The Center for Social Sciences (CSS), Ilia State University (ISU), and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC) invite motivated junior scholars interested in the methodology of oral history to participate in the summer school "Recording Georgia's Past and Training Scholars for the Future".
Dates: 12-18 September, 2016
Venue: Dedoplistskaro, Ilia State University
Working Language: English
Today, oral history research is one of the important methods used in historiography that helps in recording and documenting the memories of eyewitnesses, preserving the unique and authentic evidence of the past that otherwise will be lost. The importance of oral history is accepted in many academic fields - anthropology, history, sociology, political science, and gender studies are among the most notable. Like any research method, it demands scrupulous attention, rules, cross checking, and careful interpretation. Oral history is a collaborative process in which both the participant and the researcher can discover new depths, new memories, and new perspectives. Oral history is of particular importance for societies where written history is scarce, or where it has been distorted by censorship, ideological pressures, or officially imposed narratives. Therefore, the current summer school intends to create a cadre of Georgian scholars in multiple disciplines who will be knowledgeable about and willing to apply the methods of oral history in their research. Within the project, 12 junior scholars interested in oral history will be trained in various methodologies, such as narrative analysis, critical discourse analysis, sociolinguistic approaches, participant observation, etc.
The Oral History Summer School is the first step in training the junior scholars who will participate in a three-year project on documenting the memories of the eyewitnesses of Georgia's recent history of 1972-2003.
The summer school involves scholars from Georgia, US, Germany, Czech Republic, Netherlands, etc. The academic supervisors of the project are Professor Stephen Jones from Mount Holyoke College, USA and ARISC Vice-President, Dr. Lika Tsuladze from the Center for Social Sciences and Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, and Dr. Oliver Reisner, Ilia State University.
Interested applicants should submit the following set of documents:
- CV in English with the contact details of two references;
- Letter of Motivation in English (maximum 500 words), describing their interest in participating in the summer school;
- Copy of Master's or PhD diploma, or a certificate confirming their student status.
The applicants will be selected based on the following criteria:
- The applicants should be Master's or PhD students at the time of application, or hold Master's and/or PhD Degrees (in the case of PhD, the degree should be awarded within the last 7 years);
- The applicants should represent fields in the Social Sciences and Humanities;
- The applicants should have good proficiency in the English language;
- Experience of working with qualitative research methods is a must.
The applications should be submitted in one combined file (MS Word or PDF) no later than July 10, 2016 via the following e-mail address: oralhistory@css.ge.
In the subject line of the e-mail, please indicate: "Summer School: Georgia's Oral History."
The successful applicants will be notified by July 20, 2016.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://css.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=8&info_id=1186