WAGNet Graduate Students Workshop ”Gender and History in China”

Dear colleagues and friends,

The WAGNet steering committee is delighted to announce the next Graduate Students Workshop, to be held at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, 31 January to 3 February 2008.

In 1998, Professor Harriet Zurndorfer at Leiden University organised the first gender-centred graduate workshop for Ph.D. students in Chinese Studies. Following its success, WAGNet held two other workshops, one in September 2003 at Oxford University (http://www.wagnet.ox.ac.uk/gsw/index.htm), and one in January 2005 at Charles University, Prague (http://www.wagnet.ox.ac.uk/gsw2/index.html). All three events were extremely fruitful, and generated inspiring collaborations between PhD students working on a wide range of issues, but all related to gender and the study of China. At the end of each event, the participants expressed their desire to develop further events. The Bremen workshop follows these three events, and hopes to build on the foundations of what became by all accounts important, meaningful exchanges and debates.

The WAGNet Graduate Students Workshop is designed for a group of around 12 to 15 PhD students who are at an advanced stage of their research. Students will get the opportunity to present their projects to other graduate students and more senior scholars working in the field of China-related women and gender studies. Each presentation will be commented on by a senior discussant and then discussed in the plenum.

The theme for this workshop reflects our wish to strengthen reflections on the historical dimension of gender structures and representations of gender in China. While we invite applications on a broad range of topics including contemporary issues, all applicants are expected to reflect on the historical dimension of their research project.

Applicants should submit three copies of the following material:

- an outline of their project (around 1000 words)

- a curriculum vitae

- a letter of reference by someone familiar with the project, to be sent under separate cover

Applications should be received by 12 March 2007. Members of the steering committee will discuss the applications, and make a selection based on the merit of the outline, the recommendation, and the stage of the research.

Please send your application to:

Prof. Dr. Nicola Spakowski

International University Bremen

(Jacobs University Bremen as of spring 2007)

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

P.O. Box 750 561
28725 Bremen
Germany

Participants are strongly encouraged to find their own funding. Subsidies to travel expenses and accommodation may be available, but please indicate in your application to what sources of funding you might have access to support your travel to Bremen.

For further information, please contact the workshop organizer at n.spakowski@iu-bremen.de.

Please forward this information to students and colleagues who might be interested in the event.

We look forward to your applications!

Nicola Spakowski