Announcements
Every year since 1994, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) has organized a Gender Institute which brings together between 12 and 15 researchers for 3 weeks of concentrated debate, experience-sharing and knowledge-building.
Initially aimed at promoting widespread awareness of the concept of gender in the social science research community, the institute has subsequently been organized around specific themes designed to strengthen the integration of gender analysis into social science research in Africa and encourage the emergence of a community of researchers versed in the field of gender studies.
Organization
The activities of all CODESRIA institutes centre on presentations by African researchers, resource persons from the continent and the Diaspora, and participants whose applications for participation as laureates have been successful. The sessions are led by a scientific director who, with the support of resource persons, ensures that the laureates are exposed to a wide range of research and policy issues. Each laureate is required to prepare a research paper to be presented during the institute. The revised version of such a paper will undergo a peer review for publication by CODESRIA. The CODESRIA Documentation and Information Centre (CODICE) will provide participants with a comprehensive bibliography on the theme of the institute. Access to a number of documentation centers in and around Dakar will also be facilitated. The CODESRIA Gender Institute will be held in both English and French through simultaneous interpretation.
Theme: African Sexualities: Theories, Politics, Action
Over the past decade, research on questions of gender and sexualities has begun to influence discussions in the social sciences. Once confined to the discussion of HIV and AIDS, newer engagements with sexualities have asked questions about identity and democracy, about the gap between legal reform and socio-cultural change, and about how we should understand 'sexual economies'. An underlying thread across these engagements concerns the nature of civil society organizing where a focus on questions of gender and sexuality (such as the age of sexual consent, or the right to polygamous marriage) galvanizes public political debates. An increasing number of young researchers are drawn to these areas as a way of deepening their scholarship on questions of citizenship, poverty-alleviation, governance, or representation.
In 2012, the CODESRIA Gender Institute ran a highly successful programme on African Sexualities, which explored introductory theories concerning the relationship between gender and sexualities, questions of the media and sexuality, and debates on law, gender and sexuality. Given the success of the 2012 Institute, the 2013 Institute will also focus on research on sexualities. In 2013, this focus will be explored through an interest on connections between (1) gender identities (masculinities and femininities), sexuality and democracy; (2) legal and political change which works with questions of sexualities; (3) organizational activism which draws on ideas about rights, equalities, and sexualities within a framework of socio-economic theory on African independence and self-sustainability.
The Institute will be most useful to writers and researchers who have some background in questions of gender as they have been applied to social science research in sociology, anthropology, economics, political studies, and law, or to research in the humanities.
The 2013 Gender Institute will be directed by Professor Jane Bennett, one of the most eminent African experts on Gender who is currently the Director of the School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Cape Town (South Africa). As Director of the Institute, Professor Bennett will:
• Participate in the selection of laureates;
• Assist with the identification of appropriate resource persons;
• Interact with resource persons and laureates towards adequate preparation for the Institute;
• Design the courses for the session, including the specification of sub-themes;
• Deliver a set of lectures and conduct a critical analysis of the papers presented by resource persons and laureates;
• Submit a written scientific report on the session
Professor Jane Bennett will (co-)edit the revised versions of the papers presented by the laureates and resource persons during the Institute with a view to submitting them for publication by CODESRIA.
Resource Persons
Lectures to be delivered at the Institute are intended to offer laureates an opportunity to advance their reflections on the theme of the Institute. Resource persons should therefore be senior scholars or researchers who have published extensively on the topic and who have significant contributions to make to the debates on it. They will be expected to produce lecture materials which are capable of stimulating laureates to engage in discussion and debate around the lectures and the general body of literature available on the theme.
Once selected, resource persons must:
- Interact with the Director of the Institute and laureates to help the latter readjust their research questions and their methodological approach;
- Submit a copy of their course material for reproduction and distribution to participants not later than one week before the time for the delivery of their lectures;
- Deliver their lectures, participate in debates and comment on the research proposals and papers of the laureates;
- Review and submit the revised version of their lecture notes or research papers for publication by CODESRIA, not later than two months after their presentation at the Institute.
Laureates
Candidates should be Masters or PhD students or scholars in the early stages of their careers, with a proven capacity to conduct research on the theme of the Institute. Intellectuals active in the area of policy process and/or social movements and civil society organizations are also encouraged to apply. The number of places available for laureates of this Institute is only fifteen (15). Non-African scholars who are able to raise funds for their participation may also apply for a limited number of places.
Applications
Applications for the position of resource person must include:
1. An application letter;
2. A curriculum vitae;
3. Two (2) published papers;
4. A proposal of not more than five (5) pages in length, outlining the issues to be covered in their three (3) proposed lectures, including one on methodological issues.
Applications for consideration as a laureate must include:
1. An application letter;
2. A letter indicating institutional or organizational affiliation;
3. A curriculum vitae;
4. A research proposal (of not more than ten (10) pages in two copies), including a descriptive analysis of the work the applicant intends to undertake, an outline of the theoretical interest of the topic chosen by the applicant, and the relationship of the topic to the problematic and concerns of the theme of the 2013 Institute;
5. Two (2) reference letters from scholars or researchers known for their competence and expertise in the candidate's research area (geographic and disciplinary), including their names, addresses, telephone and/or fax numbers and e-mail addresses.
Deadline
The deadline for the submission of applications is 29th March, 2013. Laureates will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by late April 2013. Laureates are expected to use the month of May to carry out their fieldworks and/or collect information to prepare the draft research papers to be presented during the Institute. Each draft research paper should be submitted to CODESRIA not later than 1st June, 2013. Laureates will be expected to work on this document (and not on the abstract of the proposal) and prepare it during the Institute for subsequent publication.
Deadline: 29th March, 2013
Theme: African Sexualities: Theories, Politics, Action
Date: 17th june – 6th July, 2013
Venue: Dakar, Senegal
Date and Venue
The Institute will be held from 17th June to 6th July, 2013 in Dakar (Senegal). All applications should be sent to:
CODESRIA Gender Institute
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop X Canal IV
B.P. 3304, CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal
Tel. (221) 33 825 98 21/22/23 - Fax: (221) 33 824 12 89
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: http://www.codesria.org