Summer School - Constitution-building in Africa, 11

History has seen several waves of constitution-building in the 20th century with an unparalleled boom starting in the 1990s after the fall of the Berlin wall. And while experts recently announced the end of this boom in new constitutions after the Cold War, the world is witnessing another wave of constitution-building, this time predominately in Africa. This burst of activity has given rise to a range of new ideas about the nature and purpose of constitutions and constitution-making, constitutional solutions to contemporary problems, and the proper role of international actors.

The two-week research course intends to tackle complex societal, political and legal problems in constitution-building from an interdisciplinary perspective, informed by field experience. We seek to combine different disciplines (mostly comparative law and political science) and perspectives (comparative governmental systems; electoral systems; decentralization; human rights; comparative constitutional law; good governance; etc) to offer new insights on a classic subject of the highest academic and practical relevance.

The course will address the subject from four different angles, all of them related to specific challenges in Africa. The first one highlights constitutionalism in Africa in general, the different roles and meanings of a constitution, the merits and risks of constitutional borrowing, and the role of external / international influence in constitution building. The second angle accounts for the fact that new constitutions often follow conflict, loaded with the expectation to herald a new era of peace and democracy, leaving behind authoritarianism, despotism or political upheaval. The third angle of, the course addresses how constitutional designs respond to competing claims, be they religious, ethnic, linguistic, and how they accommodate different stakeholders, how they tame the executive, introducing instruments of checks and balances and how constitutions aspire to prevent stalemates and promote gender equality. Finally taking in to account the fact that the management of constitutional change and maintenance of constitutional stability are ongoing problems, the course will explore the issue of constitutional implementation, review and redemption as part of the constitutional building process.

The course is designed to be a forum for exchange and mutual learning for young scholars and practitioners from the civil sector, from public administration, from regional and international institutions.

Target group

Applications are invited from (post-) graduate students, researchers and scholars working on constitutional building in Africa, as well as practitioners, with considerable field experience.

Pre-requisites

Prior knowledge of the field is required, field experience is an advantage.

Language requirement

The language of instruction is English, thus all applicants have to demonstrate a strong command of spoken and written English to be able to participate actively in discussions at seminars and workshops. Some of the shortlisted applicants may be contacted for a telephone interview.

Important dates and deadlines

Important Dates and Deadlines

Application deadlines:

February 14, 2016

ADR-International Business Negotiation
ADR-Mediation
International Business Negotiation
Cities and Science
Geospatial Technologies and Remote Sensing for Monitoring SDGS
Innovations in Disaster Risk Reduction
Innovative Financing for Education
In the Labyrinth of National Identity
Matter, Mind and Consciousness
International Business Negotiation
Political Psychology
Screened Memories
Strategic Human Rights Litigation
Summer Institute on Program Evaluation - Policy Evaluation
Understanding Communication
What Makes Us Human

February 20, 2016

Green Industry

February 29, 2016

Constitution-building in Africa

March 1, 2016

Precautionary Principle

March 15, 2016

Summer Institute on Program Evaluation - Using Logic Models to Evaluate Social Programs - Early Bird enrolment
Topics in Violent Online Political Extremism

March 31, 2016

Low Dimensional Topology

April 15, 2016

Summer Institute on Program Evaluation - Using Logic Models to Evaluate Social Programs

General dates

Email notification about the decision: mid-April - mid-May
Participants confirm acceptance and housing needs: in two weeks after receipt of the acceptance notification
Activation of the course-specific e-learning sites with readings and course outlines: end of April - end of May
Early-bird deadline of tuition payment for fee-paying participants: April 30th
Tuition payment deadline for fee-paying participants: May 28th
Participants needing a visa reserve tickets, confirm exact travel dates to SUN; SUN Office sends out original invitation letter and room reservation for visa application: 6 weeks prior to arrival
Participants submit visa applications: 30 days prior to arrival
Participant arrivals, hotel check-in, and registration: one day before the course starts
Orientation session at CEU: on the first day of the course

Course-specific dates

The "Course-specific dates" of the following courses are different from the general SUN dates. Click on the course names to see their specific deadlines.

Green Industry

Financial Aid

As the number of scholarships available is limited,funding offered by institutions or individuals is welcome so that we can invite more well qualified applicants. When choosing the financial aid package, please consider if you or your institution can contribute to the program expenses. Faculty and Ph.D. students are advised to approach their home departments for travel grants; researchers may have research grants available which can cover their participation; professionals may turn to their employers to fund their training at SUN. You can also consult some non-CEU funding opportunities listed in our FAQ section. While selection of applicants will be based on the academic merit of the applications, those willing to bear the participation costs fully or partially will be preferred in case of equally strong applications.

Financial aid is available in the following categories:

tuition waiver
accommodation grant
travel grant (full or partial)
Participants from Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and Mongolia, as well as those coming from emerging countries worldwide can apply for financial aid in all categories listed above.

Participants from developed countries are expected to pay tuition fee. However, there are a limited number of tuition waivers available on a competitive basis. Those who wish to apply for a tuition waiver should send a separate cover letter specifying their reasons.
Participants are NOT eligible to receive financial aid if they attended two CEU funded Summer University courses within a four-year period.
In case an applicant is accepted to two courses, which is only possible if the two courses are run consecutively, financial aid is only available for attending one course.

SUN Packages

All packages will include the following:

a minimum of 24 tuition hours per week
a certificate of attendance
access to course E-learning page (with readings, assignments, etc.)
access to CEU facilities (Library, IT services, sports centre including the use of the indoor swimming pool, tennis courts)
some social and cultural events depending on the course schedules (e.g. welcome and farewell reception / outings /fieldtrips / film screenings, etc.)

Fee-Paying Package

Financial aid: N/A
Participant's own contribution: tuition, travel, accommodation, health insurance and living expenses

Payment deadlines

April 30(Early Bird fee)
May 28 (Full tuition fee)

Cancellation Policy

In the event of cancellation, CEU will refund the tuition fee as follows:

Before May 28 - CEU will fully refund the tuition fee.
Between May 28th and 14 days prior to the course starting - 80% of the tuition fee will be refunded.
Within 14 days of the course starting - no refund for tuition fees will be given.

Financial Aid packages

Tuition Waiver
Financial aid: tuition fee waived
Participant's own contribution: health insurance, travel, accommodation and living expense.
Partial SUN Scholarship
Financial aid: tuition fee waived and free accommodation in a double room
Participant's own contribution:health insurance, travel and living expenses
Full SUN Scholarship
Financial aid:tuition fee waived; free accommodation in a double room and a full or partial travel grant
Participant’s own contribution: health insurance and living expenses.

The Full SUN Scholarship includes a full or partial travel grant which can be applied for on a competitive basis and will be available in a limited number. Visa costs and short domestic trips are not reimbursed. The citizens of the following countries are not eligible to apply for a travel grant: Bosnia, Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the western part of Ukraine and qualify therefore for a Partial SUN Scholarship.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://www.summer.ceu.hu/constitution-2016

Summer School - Constitution-building in Africa, 11 - 22 July 2016, Hungary