Masters in Democratic Governance (Venice)

The European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) and its partner univeristies Birzeit University (Palestine), Saint Joseph University (Lebanon), International University of Rabat (Morocco) and Ca’ Foscari University (Italy) are proud to present to you the second edition of the Master in Democratic Governance – Democracy and Human Rights in the Mena Region (DE.MA), starting in September 2016.

DE.MA is a multidisciplinary curriculum offering courses in law, political science, sociology and other fields relevant to the study of democratic governance and Human Rights. Open to professionals and graduates, it will combine a theoretical and practical approach and it will deliver a professional Master’s degree (60 ECTS) from Ca’ Foscari University, Venice. The first semester from mid/late September 2016 until January 2017 is held at the EIUC premises in Venice and the second one from February to May 2017 takes place in one of the partner universities in the Master’s Consortium. Thesis defence and graduation ceremony are in July 2017.

This is meant to play an active role in the ongoing debate about the principles underpinning the transition of political regimes to democracy. It aims at:
•Creating high-profile experts in the fields of democratic governance and the protection of human rights, allowing them to act as promoters of a process leading to the affirmation of the democratic principles;
•Fostering the creation of an élite group of people committed to the promotion of democratic institutions;
•Building a network of experts to be active in political institutions, in national and international, governmental and non-governmental organizations in the Region.

Interested? Here are the practicalities:
Deadline: 30 June 2016
Language: English, (knowledge of French and Arabic recommended)
Teaching method: Face to face teaching

TUITION FEES: 4.000.00 euro.
TUITION WAIVERS/SCHOLARSHIPS: EIUC offers financial support in the form of a partial contribution towards living expenses and/or a full or partial tuition waiver. This type of financial support is awarded to a limited number of students on the basis of academic achievement, need and geographical distribution.

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EIUC Training for International Electoral Observers (Italy)

The Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) is running a two modules Training Seminar for International Electoral Observers from 18-23 April 2016.

Target: The two modules are devoted to those applicants with no experience in election observation or to those observers who have participated to a maximum of two missions as short term observers. EIUC will accept candidatures for each separate module or both combined.

Eligibility: Lectures are conceived for an audience of graduates mainly in Law, Political Sciences, Economics, Sociology, Philosophy, Anthropology or similar who want to address international election observation from a multi-disciplinary approach that will be useful in further engagements on the field.

Faculty: it is composed by well-known international trainers and professionals with a long standing practical experience in election observation missions within international organisations such as the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Methodology: the course will combine frontal lecturers in plenary, working groups as well as role plays, discussions and simulation exercises.
Training language: all courses will be held in English. It is, therefore, essential that all participants understand and speak English fluently.

Module I
Dates: 18-20 April 2016
Starting with a thorough introduction on the international observation theory and legal standards the first module will analyse the practical life of a short term observer from the selection procedure to the end of mission including the observation of the polls, the filling of the forms, the reporting system and the code of the conduct.

Module II
Dates: 21-23 April 2016
The second module will introduce the participants to the long-term election observation by analysing in depth some of the aspects related to an international observation mission such as working relations, interviewing techniques, media and security.
Deadline for enrolment: 1 April 2016 – Early bird 4 March 2016

For any general query about IEO training seminar you can drop an email or use the contact form
Location: Monastery of San Nicolò, Venice Lido (Italy)
Training Responsible: Demetrio Lazagna
Project Manager: Alberta Rocca

Dublin III Training Workshop by EIUC (Venice)

Dublin III, two years on. Asylum seekers and refugees in the EU and beyond

Dates: 19-21 June 2015
Deadline for enrollment: 21 May 2015
Deadline for early bird enrolment: 25 April 2015
Location: Monastery of San Nicolò, Venice Lido (Italy)
Training Responsibles: Paolo De Stefani
Project Manager: Elisabetta Noli

Introduction
Two years into the endorsement of the “Dublin III regulation”, international protection provided by the EU to the increasing number of asylum seekers fleeing their countries is being challenged. Efficacy of these norms and policies is under scrutiny, as well as the complex relationship between the EU and its member states when it comes to concrete implementation. Is Dublin III – and more broadly the common European asylum system – meeting human rights concerns emerging from the migration crisis and the many recent humanitarian disasters? What are the dilemmas faced by European lawyers and legal practitioners when it comes to everyday application of EU and international legal standards on asylum?

The training seminar on “Dublin III, two years on. Asylum seekers and refugees in the EU and beyond” is set to analyze these important questions. It is designed to provide participants with an overview of the European asylum system and foster cross-border cooperation and networking among legal practitioners from all EU and non-EU countries involved in the application of the relevant national, EU and international standards. Mutual trust between legal practitioners from all EU countries is essential to ensure the coherent application of EU legislation across the Union as well as to provide a platform for exchange of good practices and, where relevant, critical analysis and reform proposals.

The course aims at reaching this primary objective by involving distinguished scholars and practitioners in a thorough overview of the legal instruments at stake, and facilitate comparative analysis of experiences and challenges.

The ultimate objectives of the training seminar are to:
*provide participants with an overview of the common European asylum system and of the existing international human rights instruments setting universal principles on asylum, refugee status, migration;
*allow a comparative analysis of this normative system;
*create a forum for exchange of best practices;
*foster cross-border cooperation and networking among legal practitioners from all EU countries involved in the implementation of the EU norms.

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Training seminars for International Electoral Observers (Venice)

The third edition of the Training Seminar for International Electoral Observers will be held at the Monastery of San Nicolò, Lido, Venice from 13 to 18 April 2015.
Application deadline: 5 April 2015
.

The principle of holding periodic and open elections is a vital part of democratization and stabilisation of peace agreements around the world. If interested to learn about election observation missions and what the opportunities in this field are, join the EIUC (European Inter-University Center for Human Rights and Democratisation) training seminar for International Electoral Observers: a seminar combining expert discussions and a hands-on workshop.

The training seminar for graduates or professionals aims at introducing civilian staff to the profession of election observers and at delivering a complete theoretical and practical basic course to those willing to consider election observation as a possible professional step in their career. Its international faculty includes prestigious lectures in human rights, such as Armin Rabitsch who has been working in the field of elections, democratization and good governance in a variety of organizations including the UNDP, EU and OSCE/ODIHR for the past 15 years and Stephane Mondon, who has an extensive experience within the European Union, UNDP and the Carter Center.

The training seminar is organised by the EIUC and granted patronage by the Italian, Spanish and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

EIUC has developed two five-day modules that will allow to selected applicants to become aware of the role, the tasks and the status of international observers, and will be given a theoretical and practical training on election observation and election observation missions functioning.

The first module 13-15 April 2015) will highlight the quantitative observation of the STOs. Starting with a thorough introduction on the international observation theory and legal standards the first module will analyse the practical life of a short term observer from the selection procedure to the end of mission including the observation of the polls, the filling of the forms, the reporting system and the code of the conduct.

The second module (16-18 April 2015) will introduce the participants to the long-term election observation by analysing in depth some of the aspects related to an international observation mission such as working relations, the role of the media, interviewing and reporting techniques and electoral dispute resolutions.

EIUC will accept candidatures for each separate module or both combined.

Please note that applications will be processed on an on-going basis. Interested candidates should register by compiling the online application form.

For further enquiries please contact the organizers.

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CFP Communication History Conference (Venice)

CFP Bridges and Boundaries: Theories, Concepts and Sources in Communication History: An International Conference in Venice, Italy – September 16-18, 2015

The deadline for abstract submission is January 10, 2015.

Organizer: Communication History Section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA History)

Co-Sponsor: Centre for Early Modern Mapping, News and Networks (CEMMN.net) – Queen Mary University of London

Fernand Braudel in his seminal essay History and the Social Sciences: The Longue Durée pointed out that many academic disciplines/fields which study different aspects of social life inevitably encroach upon their neighbors, yet often remain in “blissful ignorance” of each other. Braudel and others have repeatedly called for historians and social scientists to overcome their deep ontological and epistemological differences in order to work together.

Despite much progress in this regard, communication history remains one of the fields where profitable interdisciplinary dialogue can still take place. Being aware of this need, the Communication History Section of ECREA invites researchers who focus on various aspects of the history of communication, media, networks and technologies (broadly defined), to come together with two main aims: 1) to explore the bridges and boundaries between disciplines; 2) to exchange ideas about how communication history is being done and how it might be done, while emphasizing theories, concepts and sources beneficial to their research, as well as emerging trends and themes.

A three-day conference will take place in Venice, one of the great hubs of early modern communication, at Warwick University’s seat in Palazzo Pesaro Papafava. The opening keynote address will be delivered by Professor Mario Infelise, a leading scholar of early modern print and journalism and the head of the graduate program in the Humanities at the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari. Instead of traditional panels and papers, the conference aims to foster dialogue among scholars of various disciplines through topically organized round-tables, master classes, and countless opportunities for informal discussions.

The organizing committee invites scholars to submit abstracts (max. 400 words) in which they address one of the main themes listed below and outline a short intervention that they might contribute to a round table on that theme. Such interventions should focus mainly on theoretical or methodological approaches, issues and experiences that the speaker has engaged with in his/her research. Historical case studies can be presented only so far as they contain a high degree of historiographical/theoretical significance. Interdisciplinary roundtable sessions will be organized in which participating scholars will also discuss questions raised by a chair and the audience, based on these proposals.

The deadline for abstract submission is January 10, 2015. The conference registration fee will be 140 euro and participants will be asked to cover their own travel expenses. Abstracts should be submitted through the conference website: http://ecreahistoryvenice2015.wordpress.com.

Main Themes:
(1) Theories and Models
Grand theories or meta-narratives often have at their core information networks and communication technologies. To what extent are theoretical premises advocated by scholars such as Braudel, Innis, McLuhan, Habermas, Luhmann, Benedict Anderson, Lefevbre – and more recently by Hallin and Mancini, Castells, Gitelman, Simonson, Mosco, Hendy, Hesmondalgh, F. Kittler, Fickers – applicable in historical inquiry? How has your own research in communication history been inspired by such concepts and theories?

(2) Space and Place
Communication networks and information technologies are always embedded in a material setting that can foster or hinder certain communication practices, call into being new forms of exchange, and drive technological development. What is the place of the geographical imagination in current communication history research? How valuable are the ideas of ‘place’ and ‘space’ in historical research? What are the current trends within the field of historical geography that can advance our understanding of communication history?

(3) News and Networks
How valuable is the idea of ‘the network’? What were the technologies that historically mediated the spread of information through networks? Who participated in networks used in advancing what Bourdieu later called cultural capital? To what extend did such networks contribute to the rise of public opinion and the public sphere? Can we talk about historical continuities between the early modern republic of letters and what Castells later popularized as the network society?

(4) Alternative Media
In order to understand communication history as a long-term, inclusive process, which alternative media or communication technologies (besides the familiar ‘mass media’ of the 20th century) need to be considered, and how? Possibilities might include migration flows, civic and religious ceremonies, theatre, preaching, fashion, the visual arts or architecture. What kinds of methodological or theoretical implications does their consideration carry?

(5) Sources and Methods
The progressive digitization of archives and libraries is opening access to primary sources for increasingly wider circles of scholars. What are the advantages and challenges raised by this development? To what extent do issues of materiality matter particularly to the realm of media and human communication research? What are the most relevant sources that you use for your own research?

(6) ‘New’ Media
At one time, even the oldest communication technologies were looked upon as suspicious novelties. Socrates famously condemned writing; the introduction of print may have been hailed by some as a ‘revolutionary’ enterprise – a term now often applied also to the digital age. What are the lessons that scholars can learn from studying critical periods during which one dominant technology is replaced by a new mode of communication? How do such lessons serve our understanding of the phenomenon called new media?

Organizing Committee:
Rosa Salzberg, PhD – University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Gabriele Balbi, PhD – Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Juraj Kittler, PhD – St. Lawrence University, USA

CFP Communication History conference (Italy)

CFP: Bridges and Boundaries – Theories, Concepts and Sources in Communication History
An International Conference in Venice, Italy – September 16-18, 2015

Organizer: Communication History Section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
Co-Sponsor: Centre for Early Modern Mapping, News and Networks (CEMMN.net) – Queen Mary University of London

Fernand Braudel in his seminal essay “History and the Social Sciences: The Longue Durée” pointed out that many academic disciplines/fields which study different aspects of social life inevitably encroach upon their neighbors, yet often remain in “blissful ignorance” of each other. Braudel and others have repeatedly called for historians and social scientists to overcome their deep ontological and epistemological differences in order to work together.

Despite much progress in this regard, communication history remains one of the fields where profitable interdisciplinary dialogue can still take place. Being aware of this need, the Communication History Section of ECREA invites researchers who focus on various aspects of the history of communication, media, networks and technologies (broadly defined), to come together with two main aims: 1) to explore the bridges and boundaries between disciplines; 2) to exchange ideas about how communication history is being done and how it might be done, while emphasizing theories, concepts and sources beneficial to their research, as well as emerging trends and themes.

A three-day conference will take place in Venice, one of the great hubs of early modern communication, at Warwick University’s seat in Palazzo Pesaro Papafava. The opening keynote address will be delivered by Professor Mario Infelise, a leading scholar of early modern print and journalism and the head of the graduate program in the Humanities at the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari. Instead of traditional panels and papers, the conference aims to foster dialogue among scholars of various disciplines through topically organized round-tables, master classes, and countless opportunities for informal discussions.

The organizing committee invites scholars to submit abstracts (max. 400 words) in which they address one of the main themes listed below and outline a short intervention that they might contribute to a round table on that theme. Such interventions should focus mainly on theoretical or methodological approaches, issues and experiences that the speaker has engaged with in his/her research. Historical case studies can be presented only so far as they contain a high degree of historiographical/theoretical significance. Interdisciplinary roundtable sessions will be organized in which participating scholars will also discuss questions raised by a chair and the audience, based on these proposals.

The deadline for abstract submission is January 10, 2015. The conference registration fee will be 140 euro and participants will be asked to cover their own travel expenses. Abstracts should be submitted through the conference website.

Main Themes:
(1) Theories and Models
Grand theories or meta-narratives often have at their core information networks and communication technologies. To what extent are theoretical premises advocated by scholars such as Braudel, Innis, McLuhan, Habermas, Luhmann, Benedict Anderson, Lefevbre – and more recently by Hallin and Mancini, Castells, Gitelman, Simonson, Mosco, Hendy, Hesmondalgh, F. Kittler, Fickers – applicable in historical inquiry? How has your own research in communication history been inspired by such concepts and theories?

(2) Space and Place
Communication networks and information technologies are always embedded in a material setting that can foster or hinder certain communication practices, call into being new forms of exchange, and drive technological development. What is the place of the geographical imagination in current communication history research? How valuable are the ideas of ‘place’ and ‘space’ in historical research? What are the current trends within the field of historical geography that can advance our understanding of communication history?

(3) News and Networks
How valuable is the idea of ‘the network’? What were the technologies that historically mediated the spread of information through networks? Who participated in networks used in advancing what Bourdieu later called cultural capital? To what extend did such networks contribute to the rise of public opinion and the public sphere? Can we talk about historical continuities between the early modern republic of letters and what Castells later popularized as the network society?

(4) Alternative Media
In order to understand communication history as a long-term, inclusive process, which alternative media or communication technologies (besides the familiar ‘mass media’ of the 20th century) need to be considered, and how? Possibilities might include migration flows, civic and religious ceremonies, theatre, preaching, fashion, the visual arts or architecture. What kinds of methodological or theoretical implications does their consideration carry?

(5) Sources and Methods
The progressive digitization of archives and libraries is opening access to primary sources for increasingly wider circles of scholars. What are the advantages and challenges raised by this development? To what extent do issues of materiality matter particularly to the realm of media and human communication research? What are the most relevant sources that you use for your own research?

(6) ‘New’ Media
At one time, even the oldest communication technologies were looked upon as suspicious novelties. Socrates famously condemned writing; the introduction of print may have been hailed by some as a ‘revolutionary’ enterprise – a term now often applied also to the digital age. What are the lessons that scholars can learn from studying critical periods during which one dominant technology is replaced by a new mode of communication? How do such lessons serve our understanding of the phenomenon called new media?

Organizing Committee:
Dr. Rosa Salzberg, University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Dr. Gabriele Balbi, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland
Dr. Juraj Kittler, St. Lawrence University, USA

Mob-ility symposium (Italy)

Mob-ility Symposium
Wake Forest University
October 10, 2014
Casa Artom, Venice, Italy

Submissions due July 31, 2014

The story of Camillo Artom is one of mobility, the theme of the Mob-ility Symposium, to be held on October 10, 2014. The Symposium is an opportunity to reflect on the movement of persons, ideas, traditions, goods, and the political, social, and cultural ramifications of mobility, as they relate to the changing practices in travel, the environment, social-economic status, and technology.

These often include, but are not limited to, discussion of citizenship, immigration, diasporas, belonging, and place. Specifically, the Symposium invites a focus on the people who move (the ‘mob’ in mobility): migrants, travelers, tourists, temporary citizens, and asylum seekers, refugees, stateless people. Venice is a perfect site for the ‘Mob-ility Symposium’ as a historic trade city, a merchants’ harbor where people have always come and gone.

Keynote speaker: Dima Mohammed, a Palestinian argumentation scholar who is currently working at the Argumentation Lab of the Instituto de Filosofia da Nova at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. Her domain of specialization includes argumentation theory, philosophy of language, persuasion research and political philosophy.

Invited: papers, paper abstracts, discussion panels, and encourage creative submissions related to all aspects of mobility, including:
*Migration, immigration, emigration
*Diaspora, exile, refuge, asylum
*Citizenship rights, nationality, borders
*Socio-economic status
*Travel, transportation
*Technology, mobile modes of communication
*Environment, sustainability
*Security, surveillance

Papers must not exceed 25 pages and must include a title, the author’s/s’ affiliation, and contact information. Paper Abstracts must not exceed 2 pages and must include a title, the
author’s/s’ affiliation, and contact information. Discussion Panels or Performances/Creative Expressions must include a 250-word rationale, a 250-word abstract of each proposed paper or contribution, and a list of presenters with affiliation and contact information.

Submissions from faculty, students, artists, activists, practitioners, and community members are all encouraged. Thanks to the Provost’s Office for Global Affairs, the Symposium is free and open to the public. Space is limited.

Send/Email all submissions to:
Alessandra Von Burg
Department of Communication
Box 7347, Reynolda Station
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC 27109

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