Fellowships for the European-American Young Scholars' Summer Institute on "Secularization and Religion" 2003-2004 Dates: July 6-19, 2003, at the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, Erfurt, Germany July 18-31, 2004, at the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Conveners: Jose Casanova (New York) and Hans Joas (Erfurt) The program will cover the cost of travel, meals, lodging, and texts for both the U.S. and European meetings. Application deadline: April 15, 2003 Full details and application are available at the following websites: http://www.wiko-berlin.de/kolleg/projekte/eayssi/ausschreibsecrel/?hpl=2 or at http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/yssi/index.htm The European-American Young Scholars' Summer Institutes are sponsored by the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Palo Alto, CA, the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, Wassenaar, the Social Science Research Council, New York, the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Uppsala, and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. This program is made possible by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. I) The Program The European and-American Young Scholars' Summer Institutes are open to Ph.D. candidates and scholars who have received a Ph.D. since 1997. They are designed to support the development of scholarly networks and collaborative projects among young scholars from academic institutions in the United States and Europe. Led by distinguished senior scholars, each institute will accommodate twenty participants and will be built around two summer seminars, one held in the United States and another in Europe in consecutive years. Participants will present their research and collaborate on new projects at the seminars and between the two meetings. The program seeks to explore theoretical, methodological and empirical issues; promote the integration of approaches and interpretations from various disciplines into the participants' research; review the state of research in an institute's field; and identify promising areas for further research. II) The Institute on "Secularization and Religion" The near consensus surrounding the dominant paradigm of secularization within the social sciences has recently broken down. An intense debate has now been raging for some time between the defenders (mainly European) of the traditional paradigm, which structurally links the processes of secularization to general processes of modernization, and the proponents of a new American paradigm, which inversely links religious vitality to open competitive and pluralistic religious markets. There is an increasing recognition of the "exceptional" character of the drastic decline of Western European Christianity in contrast not only to the vitality of different kinds of religion (Christian and non-Christian) in the USA, but also to the contemporary revitalization of Christian (particularly Pentecostal) as well as non-Western religious traditions throughout the post-colonial world. Moreover, neither the traditional paradigm of secularization nor the new American paradigm of religious markets can account persuasively for the significant internal variations of processes of secularization within Europe or for the revitalization of non-Western religious traditions throughout the world. Contemporary Islamic revivals, for instance, are clear deviations not only from the orthodox model of secularization but also from the supply-side model of competitive religious economies. It is time to move beyond the fruitless secularization debate between the "European" and "American" paradigms by adopting a more comparative historical global perspective. From such a perspective, the series of changes we call secularization evince an internal dynamic unique to a particular form of religious regime, Western Christendom and its Catholic and Protestant derivates, which has very few parallels in other world religions. However, neither the discourse of "exceptionalism" (American, European, or Muslim) nor the misleading invidious contrasts between the secular liberal West and the religious fundamentalist 'Rest' would seem to be analytically very helpful. This institute will serve as a forum for a critical discussion and possible reformulation of the theory of secularization and for innovative research particularly on the following areas: a. patterns of religious decline and revitalization in different parts of the world and in different religious traditions, b. trends of privatization/individualization/emotionalization of religion, c. the public roles of religion under contemporary conditions, d. historical studies of the encounter of all world religions and "modernity," from the Protestant Reformation to contemporary processes of globalization. The faculty will select participants from a wide range of disciplines (sociology, political science, history, philosophy, anthropology, theology, religious studies) and will seek scholars interested in religion on a global scale even if their expertise is on European and North American developments. Faculty: Jose Casanova, New School University, New York, USA Hans Joas, Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, Erfurt, Germany III) Application Procedure Applications are invited from Ph.D. candidates and recent Ph.D.s (degree received after May 1997) studying or teaching in the United States or in Europe whose research relates to the topics of the institutes. Candidates should note that in the case of both institutes they are applying for two summer workshops: one at the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, NC, and another in Europe. Successful applicants will be expected to attend both workshops of their institute. The working language of the institutes is English. To apply, send the following, in English, to the appropriate address below: 1. A completed application (forms available online) 2. A curriculum vitae 3. A statement of up to 1,000 words (not counting cited references) detailing current research interests and past research and writing related to the institute topic 4. A list of not more than five background readings potentially relevant to all participants of the summer institute 5. One letter of recommendation IV) Contacts: IV-1) EUROPEAN CANDIDATES SHOULD ADDRESS QUERIES AND APPLICATIONS TO: European-American Young Scholars' Summer Institutes c/o Mr. Michael Becker Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin Wallotstrasse 19 D-14193 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49 30 / 89001 - 267 Fax: +49 30 / 89001 - 200 E-mail: becker@wiko-berlin.de IV-2) U.S. CANDIDATES SHOULD ADDRESS QUERIES AND APPLICATIONS TO: European-American Young Scholars' Summer Institutes c/o Richard R. Schramm Vice President for Education Programs National Humanities Center P.O. Box 12256 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2256 USA Tel.: 919-549-0661 Fax: 919-990-8535 E-mail: rschramm@ga.unc.edu