Post-Doc 05-06: African Studies in Global Perspective,
03/05
Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Education and African Modernities
African Studies in Global Perspective
The <http://afrst.uiuc.edu>Center for African Studies in conjunction with
the <http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/>College of Education at the
<http://www.uiuc.edu/>University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is offering
two post-doctoral fellowships for 2005-2006 on the theme of "Education and
African Modernities." The fellowships are part of a three-year
<http://www.rockfound.org>Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Institute that
allows fellows the opportunity to explore, through interdisciplinary
inquiries, the role of higher education, broadly defined, in and on Africa.
Specifically, the institute focuses on education as a site of knowledge
production and dissemination, of socialization, stratification, and
struggle. Each year the institute is organized around a broad theme and
supports two post-doctoral fellowships (ten months in duration).
The 2005-2006 institute will focus on the development and constitution of
African Studies as a scholarly field of interdisciplinary inquiry. In the
last few years, African Studies has begun to attract serious critical
investigation. Several monographs have appeared (Guyer, 1995; Martin and
West, 1999; Zeleza, 1997, 2003), which offer competing histories of African
studies as a field, probe its racialized social hierarchies and explores
its relationships to the shifting projects of the state and to the major
humanities and social science disciplines. Some believe African studies,
like all area studies, is in crisis because of the emergence of global and
international studies. Others see redemption in the resurgence of
Afrocentric values in African American and other African Diasporic
communities. As rich, varied and informative as these studies may be,
however, most of them are preoccupied with developments in the United
States, and to a much smaller extent, Western Europe. They tell us little
about the state of African studies in Africa and the complex and often
contradictory relations between African studies scholars and programs on
the continent and those located outside - whether in North America, Europe
or Asia. This year's program encourages applications that propose
comparative analyses of the development of African studies in different
parts of Africa and the world and that deepen our understanding of African
Studies in its global dimensions.
The stipend for this ten-month fellowship will be within the range of
$37,500-$40,000, based on qualifications. All fellows will be based in
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. Some support for relocation expenses, housing
and benefits is also available.
- Qualifications
- Applications are welcome from the humanities, education,
and social sciences fields. Applicants must have a Ph.D. or its equivalent
for full consideration. Regional, comparative and interdisciplinary
interests are especially welcome. In addition to their individual research
and writing, the fellows will be asked to participate in academic forums,
including: seminars, colloquia, symposia, and focused discussion groups.
There are no regular teaching duties associated with these fellowships.
Applicants need not be U.S. citizens, and international applications are
welcome. For further information about the program, see the overview of the
<http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?context=1&;Collection=1&DocID=622&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1>Rockefeller
Humanities Fellowships and the foundation's website
<http://www.rockfound.org>www.rockfound.org or the announcement on the
Center for African Studies website: www.afrst.uiuc.edu/postdoc
Deadline for receipt of application: January 5, 2005
Notification by: March 15, 2005
- Application Procedures
- Send the following materials (electronic
applications welcome with the exception of letters of recommendation):
A copy of the applicant's c.v.
A ten-page proposal (double-spaced) detailing the project to be conducted
while in residency
A writing sample (a book chapter or article)
Three letters of recommendation (hard copy only)
Submit to:
Center for African Studies
Rockefeller Post-Doctoral Fellowships
210 ISB, 910 S. Fifth Street
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL 61820 U.S.A.
Tel: 217-333-6335
Fax: 217-244-2429
E-mail:
<mailto:swisher@uiuc.edu?Subject=Rockefeller%20Fellowship%20Application>swisher@uiuc.edu
Website: <http://www.afrst.uiuc.edu>www.afrst.uiuc.edu
Jamie McGowan
Acting Assistant Director
Center for African Studies
Rm. 210, International Studies Bldg.
910 S. Fifth St.
Champaign, IL 61820
TEL: 217-244-3648
Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.