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Call for Applications
Theme: Conception, Constitution and Structure of the Self
Type: Multi-Diciplinarity Fellowship
Institution: APRA Foundation Berlin
Location: Berlin (Germany)
Date: 2014
Deadline: 1.10.2013
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1. The APRA Foundation Berlin Multi-Disciplinary Fellowship has the
purpose of promoting research on the conception, constitution and
structure of the self, with the educational goals of (i) increasing
knowledge and public awareness of individual and societal strategies
for surviving and flourishing in a global environment; and (ii)
discovering, identifying and promoting the cross-disciplinary and
cross-cultural flexibility through which these strategies are
expressed.
2. The research topic of the conception, constitution and structure
of the self includes but is not limited to
2.1. the relation among intuition, emotion, and reason in the self;
2.2. the relationship among logic, rationality and scientific method;
2.3. intrapersonal consistency in action through time;
2.4. the relation between individual and societal conceptions of the
person;
2.5. the tensions and conflicts between individual and societal
needs, obligations and expectations;
2.6. individual and societal memory and moral responsibility;
2.7. the interpersonal and institutional dynamics of xenophobia;
2.8. difference, anomaly and originality in the natural and social
sciences;
2.9. the psychology of bodily, social and geographical
boundary-violation;
2.10. the function of social transgression in defining individuals
and enhancing social cohesion;
2.11. methods and procedures of self-investigation in Vedic and
Western psychology;
2.12. comparative conceptions of the self in Vedic and Western
philosophy;
2.13. constructions of the self through personal narrative and/or
social mythology;
2.14. the interpersonal (familial, communal, social, political)
dynamics of self-respect, self-worth, self-confidence, and/or
self-regard;
2.15. the construction of and preconditions for personal identity.
3. Individual and societal strategies for surviving and flourishing
in a global environment include but are not limited to self-mastery;
mastery of local conventions, practices and standards in diverse
communities; overachievement; passing and self-concealment; voluntary
self-disclosure; public self-identification; social
self-stereotyping; psychological self-analysis; cultural
self-creation; artistic self-expression; ethical self-sacrifice;
selfless service; political self-assertion; social self-abnegation;
tactical self-camouflage; scapegoating; self-bifurcation or
compartmentalization; spiritual self-transcendence; conformist or
nonconformist self-presentation; and cross-community mediation,
translation, negotiation, organization, leadership and/or
conflict-resolution.
4.Cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural flexibility means successful
cross-cultural travel, transmission, navigation and/or collaboration.
Each one of us is required to cross cultures and/or disciplines, when
we interact with others outside our own areas of expertise. The
resulting experience develops dynamic cognitive and practical skills,
as well as capacities of breadth, flexibility and insight, that
cannot be acquired any other way. Hence each one of us needs some
such strategies at various points in our lives. For example, these
strategies are useful and important for Germany, in which the very
same forces of globalization that have made possible its
reunification simultaneously threaten and infiltrate the geographical
and cultural boundaries by which it attempts to define itself as a
nation. Increased awareness of these strategies, and their historical
antecedents, thus has practical application to Germany’s ability to
successfully address issues of immigration, xenophobia, social and
organizational flexibility, and economic efficiency. But the urgency
of educating the general public about these issues is to be felt as
well in the United States, India, China and the rest of Europe.
Fellowship Application Guidelines
5. Conducting research on the conception, constitution and structure
of the self means formulating and carrying out a research project
that results in a book, article, essay, artwork, musical composition,
poem, novel, exhibition, symposium, performance, film, television
program, and/or other scholarly and/or creative final product,
intended to educate the general public about 3 and 4 above.
6. The APRA Foundation Berlin Multi-Disciplinary Fellowship is a
single, annual competitive research grant designed for intellectuals
who (i) are proven high achievers in at least two seemingly disparate
fields of scholarship and/or the arts simultaneously; and (ii) wish
to use the APRA Foundation Berlin’s resources to research the
conception, constitution and/or structure of the self in either or
both of them.
6.1. Single means that only one APRA Foundation Berlin
Multi-Disciplinary Fellowship is granted each year.
6.2. Competitive means that the Fellowship is awarded annually to a
specific individual based on criteria of exceptional scholarly and
creative excellence and achievement in the seemingly disparate fields
in question.
6.3. Research Grant means that this Fellowship carries all of the
rights and responsibilities of a traditional academic research grant
that promotes research in a particular field. Its rights include
conducting professional APRA Foundation Berlin for
Multi-Diciplinarity research on the conception, constitution and/or
structure of the self, with the aid of the resources placed at the
Fellow’s disposal by APRA. Its responsibilities include meeting
measurable professional standards of quality, competence and
productivity in the final work produced.
6.4. Intellectuals means that
6.4.1. APRA Foundation Berlin Multi-Disciplinary Fellows are not
restricted to those who hold advanced academic degrees, provided that
their achievements meet the highest standards of excellence and
outstanding contribution in their chosen fields;
6.4.2. APRA Foundation Berlin Multi-Disciplinary Fellows are required
to show demonstrated proficiency in written or oral discursive
(including both narrative and analytical) prose, even if neither of
their seemingly disparate fields of scholarship and/or the arts
require it. An example would be a mathematical logician and
performance artist whose first-mentioned field involves the
manipulation of algebraic symbols while the second involves the
manipulation of sound, materials, and physical movement. Such an
individual would still have to meet the requirement of demonstrated
proficiency in written or oral discursive prose; for example, a
lecture on his or her work process, an editorial on a topic of
importance to him or her, an autobiographical or fictional narrative,
or a public dialogue on some more abstract topic. Demonstrated
proficiency means that the lecture, editorial, narrative or dialogue
has been disseminated in the public sphere, either in print or
performance.
6.5. Seemingly disparate fields of scholarship and/or the arts means
a simultaneous combination of at least two specialized fields, of
scholarly research and/or of artistic production, that does not fit
comfortably into existing academic fields, programs, or
interdisciplinary studies departments in today’s universities and
colleges. Two fields are seemingly disparate if there is no overlap
between them; i.e., if most specialists in one either know nothing
about the other, or view it with indifference, incomprehension, or
active hostility. Examples would include analytic philosophy and
contemporary art, medicine and poetry, law and contemporary music
composition, or neurobiology and avant-garde theatre. Excluded from
seemingly disparate fields are:
6.5.1. a single area of research and/or creative work that falls into
two different traditional fields, as does comparative literature into
English and creative writing;
6.5.2. two separate areas of research and/or creative work, both of
which involve the same type of labor, as do mathematics and
statistical research or poetry and philosophy;
6.5.3. research and/or creative work in one field that is viewed as
mutually complementary with that in the other by one’s colleagues in
both – as would be true of engineering and architectural design, or
composition and music criticism;
6.5.4. research and/or creative work in one field combined with
performance of other artists’ work in another, for example
theoretical physics research plus classical violin performance or
documentary film-making plus acting.
6.5.5. research and/or creative work in one field superceded by
research and/or creative work in another, for example early-career
groundbreaking work in chemistry followed by mature groundbreaking
work in art.
The APRA Foundation Berlin Multi-Disciplinary Fellowship seeks to
identify, honor, support and nurture the unusual combination of
boundary-crossing resourcefulness, creative independence and personal
mettle that simultaneous but non-overlapping fields of specialization
force successful practitioners to develop.
7. A successfully completed APRA Foundation Berlin Multidisciplinary
Fellowship research project APRA Foundation Berlin for
Multi-Diciplinarity educates and familiarizes the general public with
some of the ways in which cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural
boundary-crossing enhances the development of tactics, skills,
resources and knowledge essential to all of us for adapting to a
rapidly evolving global culture.
8. Applications for the APRA Foundation Berlin Multidisciplinary
Fellowship should include (i) a 500-word description of the project
and projected timetable for the various stages of its completion;
(ii) two supporting publications, and/or supporting media
documentation on a single CD or PAL-formatted DVD where appropriate;
(iii) a current Curriculum Vitae; (iv) the names and contact
information for four recommenders, two in each of the applicant’s
fields of specialization in scholarship and/or the arts respectively.
These materials cannot be returned. They should be sent in hard copy,
via Fed Ex internationally, or registered mail within Germany, to the
following address:
APRA Foundation Berlin
Reinickendorfer Straße 117
D-13347 Berlin
Germany
The deadline for applications is 1 October and the Fellowship award
is announced no later than 31 March of the following calendar year.
Website:
http://www.adrianpiper.com/foundation/fellowship_menu.shtml
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