Wednesday, September 8, 2010

National History Center Summer Seminar on Decolonization

The National History Center is now accepting applications from early-career scholars to participate in the sixth international summer seminar on decolonization, which will be held for four weeks, from Sunday, July 10, through Saturday, August 6, 2011, in Washington, D.C. The seminar is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and takes place at the Library of Congress.

The application deadline is November 1, 2010 and due via email at the following address: decol2011apply@nationalhistorycenter.org

As in the previous five seminars in the series, fifteen participating historians will engage in the common pursuit of knowledge about various dimensions of 20th-century decolonization in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. The seminar is an opportunity for the participants to pursue research at the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and other repositories of historical research materials in Washington, D.C., on projects within the overarching theme of decolonization. At the end of the four weeks, participants produce a draft article or book chapter during their four weeks.

The participants are 15 historians studying various aspects of the process of decolonization. Applicants should have either a recent PhD and be at the beginning of their careers or be advanced PhD students who are nearing completion of their dissertations. Each participant receives the cost of an economy roundtrip airfare to Washington, D.C., housing for the duration of the seminar, and a stipend to cover per diem expenses. Those selected understand that they will actively participate in the seminar, including all required meetings and events, for its entire duration. The seminar makes an effort to include historians from the United States and abroad. Participants selected for the seminar commit themselves to actively participating in that seminar for its entire duration. They must make their own arrangements to obtain the necessary U.S. visas; the National History Center provides any documentation that may be required.

Wm. Roger Louis, Kerr Professor of English History and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin directs the seminar. Other seminar leaders include John Darwin (Univ. of Oxford), Philippa Levine (Univ. of Texas at Austin), Jason Parker (Texas A & M Univ.), and Pillarisetti Sudhir (AHA).

Please note that all the academic activities (including discussions and written work) will be in English. Applicants must, therefore, be fluent in English.

2011 Seminar and application details are available here.

Hat tip.