Egypt, will have the overall responsibility to lead and oversee the Foundation’s internal and external communication strategy, ensuring that its message is consistent and engaging; direct the communication team; supervise the communication budget and develop, implement and coordinate all the ALF communications activities and campaigns in line with the ALF Multiannual Work Programme 2022-2025.

Civil Society Manager. Deadline: 12 December 2022.

The Civil Society Manager, following the indications of the Executive Director, leads the ALF Secretariat action towards its Civil Society National Networks; ensures well-oiled internal and external coordination schemes and procedures; actively contributes to the fundraising strategy of the Foundation, directs the Civil Society team; supervises the assigned budget and develops, implements and coordinates all the ALF Civil Society Unit activities in line with the ALF Multiannual Work Programme 2022-2025.

Introducing ICD in Kindergarten (Germany)

Applied ICD

In a few locations within Germany, interfaith cooperation is leading to Christian/Muslim or Christian/Jewish/Muslim kindergartens.

Gifhorn – a small town in Lower Saxony – started Germany’s first Christian/Muslim kindergarten in 2018, after several years of planning and organization.

The vision fostered by local religious leaders sees kindergarten as a novel form of institutionalised dialogue, producing “conflict mediators” and “resilient children” who are “less prone to violence”.

An opposition campaign by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) backfired, and actually ended up increasing enrollment in the school. For a well-balanced report, and links to information about several other interfaith kindergartens in Germany, see the Emmerich article.

Source: Emmerich, Arndt-Walter. (2022). Germany’s first Christian-Muslim kindergarten. Quantara.de.

CFP IMISCOE: Migration & Inequalities (Poland & online)

ConferencesCall for papers: 20th IMISCOE Annual Conference: Migration and Inequalities: In Search of Answers and Solutions, 3-6 July 2023, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland (and online). Deadline: 5 December 2022.

Inequalities invariably intertwine with migration. On the micro-scale, socio-economic inequalities shape the propensity to migrate. On a macro-scale, South-North and East-West dynamics act as migration drivers. Recent mobility-related debates include inequalities as developmental outcomes of migration, as an implication of social and economic remittances, and as an issue to be addressed by public policies. Inequality-related challenges are also discussed in the context of gender, ethnic and racial disparities, urban segregation, or labour market segmentation in receiving countries. Inequalities intertwine with migration knowledge production. Postcolonial power relations determine who gets to define the research agenda, who receives research funding and, consequently, who gets to theorise migration knowledge.

There is a growing need for scientific and political discussion on new inequalities and challenges for the future, such as the demographic, climate and technological changes, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the mass forced migration following conflicts such as the current war in Ukraine. As an efficient public response is still lacking, research and academic debates are much needed to support political decision-making processes. The focus on inequalities of the 2023 IMISCOE Annual Conference can facilitate the strengthening of topics in IMISCOE debates, from different methodological approaches (quantitative and qualitative) and various disciplinary focuses (including but not limited to economics, sociology, demography, political science, anthropology, law, history and geography).