NATIONALISM AND ETHNICITY IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL SCIENCES: CHALLENGES FOR RESEARCH AND TEACHING

First Inter-Session Workshop "Nationalism, National Identity, and National Feeling: The Sociological Approach" October 22-24, 2004.
Preliminary Program

Second Summer Session "Sociology and Social Anthropology of Post-Soviet Nationalism",
July 18-31, 2005.
Program

Third Summer Session "Nationalism and Ethnicity Reconsidered: Paradoxes of Post-Modernity and Multiculturalism ",
July 3-15, 2006.
Program

Fifth Inter-Session Workshop "New theoretical attempts to understand ethnicity and modern nationalism: Paradoxes of post-modernity and multiculturalism",
October 6-8, 2006.
Program

Final Workshop "The Problem of Tolerance in Classes on Ethnicity and Nationalism",
April 26-27, 2007.
Program

REGRETS

I.   Profile

Title:	Nationalism and Ethnicity in Contemporary Social Sciences: Challenges for Research and Teaching
Duration:	Three years
Timing:	July 2004 – April 2007
Target region:	Newly Independents States of the former Soviet Union and the countries of the former Socialist bloc in East, South and Central Europe
Organizers:	Faculty of Sociology, St. Petersburg State University International Center for Comparative and Institutional Research, Russia Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Austria Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, Canada Department of Sociology, University of California Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Format:	Summer Sessions in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and inter-session workshops in Fall and Spring 2004-2007
Mission:	Development of self-sustainable regional research and teaching network;    Elaboration of the innovative academic course syllabi on ethnicity, nationalism, and identity based on the diverse theoretical- methodological approaches, regional experience, actual research outcomes and original inventive teaching techniques;    Organization of research teams and elaboration of regional interdisciplinary research proposals with the special reference on the policy implications in the region

II.   Introduction

In July 2004, Faculty of Sociology at St. Petersburg State University with its co-partners – International Center for Comparative and Institutional Research, Russia; Department of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada; Department of Sociology at University of California Los Angeles, U.S.A.; and Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences, Austria – launched the three-year Project Nationalism and Ethnicity in Contemporary Social Sciences: Challenges for Research and Teaching     The project will take place between July of 2004 and July 2006 and will embrace three three-week Summer Sessions in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and smaller three to four-day intense workshops in Fall and Spring 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 on the subjects defined in during previous sessions. The project will also include various inter-session online activities, such as online forums and project’s web-page support.    The idea of the Project is to make sense of the modern manifestation of – nationalism – neo-nationalism, and post-communist nationalism – and introduce modern pedagogical techniques in teaching classes on the subject in the universities of the former Socialist block countries.    The goals of the Project include the presentation of current social theory and methods in ethnic and nationalism studies and innovations and solutions in ethnic management practices to young teachers of the social sciences from the region. It is crucial to present these burning issues in the form of debates and employ the methodology of interdisciplinary scholarship. In this line, we intend to stimulate deeper understanding of teaching and learning processes at the university level and establish the linkages between university teaching and scholarly activity. We plan to equip participants with the theoretical and practical knowledge necessary for the critical appraisal of nationalism’s effects. These skills will support participants’ courses that deal with ethnicity, nationalism and multiculturalism.    The ultimate goal of the project is establishing a network of professional bodies and individual scholars and teachers of different nationalities, cultures, and disciplines dealing with nationalism and ethnicity.    The project started with the First Contact Summer Session “Socio-Political Turn in Studying Ethnicity and Nationalism: Theoretical Problematics and Problems for Teaching.” It took place in Repino, St. Petersburg July 4 – 23, 2004. The First Inter-Session Workshop “Nationalism, National Identity and ‘National Feeling’: The Sociological Approach” was held in St. Petersburg October 22-24, 2004.

III.    Mission, goals, and program 2004-2007

Social transformation after Communist collapse has taken a variety of patterns in post-Socialist countries. In some cases it brought economic growth and the consolidation of a nation. In other cases, instead of stability and economic prosperity, it brought about vast economic recession and disastrous ethnic conflicts. Although many scholars have addressed this challenge since 1989 theoretical and practical results of these attempts are very often questionable. We see our mission in providing an opportunity to start a dialogue between scholars of different ethnic, racial, class, national, educational, disciplinary and cultural background.    Our project is aimed at sharing expertise between resource persons and participants. In the course of the dialogue resource persons provide theoretical and methodological guidance to young social sciences teachers and researchers from former Socialist bloc while the participants share their immediate knowledge and research outcomes with them. Such an interaction serves as a basis for both designing a set of comprehensive syllabi. The collection of syllabi should be used by the scholars in the region, not only by the participants of the school.    Another important outcome we aim at is certainly engaging research teams from the region in national, comparative or interdisciplinary research in ethnicity, identity and nationalism.    The goals of the project may be summarized as Development of self-sustainable regional research and teaching network Elaboration of the innovative academic course syllabi on ethnicity, nationalism, and identity based on the diverse theoretical- methodological approaches, regional experience, actual research outcomes and original inventive teaching techniques Organization of research teams and elaboration of regional interdisciplinary research proposals with the special reference on the policy implications in the region    In this regard the expected outcomes of the project are The collection of syllabi published and/or posted on the web-page of the project and further dissimulation of the collection Self-sustainable research and teaching network aimed at further cooperation, sharing new ideas and research outcomes and continuous enlargement New research and teaching projects based on the elaborated syllabi and research proposals, including fundraising and applying for new local, national, and international grants Policy-making and teaching workshops based on the actual research findings within and outside the project    Preliminary program* of the project includes July 4 – 23, 2004     The First Summer Session “Socio-Political Turn in Studying Ethnicity and Nationalism: Theoretical Problematics and Problems for Teaching.” Repino, St. Petersburg October 22 – 24, 2004     The First Inter-Session Fall Workshop "Nationalism, National Identity, and 'National Feeling': The Sociological Approach," St. Petersburg April 2004    The Second Inter-Session Spring Workshop July 2005    The Second Summer Session October 2005    The Third Inter-Session Fall Workshop April 2006    The Fourth Inter-Session Spring Workshop July 2006    The Third Final Summer Session October 2006    The Fifth Inter-Session Fall Workshop April 2007    The Final Spring Workshop _______________________ * Each event, including time and place, is to be confirmed in advance and is dependent upon funding available. The program for each event is to approved by the project participants and organizers