11.01.04
COURSE DEVELOPMENT COMPETITION
ORGANISED BY THE CURRICULUM RESOURCE CENTER (CRC),
CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
academic year: 2004-2005
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://www.ceu.hu/crc/cdc/ FOR MORE DETAILS
AND APPLICATION FORMS.
Application deadline: 31 January 2004 (all applications should reach the CRC office by this date)
The Curriculum Resource Center (CRC) of Central European University,
sponsored by the Higher Education Support Program of Open Society
Institute, announces a call for proposals to develop new, innovative and
relevant university courses.
Aims of the Program
1. This competition is intended to encourage the introduction of new
courses, which are innovative in content, methodology and teaching
approach.
2. The program funds innovative courses in order to have a measurable
impact on the host department's curricula and its mode of delivery. In
this way, the program seeks to further the development and dissemination
of new curricula across our region (defined as Central and Eastern
Europe, the former Soviet Union and Mongolia).
3. We also aim to provide incentives and means for interdisciplinary
and international co-operation amongst academics from the region.
Eligibility
Application is restricted to resident citizens of Eastern- and
Southeastern Europe, the Former Soviet Union and Mongolia who are
teaching or intending to teach at a university in any country of this
region. Citizens of EU accession countries (Czech Republic, Hungary,
Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are eligible
only if they participate in group projects with colleagues from
non-accession countries (we strongly encourage such collaborative
proposals) AND/OR they propose courses developed in any of the
discipline areas described below that have a significant component
dedicated to the situation of Roma populations.
Requirements for course proposals
1. Applicants are invited to develop and teach a one or two semester
long course in the discipline areas listed below. The course should be
clearly directed towards one of the following levels: introductory,
intermediate, advanced, post-graduate.
2. The competition is open to individuals and groups for 10 month
grants (with the possibility of grant extension for some of the most
promising courses). During this period, successful applicants should
first prepare and then teach their proposed course.
3. Group grants will be awarded to promote innovative, collaborative
projects and priority will be given to groups of academics from at least
two different countries or cities of the region who aim to design a
course from an international perspective.
4. CDC strongly prefers to fund courses that are at least partially
based on applicants' original research in their field.
5. All applicants should show how they intend to apply new teaching
methodology to delivering the course.
6. Project proposals should demonstrate the following: potential to
contribute to curriculum reform at host departments; innovative
character and approach (also to course design); relevance to regional or
global issues; scientific quality in the selected field; feasibility.
7. All accepted applicants are required to attend two workshops: one
workshop at the beginning of their grant period and another before their
teaching period begins. The exact dates will be confirmed and announced
later for selected applicants.
Course Development Competition Grants
Grants for both individual and group projects will consist of the
following:
1. Monthly individual stipends for the preparation and teaching period.
Each CDC grantee will receive a monthly stipend, the amount of which
depends on the country where the course development and teaching will be
carried out. The amount of the stipend is not negotiable.
2. An allowance for legitimate course development expenses (book
purchases, reader production, teaching materials, photocopying, slides,
etc.).We strongly encourage our grantees to produce readers for their
courses (collection of articles, papers, chapters, charts, etc. that
represent readings and other materials for the course). We will not fund
the production of printed textbooks.
3. An allowance for additional, justified travel costs and
administrative expenses in the case of group grants.
4. By negotiation with the CRC, an allowance for justified travel to a
library outside the home city for the development of course materials
etc. The CRC will not, however, cover the costs of study or conference
participation in countries outside the region.
Group stipends for the teaching period will be calculated from the
amount of a full stipend in proportion to the degree of involvement of
each participant (involvement should be expressed clearly as a
percentage in the course plan). Group leaders will, in addition, receive
a small group leader's fee for their extra responsibilities.
Please note that the CDC grant cannot fund the purchase of any
equipment (computers, scanners, printers, etc.)
Evaluation Procedures
Applications will be evaluated and judged by a special selection
committee set up by the CRC. Members of the committee will be respected
scholars with sufficient knowledge of the higher education needs of the
region. Finally, all grantees are expected to submit interim and final
project reports, a finished course syllabus, student evaluation forms
and their head of department's reflections on the results. Finished
course syllabi will be edited and placed on the CRC Web Site to be
available to all. The CRC will visit a selected number of grantees
during the course implementation.
How to Apply
1. Applications must be presented in English on CRC Course Development
Competition forms (photocopied forms are acceptable).
2. For individual proposals, the application form must be accompanied
by a description of the proposed course (in the form of a draft
syllabus), preliminary bibliography of materials to be used in
preparation and teaching, a curriculum vitae (also highlighting research
activity), a letter of recommendation and a letter of endorsement from
the host university. The letter of endorsement should include the host
university's commitment to allowing you to teach the proposed course,
and should clearly indicate the period when the course will be taught.
3. For group proposals, the application should be submitted by the
project leader. In addition to the above it should contain a list of the
individuals involved in the project, their CVs, institutional
affiliations, contact information and a letter from each individual
stating their willingness to be involved in the project. For group
projects letters of endorsement must be submitted from all the
institutions that will host the course (Please feel free to duplicate
the letter of endorsement form if necessary).
4. Application forms can be obtained from local CEU representatives,
the Curriculum Resource Center at Central European University or from
our website, http://www.ceu.hu/crc/cdc/. Applications must arrive to CRC
by 31 January 2004 (to the address: CRC - Central European University,
1051 Budapest, Nador u. 9, Hungary or to cdc@ceu.hu - please note that
letters of endorsement and recommendation will be accepted by regular
mail, fax or directly from the e-mail address of the writer of the
letter). Applicants will be informed about the results in early March.
Courses should be taught during the first and/or second semester of the
2004/2005 academic year.
Discipline Areas for the Course Development Competition 2004-2005
The CRC invites applications to the Course Development Competition in
the discipline/ subject areas briefly described below.
Especially in case of applications from countries with a substantial
Roma population priority will be given to proposals for courses that
have either a specific component or are entirely dedicated to dealing
with the situation of the Roma.
Environmental Policy
We are inviting courses that will help students develop empirical and
theoretical skills required to conduct systematic analysis of
environmental policy. Specific environmental policy areas encouraged
are: sustainable energy policy, climate change policy, environmental
planning and (corporate) environmental management, environmental
assessment (EIA and SEA), integrated state-of-the-environment
assessment.
Legal studies - Human Rights
We encourage courses that will provide the theoretical grounding in
traditional and alternative approaches to human rights. Courses could
offer instruction on the specific legal mechanisms and institutional
processes for effectively approaching the human rights issues
confronting Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and
Mongolia., while addressing major relevant issues debated by the
community of scholars and practitioners in human rights.
Gender and Politics
We encourage courses exploring various areas of gender and politics, in
particular:
a) Courses that deal with the problematic of gender and national/local
politics (women's representation, women and political parties and
political process, constructions of masculinity and femininity in
political culture, women in micro-politics, women's involvement in
reshaping the private-public divide, etc). Courses that compare
different levels of political processes or different national cases are
particularly welcome.
b) Courses that explore gender and International Relations Theory; in
particular, women's role in shaping international relations,
international organizations and women's movements, gender and security
(gender and military culture/militarization, women in the military,
etc.) and gender and ethnic conflict/nationalism (constructions of
masculinity and femininity underlying nationalist movements, women in
war, etc).
Sociology
We welcome empirically grounded proposals using on-going theoretical
debates in regional and international literature and engaging issues of
institutional change at the micro and/or macro levels. Areas of
particular interest include political sociology and economic sociology,
urban sociology, sociology of post-communist transition, globalization,
post-colonial theory.
Anthropology
We encourage individuals or teams to design new courses that:
1) are based on original ethnographic investigations in topics relevant
to current social changes and processes, such as the rise of
capitalisms, the formation of new forms of political mobilization,
transnational production of knowledge and culture, and novel
classifications of groups in society.
2) aim to introduce new theoretical debates or methodological
approaches to the teaching of anthropology in the region (for example in
areas of contemporary urban cultural processes, changes in popular
culture, discourses on development, civil society, and social
movements)
3) are oriented to the development of qualitative research methods and
fieldwork methods by involving students in focused and carefully
designed, short-term fieldwork and research projects.
Public Policy
We welcome applications for courses in Public Policy and Public Sector
Analysis. Whilst the proposed courses should stem from rigorous,
systematic and evidence-based research, the topics to be discussed
should contribute to a conceptual analysis of the economic, ethical,
legal and political dimensions of policy making. Conceptual themes and
approaches should also be balanced with case studies relevant to
post-socialist countries and other emerging democracies. Areas of
particular interest include, but are not limited to: global and regional
governance; administrative reform; the non-profit or third sector;
social capital and rural economic reform; anti-discrimination, equal
opportunities and immigration policies; civil society, civil rights and
social inclusion; health policy. The course proposals should also
indicate the policy-related as well as scholarly objectives and skills
to be achieved and delivered to future course students.
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