2013 Workshop Fellows: Varieties of Democracy
8 - 21 September 2013
Cairo, Egypt
The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the American University in Cairo (AUC) are pleased to announce a call for applications from individuals who would like to participate in a workshop on “Varieties of Democracy.” The two-week workshop will be held on 8-21 September 2013 at AUC. The organizers, with a grant secured from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, will cover all the costs of participation (including travel, lodging, meals, and materials) for the accepted applicants. The working language of the workshop is English.
The workshop leaders are Michael Coppedge (University of Notre Dame, USA), Sameh Fawzy (Bibliotheca Alexandrina), Hind Arroub (Institute Hypatie d’Alexandrie pour la Réflexion et les Études, Morocco), Megan Reif (University of Colorado Denver, USA), and Nadine Sika (American University in Cairo).
Program information, eligibility requirements, and a web link to the online 2013 Application Form can be found online at the APSA MENA Workshop website.
The application deadline is Friday, 3 May 2013 at 5 PM (EST).
Participants
The workshop is targeted principally at university and college faculty in the social sciences residing in the Middle East and North African countries who have completed their Ph.D. and are in the early stages of their academic career. Up to four advanced American and/or European Ph.D. students will also be accepted. All Workshop Fellows must be actively engaged in an empirical research project in political science or an area of inquiry related to politics. Fellows should be working on a manuscript, paper, book chapter, or article that can be developed during the workshop into an eventual article-length publication. Professional fluency in English is required.
Workshop Theme
For two weeks, workshop fellows will study a series of interrelated theoretical and methodological concepts related to the workshop’s theme “Varieties of Democracy.” At the outset of the workshop, participants will develop a shared intellectual foundation by exploring Western, Islamic, and non-Western contributions to theories of democracy and significant related empirical questions related to democratization and regime transitions, focusing on issues including good governance, post-authoritarian rule, and state-building. Afterwards, participants will move towards a discussion of the relevant theories for understanding these empirical puzzles, concentrating on structural, institutional, community-based, and comparative theoretical perspectives. In the last phase of the workshop, participants will think critically about the methodological challenges faced when attempting to build theoretically-informed and empirically-substantiated arguments. Themed discussions will emphasize the value of empirical research and research design for the success of their projects.
Applications
To submit an application for participation in the workshop, first review the eligibility requirements on APSA’s MENA Workshop website and then follow the web link to the online Application Form. Complete applications, including all necessary supporting documents, should be sent to APSA electronically by 3 May 2013 at 5 PM (EST). The final list of selected Workshop Fellows will be announced in June 2013.
Applications must be in English and include:
- The completed Application Form
- A detailed, recent Curriculum Vitae/resume
- A 500-word statement that describes your current research interests and how it relates to the workshop theme
- A 2,500-word double spaced document that is part of your on-going research project. This can be a work-in-progress that is part of a paper, article, or chapter, and should tell the reader about the empirical and the theoretical/conceptual interests of the author.
- Two letters of reference on official letterhead and scanned as electronic files. If you are a graduate student, one letter should be from your supervising professor. If you are a researcher or faculty member, the letters can be from a former dissertation supervisor, a colleague at your home institution or elsewhere, a university official, or an employer.
For questions, contact us at menaworkshops@apsanet.org or call Ahmed Morsy at (202) 349-9374. Please do not contact the workshop leaders directly.