[Bilimsel Haber] The Question of the West

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

*The Question of the West*
*Location:* 	New Jersey
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=United%20States&location=New%20Jersey>, 

United States
<http://www.h-net.org/announce/geography.cgi?geography=United%20States>

	

	

	

Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis

invites applications for senior and post-doctoral resident fellowships,
to be held during the academic year 2007-2008, from individuals engaged
in research on topics related to:

The Question of the West

The idea of "the West" animates contemporary public discourse.
Politicians and journalists deploy it for polemical purposes, conjuring
up a "clash of civilizations" occurring along an East-West divide. This
seminar aims to restore critical consciousness to current debates by
exploring the epistemological status of "the West" from a variety of
perspectives. We recognize that from many historical, geographical, and
cultural vantages, "the West" may not exist at all as a meaningful
referent, or it may exist as a popular fantasy or ideological
construction. Yet however evanescent "the West" may be as a geographical
location, however spurious its claims to constitute "civilization" or to
be the source of "universal" values, the consequences of the idea of the
West have been profound and lasting. Imperial fictions demand sustained
critical attention, especially when their impact is more than merely
fictional.

In 2007-2008, the second and final year of this project, the seminar
will continue to address both historical issues and contemporary
debates, exploring the significance of an East-West divide in modern
thought, ideological uses of universalist claims, relationships between
narratives of civilization and imperial policies, non-Western
alternatives to Western metaphorical mapping, and related topics. We
invite scholars from various disciplines, both within and outside the
Western academy, to join a wide-ranging discussion of history, economic,
politics, geography, cartography, literature, and the arts.

Applicants need not be U.S. citizens. AA/EOE.

	Professors Ann Fabian and Jackson Lears
Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, Rutgers--The State University of NJ
88 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8542 U.S.A.

Email: rcha at rci.rutgers.edu <mailto:rcha at rci.rutgers.edu>

Visit the website at http://rcha.rutgers.edu