Sunday, October 16, 2016

Jobs (new one added), ACUNS news, book ad, Mosul piece

New:



University of Oklahoma
Wick Cary Assistant Professor of Brazilian Studies (Tenure Track)
The University of Oklahoma’s Department of International and Area Studies, a thriving academic department in the expanding College of International Studies, invites applications for the Wick Cary Assistant Professor position in Brazilian studies at the level of Assistant Professor beginning August 2017. This new position accompanies the recent creation of a University of Oklahoma center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil along with a new center in Puebla, Mexico to expand the university's international presence and to enrich study abroad opportunities for OU students. We seek candidates whose research and teaching interests focus on political and economic development, energy and the environment, political institutions, or Brazil’s international relations and foreign policy.  
The person hired for this position will teach undergraduate and MA-level courses on Brazil as well as thematic courses in their area of expertise.  Additionally, the person hired will contribute to teaching at the Rio Center.  We hope to welcome a new colleague with a demonstrated commitment to fostering inclusivity and mentoring members of underrepresented groups.
The Department of International and Area Studies (IAS) offers seven undergraduate degrees to approximately 360 majors, and an MA in International Studies with 40 students enrolled. The Department has approximately 20 full-time faculty with collective research strengths in the areas of development, security, and national identity. For more information, please visit the IAS website at https://www.ou.edu/content/cis/ias.html.  The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a comprehensive public research university with a Carnegie classification of very high research activity known for excellence in teaching and research.  OU enrolls over 30,000 students and has more than 2700 full-time faculty members in 21 colleges.  Norman is a culturally rich and vibrant town located just outside Oklahoma City. For more information, visit http://soonerway.ou.edu and http://www.ou.edu/flipbook.
Applicants should have a Ph.D. in hand by the time of appointment. The teaching load will be two courses per semester (2-2). Salary is competitive. The appointment will begin on August 16, 2017. Applicants should submit a letter of application, statements of teaching and research interests, curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, transcripts, complete sets of teaching evaluations, and a writing sample.  Submit all materials electronically at: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/7636.
                               
Review of applications will begin November 1, 2016 and will continue until the position is filled. We especially encourage applications from underrepresented groups as we continue to build a diverse faculty. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution (www.ou.edu/eeo).

JOB OPENINGS
Monash University, Australia (www.monash.edu) is seeking

1) Lecturer in International Relations
2) Lecturer in International Development Practice

Politics and International Relations is the largest Section within the School of Social Sciences. It has a reputation for research and teaching excellence. The Section offers two complementary undergraduate majors, Politics and International Relations, as well coursework postgraduate programs that have a fast growing domestic and international student base. It is a centre of research dynamism with three major research streams: Australian politics (with particular strengths in executive government and parties); international relations (with particular strengths in gender peace and security, and political violence and terrorism studies) and political theory.
Key result areas and responsibility
Specific duties required of a Level B academic may include:
1. the conduct of tutorials, practical classes, demonstrations, workshops, student field excursions, clinical sessions and studio sessions
2. initiation and development of subject material
3. acting as subject coordinators
4. the preparation and delivery of lectures and seminars
5. supervision of the program of study of honours students or of postgraduate students engaged in course work
6. supervision of major honours or postgraduate research projects
7. the conduct of research
8. involvement in professional activity
9. development of course material with appropriate advice from and support of more senior staff;
10. marking and assessment
11. consultation with students
12. a range of administrative functions the majority of which are connected with the subjects in which the academic teaches
13. attendance at departmental, school and/or faculty meetings and/or membership of a number of committees

Position 1: The Master of International Relations is an innovative coursework degree offered through the School of Social Science in the Faculty of Arts. It emphasises the development of conceptual knowledge and applied hands-on skill development in policy contexts. We value research-informed teaching, and industry partnerships with government, non-governmental organisations, and businesses. The Master of International Relations is a vibrant program a focus on policy relevance and industry connections.
Position purpose
The lecturer will join Politics and International Relations section of the School of Social Sciences as a full-time, continuing academic staff member, with teaching, research and service roles. For the first three years, the successful candidate’s teaching and service contributions will be dedicated to the Deputy Directorship of the MA in International Relations, a vibrant coursework program with a focus on policy relevance and industry connections.
In this role, the lecturer will assist in the development of a foundation program for incoming MA students, provide oversight of the internship and research project units, support the administration of the program, assist the Program Director with program delivery and strategy, and undertake supervision, mentoring, and consultation with students. After three years, the lecturer may then relinquish the Deputy Director position and take on a traditional teaching and research role in international relations.
Reporting line: Dr Benjamin MacQueen
Supervisory responsibilities: Honours and postgraduate students
Financial delegation and/or budget responsibilities: Nil

Key selection criteria
Essential
1. A PhD in International Relations
2. Emerging track record of achievement of research in international relations, with a clear research plan for the next 3-5 years
3. Demonstrated ability to make significant contributions to teaching and learning outcomes in the MA in International Relations, including working with the Program Director in developing the mentoring, internship, and supervision programs
4. Capacity to supervise Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students
5. Capacity to manage unit administration
6. Demonstrated excellence in and enthusiasm for student-centred learning
7. High level of interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team
Other job-related information
• Travel (eg. to other campuses of the University)
• Peak periods of work during which the taking of leave may be restricted


Position 2:
The Master of International Development Practice is an innovative multidisciplinary degree offered through the School of Social Science in the Faculty of Arts. It emphasises the development of conceptual knowledge and applied hands-on skill development in cross cultural and comparative contexts. We value research-informed teaching, and partnerships with the development and humanitarian sectors, including their involvement in our student mentoring programs. Following its introduction in 2014, the Master of international Development Practice has experienced significant growth.
Position purpose
The Lecturer is expected to make contributions to the teaching effort of the University and to carry out activities to develop and maintain scholarly research and/or professional activities relevant to the profession or discipline. It is expected that the successful candidate will serve as Deputy Program Director for the MA International Development Practice for 3 years, with a focus on oversight of the internship and research project units, supporting administration of the program, working with the Program Director on program delivery and strategy, undertaking supervision, mentoring, and consultation with students, and supporting the delivery of on-line subjects.
Reporting line: Dr Benjamin MacQueen
Supervisory responsibilities: Honours and postgraduate students
Financial delegation and/or budget responsibilities  Nil


Key selection criteria

Essential
1. A PhD in International Relations with a focus on International Development and/or Humanitarian Studies
2. Emerging track record of achievement in related research and a clear research plan for the next 3-5 years
3. Demonstrated ability to make significant contributions to teaching and learning outcomes in the MA International Development Practice (MIDP), including working with the Program Director in developing the mentoring, internship, and supervision programs
4. Capacity to supervise Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students
5. Capacity to manage unit administration
6. Demonstrated capacity for student-centred learning
7. Possess a high-level of interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team
Desirable
8. Experience working in the development or related sector
9. Strong professional networks in the development or related sector
10. Experience in the development of pedagogical resources for teaching online

Other job-related information
• Travel (eg. to other campuses of the University)
• Peak periods of work during which the taking of leave may be restricted

Applications close October 25. You are welcome to contact ISA's  ISS Section's Vice Chair Maria Rost Rublee for more information. She is the:


Director, Master of International Relations
Department of Politics and International Relations
School of Social Sciences
Monash University 

Office:  + 61 3 9905 0052


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News from our Friends at ACUNS
ACUNS will hold its annual meeting on June 15-17, 2017 at Sookmyung Women's University, South Korea. The theme is:
Revitalizing the United Nations for Human Rights, Peace and Development
2017 will see a new UN Secretary-General taking office on the 38th Floor at UN Headquarters, following the end of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s second term. The new SG will be faced with a number of ongoing global, regional and other challenges, and will be confronted with new issues that will arise over time. The SG also will have the job of continuing to build on the momentum of recent milestone agreements, including the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Commitments to Action from the World Humanitarian Summit.
While the transition in the leadership of the United Nations is likely to be a central interest for many ACUNS members, the 2017 Annual Meeting notably also marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Academic Council. This year’s meeting, therefore, will offer a relatively rare opportunity for members—that is, a moment to reflect on the achievements of one Secretary-General and to consider the agenda of the new leader of the global body, while connecting those reflections to discussions of the role of ACUNS and its members in promoting innovative scholarship and greater understanding of the UN system and its place in meeting global governance.
This is the first ACUNS meeting to be held in East Asia, or in Asia broadly. We will be working with colleagues of the KACUNS in Seoul, Korea, to reach out to UN studies associations, institutions and individuals in the region. We very much welcome this as an important bridge-building initiative; thus we will look for scholarly papers that might identify and engage regional as well as global topics including but not limited to the promotion and protection of human rights; the challenges of peace and development; supporting global civil education; the dynamics of relations amongst Asian states on issues of human rights, peace and development, and how these take shape within the UN framework—including the possibility of peaceful reunification; the evolving roles of regional bodies, non-government organizations, civil society and the private sector; as well as shifts in relations between the region and external actors.
Proposals on the Annual Meeting theme—“Revitalizing the United Nations for Human Rights, Peace and Development”—and on the subthemes and issues raised in this introductory note, in addition to other topics relating to the UN system and the broader mandate of the Council, will be considered.
You are invited to discuss these, and many other challenging issues, at the 2017 ACUNS Annual Meeting.
Please go to http://acuns.org/am2017/ for more details.

ACUNS Dissertation Fellowship
The Award
The ACUNS Dissertation Fellowship Award recognizes emerging students of extraordinary potential who have reached the stage of writing an advanced graduate-level dissertation on a topic of direct and demonstrable relevance to the United Nations and/or the UN system. Applications not thus related to the UN and/or UN system will not be considered.
An important component of the Award for its winner is the recognition of excellence that this entails throughout ACUNS’ global community of scholars and practitioners. The Award also includes a monetary component in the amount of $1,500.00 US.
In addition, the winner is encouraged to attend the ACUNS Annual Meeting in that same year, where she/he will be introduced and recognized as the Award winner. In that case, the winner will receive an Annual Meeting registration fee waiver (worth up to $150 of the registration fee) plus an additional award of up to $500 following the Meeting for the reimbursement of related travel and accommodations costs.
The Dissertation Award winner is encouraged to consider in the future submitting some written product to ACUNS’ journal, Global Governance. Use of any materials, however, will be at the discretion of the journal editorial team and the normal peer review process.


EligibilityApplicants for the award should already be a student member of ACUNS. Information about joining ACUNS can be found on our website under Join/Renew. If you are an applicant from the Global South whose financial status may preclude them from purchasing a membership, please contact admin@acuns.org.
Eligible candidates may be citizens of any country and must be entering the writing stage of a PhD, JSD, or LLM level degree—for example, a doctoral candidate who has defended her/his dissertation proposal and who has completed the majority of field research, and who now is writing a first draft of the dissertation. It is not intended for students who already have completed, or who are about to complete, the writing, or who are about to defend their thesis (NB for students working in a UK-context of doctoral studies, the Award relates to students who are in the beginning of their final year/year three of registration and are in the process of writing up).
If you have any questions, or are not clear whether your application falls within the guidelines, you should contact the ACUNS Secretariat prior to submitting your application, at admin@acuns.org.
Applications must be received at the ACUNS Secretariat in full by Thursday, January 12, 2017.


Application Procedure
Applications must include all of the following:
  • The applicant’s dissertation proposal or a similar description of the research, which must be no more than 25 pages (typed and double spaced, including bibliography/citations) in length. The review committee will not examine any submissions longer in length than 25 pages;
  • The applicant’s curriculum vitae;
  • Two letters of recommendation from faculty members who are familiar with the student’s academic work, one of whom must be the applicant’s dissertation supervisor. Only two letters should be provided.
  • Apply online
Once your application is submitted, you will receive an email confirming the submission and your two referees will receive an email from ACUNS containing the URL link to the webpage where they can upload their letters of recommendation. This email will also contain the essential details your references will need to complete their portion of this application.
You will be notified by the online system when a letter of recommendation has been submitted by one of your referees. Your application will not be considered if it remains incomplete by the submission deadline.
The winner will be notified by March 31, 2017. Once the Award has been accepted, ACUNS will notify all other applicants of the final decision, and details of the winning applicant’s project will be posted on the ACUNS web site.
Due to the large number of applications received, ACUNS cannot provide any detailed response regarding the evaluation of any individual application.


References
If you wish to submit a recommendation letter, you can can do so by clicking the URL link included in the email you received when the student applicant submitted his or her application. If you did not receive this email, please contact admin@acuns.org.(See the ACUNS website for more details)


 Don't forget to check out: Diplomatic Strategies of Nations in the Global South (ed. J. Braveboy-Wagner), with contributions  by many GSCIS members. Palgrave-Macmillan, October 2016.

Also see a trenchant analysis of the situation in Mosul by one of our members: https://theconversation.com/the-battle-for-mosul-is-too-little-too-late-in-the-fight-against-the-islamic-state-67262 

Cick here for next blog post: Distinguished Scholar Honoree!  http://gscis.blogspot.com/2016/10/job-acuns-news-et-al.html

Statement by PHISO; Photos from "Political Transformation" Conference; Hong Kong; Cuba Note

The GSCIS Advisory Committee on Outreach and Conferences recently expressed some concern to our new PHISO affiliate about the situation in the Philippines. We did so in the context of the fact that we are co--hosting a workshop with PHISO, March 9-10, 2017, in Manila (we are also co-sponsoring several panels in Hong Kong but we are pleased to do those). As a result of our conversations, as well as our discussions with the Executive Committee of the GSCIS, we have decided to table the issue for further discussion in Baltimore.  At the same time, we felt that it was important to disseminate PHISO's statement on the issue. Members should Here it is:


From Nassef Manabilang Obiang, PHISO Founding Chair:

 We would like to take this opportunity to clarify our position on concerns about human rights under the Duterte administration. While we do condemn in the highest terms controversial comments made by President Duterte on matters such as the Jacqueline Hamill rape-murder and his obtuse references to the Holocaust, we assert that the legal and democratic processes of the country have not been dismantled by the incumbent democratically-elected administration. At present, investigations are being conducted on the spate of alleged extra-judicial killings related to the drug trade and a number of civil society groups, NGOs and concerned citizens are monitoring the developments carefully without systematized state repression.  

In terms of the onslaught of media backlash about the president’s remarks, a number of which were taken out of context or mistranslated, we as scholars of the Global South have to be critical of the dominant narratives that surround Duterte’s increasingly independent streak on matters of foreign policy and consider the competing power interests of various Philippine elites in constructing the discourse of the peripheral-born President who grew up in Davao City (Southern Philippines). His legacy as a public servant in that city was centered on anti-graft and corruption as well as anti-drug campaigns. Davao City eventually became one of the top 5 world’s safest cities[globalnation.inquirer.net].

In early 2016, his electoral platform was centered on the ‘War-on-Drugs’ as has been the case in various other countries across the world. He won the 2016 Presidential election by a landslide[cnnphilippines.com] in an election process that was quick, transparent and legitimate, in contrast to neighbouring countries such as Thailand during the 2013-2014 political crisis. Duterte won primarily because of his track record in Davao City and his action-centered platform. The crime rate in the country is down by 31%[cnnphilippines.com] as of August 24, 2016. 

Democracy in the Philippines is very alive. There is no state repression of political opposition parties, of local and international media, of academics, and of all sectors in the Philippines. This is very different from recent occurrences in Turkey, with its mass purges of the academe and media, among other sectors. According to the recent Drug War stats[rappler.com], there are almost 3,600+ deaths (both from legitimate police operations and vigilante-style or unexplained killings), more than 22,000+ drug addicts and criminals arrested, and more than 730,000 drug pushers and users surrendered. Based on our observations, a number of alleged extrajudicial killings are undergoing investigation, while controversial incidents are critiqued openly in various media. As of writing, the incidents have not caused notable social unrest.

Addendum:


October 06, 2016 marked the first 100 days of the Duterte Administration, and according to the recent Social Weather Stations' (SWS) survey the president got a "very good" satisfaction rating. “The survey, which was conducted between Sept. 24 and 27 through interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide showed that 75 percent were satisfied, while 13 percent were undecided on Duterte's performance….  – See more at: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/583973/news/nation/duterte-gains-very-good-satisfaction-rating-sws#sthash.SfBoKTIq.dpuf[gmanetwork.com]   

“Amid controversies in his first 100 days in office, President Rodrigo Duterte is most likely to be "one of the very best presidents" of the Philippines, an analyst said Thursday.” – See more at: http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/10/06/16/amid-criticism-duterte-poised-to-be-one-of-the-very-best-presidents[news.abs-cbn.com]  

World Bank and Business World measured the government’s 100-day economic performance.

World Bank said “the country’s economy, as measured by its gross domestic product (GDP), may grow 6.4 percent this year…” In addition, it “remains one of fastest growing economies in East Asia and the Pacific despite the weak global economy.” Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/ph-could-surpass-growth-forecasts-world-bank/#qx3gUFOu6rTAmzSL.99[mb.com.ph] 

Business World submits that “sentiment in the financial market remains generally positive amid and despite President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s expletive-laden rhetoric…” Read more at http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Corporate&title=how-duterte-moved-markets-in-his-1st-100-days&id=134516[bworldonline.com]  

This is not to defend the current government. but generally most Filipinos are satisfied with the country's economic and security policies. While, international mainstream media continuous to focus on the President's expletive-laden rhetoric. 

The country has more than 100 million population, and according to Dangerous Drugs Board’s 2015 survey there are 1.8 million (1.8% of the total population) drug users. See: http://www.rappler.com/nation/146654-drug-use-survey-results-dangerous-drugs-board-philippines-2015[rappler.com] However, the president estimated that there will soon be 4 million drug addicts. See: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/09/23/1626648/duterte-hikes-philippines-drug-use-figure-anew-despite-little-evidence[philstar.com]


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POLITISCHE TRANSFORMATION

The workshop, Political Transformation-Transforming Politics: Feminist Perspectives and Interventions, was sponsored by our friends and members--including Prof. Rirhandu Mageza-Barthel and Porf. Uta Ruppert--at Goethe University, Frankfurt, 7-8 October 2016. The two-day workshop addressed a range of issues involving gender and politics in the global south, transnational feminist perspectives, activism, transnational justice, and global transformations in general. The book, Negotiating Normativity: Postcolonial Appropriations, Contestations, and Transformations (Springer 2016) edited by Nikita Dawan, Elisabeth Fink, Johanna Leinius, and Rirhandu Mageza-Barthel, was launched during the meeting. Photos:
 Dr. Nadje Al-Ali (seated) speaking about Women in the Middle East

 Participants

 Solange Chatelard presents on China and Africa
 GSCIS Founding Chair JBW with organizers and participants
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DATES OF CUBA WORKSHOP

The dates of the workshop on decolonizing IR (with thanks to B.G. Jones, 2006) or alternatively, Integrating the Local in IR, are tentatively set for July 6-8, 2017. Please mark your calendars. The call for participants will go out soon.
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Click here for next blog: Job Opening in Australia, ACUNS Meeting  2017 and ACUNS Dissertation Fellowship!http://gscis.blogspot.com/2016/10/job-acuns-news-et-al.html