Committee on Globalization & Social Change 2017–18 Fellowship Competition due 3/13

The Committee on Globalization and Social Change is now welcoming applications for Mid-Career Faculty and Dissertation Fellowships for the 2017–18 academic year. The deadline for both Doctoral Student and Mid-Career Faculty Applications is Monday, March 13th, 2017 at noon.

We invite applications from recently tenured-faculty and CUNY doctoral students who would like to participate in a research seminar on the theme “Populism”.

Seminar Description: Populism

With the U.S. presidential election of 2016, public debate about “populism” has intensified. Trumpism as a populist phenomenon is certainly linked to systemic shifts in the United States and the specific relations of forces there today. But it should also be understood in relation to a worldwide rise of anti-democratic forms of authoritarian and plutocratic rule whose power has strong populist, nationalist, and xenophobic roots.

These developments raise innumerable questions regarding the changing structural relation between state, society, and economy; shifting configurations of nation, class, and race; the future of parliamentary politics; the power of social media; the relation between “truth” and power; the status of “ideology” and the place of symbolism, affect, and (collective) psyches in contemporary politics; “elitism” and the politics of ressentiment; the relation between imperialism, nationalism, and populism; the relation between populism, fascism, and white supremacy or liberal democracy; the relation between “the people” and “the popular”; the difference between right-wing and left-wing populisms and identity politics; the development of authoritarian populism and the prospects of anti-racist and anti-capitalist resistance, popular insurgency, or democratic socialism.

We propose to spend 2017-2018 thinking together about the global history, character, and future significance of populism. We invite applications from scholars whose work engages this issue from any time period, scholarly field, geographic areas, and theoretical perspective.

Committee Description

The CGSC is a transdisciplinary group whose collective work is not driven by any specific theory or ideology. We begin with the observation that existing categories and analytic frameworks are inadequate to grasp the dynamics of our historical present.

We are thus interested not only in questioning conventional assumptions in light of contemporary developments but also in the possibility of reclaiming, reworking, and refunctioning seemingly outmoded concepts in and for these times. Given our interest

in reflecting on the relationship between inherited concepts, critical theory, the contemporary situation, and political futures, we believe it will be fruitful to think together about the question of “Refuge” today, beyond the familiar debates between abstract universal humanism and concrete cultural particularism.

We thus welcome applications from faculty and doctoral candidates for whom the question of “Populism” figures in some significant way in their research. We are interested in scholars from any field whose thinking crosses traditional academic boundaries and whose work is empirically rich and theoretically informed.

Fellows will be expected to participate in the weekly Committee seminar, held Tuesday mornings 10:30 am – 12:30 pm. Please note: Ability to attend seminars on Tuesday mornings is a prerequisite of eligibility. During the fall semester, the seminar focuses on readings and presentations by visitors. In the spring, fellows will present their work in progress for group discussion. Fellows are also expected to do their best to attend corresponding public events.

Dissertation Fellowship

Applications are invited from doctoral candidates in the humanities and humanistic social sciences such as anthropology, religion, sociology, philosophy, political science, history, English, art history, and comparative literature who engage and transect our seminar topic. This fellowship is only open to Graduate Center doctoral candidates (i.e. you must be Level III. There are no exceptions).

Students must be registered or on an approved leave of absence during the 2017-18 academic year to be eligible to apply. For your application to be considered, you must be officially advanced to candidacy (level III) at the time of application. A student holding a Graduate Center fellowship may apply for the dissertation fellowships but, if offered an award, the total funding (Graduate Assistant salary plus Dissertation Fellowship stipend) may not exceed $35,000. If the combined amount exceeds $35,000 the student will have to choose between the dissertation fellowship and the graduate assistantship.

Fellows will be expected to participate in the weekly Committee seminar as well as ongoing lectures and symposia. Committee seminars meet on Tuesday mornings, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. It is a condition of the fellowship that fellows leave this time free in their schedules.

With generous support from the Provost’s Office and the Graduate Center, CUNY, successful candidates will be granted $10,000 total for Fall 2017-Spring 2018 in return for a commitment to fully participate in the work of the Committee and in the weekly seminar. The basis for selection of participants will rest primarily on the relevance to the overall project of the work proposal submitted by applicants. In accord with the interdisciplinary aim of the program, selections will also be made with an eye to maintaining disciplinary diversity.

See our website for more information on eligibility and requirements, and for detailed application instructions.

Mid-Career Faculty Fellowship

Applications are invited from scholars of the humanities and humanistic social sciences such as anthropology, religion, sociology, philosophy, political science, history, English, art history, and comparative literature who engage and transect our seminar topic. With generous support from the Graduate Center and the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor, successful candidates will be granted up two course releases from college teaching requirements, to be distributed across the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters at their department’s discretion, in return for a commitment to fully participate in the work of the Committee and in the weekly seminar. The basis for selection of participants will rest primarily on the relevance to the overall project of the work proposal submitted by applicants. In accord with the interdisciplinary aim of the program, selections will also be made with an eye to maintaining disciplinary diversity. Applicants must be tenured, and preference will be given to faculty in the early stages of career development (i.e. within ten years of receiving tenure).

Fellows will be expected to participate in the weekly Committee seminar as well as ongoing lectures and symposia. Committee seminars meet on Tuesday mornings, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm and it is a condition of the fellowship that fellows leave this time free in their teaching schedules.

See our website for more information on eligibility and requirements, and for detailed application instructions.

The Committee on Globalization and Social Change
The Graduate Center, CUNY
Room 5109, 365 5th Ave. New York, NY 10016
globalization.gc.cuny.edu