[Anthropgrad] Dissertation Workshop on SOCIAL CAPITAL AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN ASIA

[Fay castles]

>
>
> Dissertation Workshop on
>
> *SOCIAL CAPITAL AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN ASIA*
>
> May 3-6, 2009
>
> *_WORKSHOP STATEMENT_*
>
> This dissertation workshop seeks to engage scholars whose work 
> explores the impacts of collective action and social capital, and its 
> various component parts (trust, norms, networks and associations) in 
> diverse parts of Asia, where the nature of state, civil society and 
> alternate civilities is changing rapidly. Our premise is that the 
> “productivity” of civic engagement in terms of enhancing the economic 
> and political vitality of local communities depends, to a large 
> extent, on the responsiveness of the local government and the nature 
> of civil society/alternate civilities in the region under examination. 
> As such, empirical research that seeks to discover and document how 
> social capital and civic engagement interact with other aspects of 
> social and political life to enhance, or perhaps diminish, well-being 
> is important to both intellectual and policy debates taking place 
> across a variety of academic disciplines. Further, researchers who 
> focus on Asia are well positioned to contribute to theoretical debates 
> about the relative usefulness of the concept of “social capital” and 
> associated terms such as social cohesion, cooperation, public 
> participation, empowerment, and community as ways of apprehending the 
> complex dynamics of Asian settings. The workshop thus seeks to bring 
> empirical research and re-theorizations from Asia into a productive 
> dialogue.
>
> *_ELIGIBILITY AND ARRANGEMENTS_*
>
> The workshop is intended for doctoral students whose dissertation 
> projects concern the role of civic engagement and social capital, in 
> its many variations, in fostering dynamic change in any part of 
> contemporary Asia. The purpose of the workshop is to encourage and 
> assist doctoral students who are just beginning work on these issues, 
> as well as those who are farther along in their projects. The workshop 
> will involve intensive discussion of the individual projects and also 
> the larger theoretical and methodological issues that they raise. 
> Possibilities for continuing associations among interested students 
> and faculty will be explored. Applicants must be enrolled in a 
> full-time doctoral program. They must have drafted a dissertation 
> research proposal, even though it may not yet be approved by their 
> committees. They must be prepared to engage in some work prior to the 
> meeting, namely reading and commenting on the proposals of other 
> participants to establish a basis for productive exchange at the event.
>
> The workshop will take place over three days on the campus of the 
> University of Toronto. It will include twelve students and four 
> faculty members from a variety of disciplines and interdisciplinary 
> fields. The Asian Institute at the University of Toronto will cover 
> the costs of work, meals, and accommodation. Travel will be subsidized 
> up to a maximum of CDN$600 per participant.
>
> *_APPLICATION DEADLINE is JANUARY 30, 2009_*
>
> Applications consist of two items: 1) a current curriculum vitae and 
> 2) an 8 to 10 page double spaced dissertation proposal. Alternatively, 
> if the work is well underway, an 8 to 10 page double spaced 
> description of the specific issues being addressed, the intellectual 
> approach, and the materials being studied. Workshop participants will 
> be selected on the content of the submitted projects, the potential 
> for useful exchanges among them, and the benefits of including a wide 
> range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches and 
> intellectual traditions. Applications should be sent in an email 
> attachment to ai.soc at utoronto.ca 
> <mailto:asian.socinstitue at utoronto.ca>. Applicants will be informed 
> about whether or not they have been selected for the workshop by 
> February 6^th 2009. For further information about the workshop or 
> eligibility, please contact the workshop assistant at 
> ai.soc at utoronto.ca <mailto:ai.soc at utoronto.ca>.
>

-- 
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Fay Castles
Departmental Administrator
Department of Anthropology
Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200
+61-2-612 52162  Fax: +61-2-612 53023
Fay.Castles at anu.edu.au
http://rspas.anu.edu.au/anthropology
ANU CRICOS Provider Number: 00120C
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