Extension of Deadline: Singapore

Dear Colleagues,

Given the overwhelming interest and response to the ISA-Global South Caucus 2015 meeting, we've decided to leave the submission system open through the weekend to ensure that everyone has had a chance to submit any last minute proposals. We've received a record-breaking number of proposals this year and I very much look forward to crafting an exciting program for Singapore. The system will still allow submissions through Monday, July 21st so be sure you get any final proposals in.
(You can submit your proposals at http://www.isanet.org/Conferences/GSCIS-Singapore-2015/Submissions.)
Best regards,
JBW
GSCIS Singapore 2014 Conference Director

Update on Singapore/Distinguished Scholar Honoree

We issued an update today regarding the GSCIS Singapore conference. Go to http://gscis.blogspot.com/2014/05/preliminary-information-on-second.html for all updates.

Please keep your panel and paper submissions coming!
We know you are concerned about travel grants. We will assess those after submissions are in.

Members: Summer newsletter will be out soon.

We would also like you to begin thinking about who will be our next Distinguished Scholar Honoree (honored via luncheon in New Orleans). We are back to  honoring scholars of Africa or the Middle East this time around! Please send names to the Chair (jbraveboy-wagner@gc.cuny.edu).

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGE OF VENUE BANGKOK CONFERENCE

For more complete information on the conference, go to the blog page:Second Global South International Studies Conference

Dear Caucus members:

Many of you have been somewhat anxiously awaiting our decision as to a change of venue for the GSCIS conference scheduled to be held in Bangkok in January 2015. As everyone is aware, the military has taken control of Thailand and the space for free and open discussion, including academic interchange, has been narrowed considerably. We are now able to announce that the venue has been changed to nearby Singapore. Our new host will but the Singapore Management University which has graciously not only stepped into the breach but also has contributed added funds to host this important conference. We are delighted to be able to transfer the site to a culturally vibrant country where there is much potential for stimulating discussions on alternative pathways to growth and development,  regionalism and security in Asia and beyond, the practice of diplomacy, global governance, constructivist approaches and many more areas of IR. 

As many of you are also aware, the cost of living in Singapore is considerably higher than in Thailand. That is why we are also delighted to announce that we have worked out very reasonable rates for hotel accommodation, comparable in fact to the hotels we had initially secured for the conference in Bangkok.   Information on the main hotel, along with the additional ones we had secured, will soon be posted on the website, and all hotels are within walking distance of the convention venue.  

We thank you for your patience as we have continued to carefully work out the mechanics of a change of venue. We always bear in mind the imperative of attracting scholars and practitioners from all areas of the world, not to mention all levels of the academic hierarchy.  We have been pleased so far with the response to our Call for Proposals. Please make plans to attend the Singapore conference and continue to submit your proposals either by clicking the old website link: http://www.isanet.org/Conferences/GSCISBangkok2015.aspx) or the new one http://www.isanet.org/Conferences/GSCISSingapore2015.aspx). A reminder: the deadline for submission is July 15^th!

We invite ISA Sections and Caucuses to Submit Panels for GSISC 2015

Dear Section and Caucus Heads,

Sections and caucuses are invited to sponsor two panels for the Global South International Studies Conference 2015 to be held in Asia January 8-10, 2015. .More information on the event can be found at the following ISA site: http://www.isanet.org/Conferences/GSCISBangkok2015.aspx.

The conference theme is Voices from Outside: Re-shaping International Relations Theory and Practice in an Era of Global Transformation.

Paper and panel proposals are now being accepted with a July 15, 2014 for submission. Additional conference details can be found at: http://www.isanet.org/Conferences/GSCISBangkok2015.aspx


Please share this call and opportunity with your section's membership. Ask that they submit their complete panel details via the submission system in place on the conference webpage. As section chair, we ask that you communicate the titles of the two panels to be included on the program for your section with the Conference Director, Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner at Bangkok@isanet.org.

Of course, members of your section are welcome to submit additional panel and paper proposals for consideration beyond these two sponsored-section panels but at this time, we can only guarantee acceptance of two sponsored panels per section.

Invitation from Nanette Svenson

Call for Chapter Proposals: Innovative North-South University Research Partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean

A volume in the Palgrave Macmillan International and Development Education Book Series, http://us.macmillan.com/series/InternationalandDevelopmentEducation, edited by Gustavo Gregorutti (Humboldt University) and Nanette Svenson (Tulane University)

Proposal Deadline: 15 August 2014

Bios of the editors

Gustavo Gregorutti worked until recently as an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Montemorelos in Mexico. As part of the school’s graduate program, he visited several Latin American universities presenting and teaching on topics related to leadership and administration in higher education. Currently, as part of a postdoctoral program, he is conducting research at the Center for Higher Education of Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. His research projects are related to faculty research productivity, private higher education in the Latin American context, and quality issues that impact accreditations.

Nanette Svenson is an adjunct professor at Tulane University’s Payson Center for International Development and a development consultant for the United Nations and other international organizations. She is based in the Republic of Panama where she directs Tulane’s Master of Science in International Development Panama Field Work Experience. Her research interests focus on capacity development, particularly of higher education systems and government entities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Background

            Research productivity, alongside teaching and service, is a critical component of university output worldwide and a major determinant in global university rankings. Universities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have a particularly weak record in this regard. The region currently accounts for less than three percent of global research and development, less than five percent of Science Citation Index publications, and between one and two percent of the top five hundred ranked universities of the world. These figures are not inspiring; nevertheless, certain research programs scattered throughout the region’s universities are producing exceptional results. Many of these programs involve North-South university partnerships, with one or more institutions from industrialized countries and one or more partner institutions from the LAC region. These joint endeavors between institutions in the northern and southern hemispheres and the research they collaboratively conduct and disseminate are the focus of this book.

            This volume aims to explore some of the more successful examples of North-South university research partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean with a view to examining the motivations, mechanics and limitations of the relationships and highlighting key factors contributing to the success of the affiliations and their research output. Specifically, the research questions revolve around the following queries:

•         What motivates collaboration between universities in different countries with distinct socio-cultural and economic development contexts?

•         What barriers and limitations do these universities face in carrying out joint research projects?

•         What key factors appear to have advanced research productivity for these partnerships?

Proposals

            Chapters in this volume will present case studies of North-South university research partnerships—involving institutions from North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand or Japan and counterparts in Latin America and the Caribbean. These cases will illustrate how collaborative efforts over time have produced significant knowledge transfer (in both directions), increased research productivity and scope, and contributed to the strengthening of the participating institutions.

            Chapter proposals should be 1,000 word summaries that include information on the following: (1) the participating institutions and departments; (2) the specific objectives, motivations, protocols, timeframes, mechanics and limitations of the partnership arrangements; (3) the research produced through the partnership and its impact—especially for the southern institutions and countries; (4) key success factors and future implications; and (5) sample references.

            Please contact Gustavo Gregorutti, gustavo.gregorutti@hu-berlin.de, and Nanette Svenson, nsvenson@tulane.edu or nanette.svenson@gmail.com, with questions or to submit chapter proposals by 15 August 2014. If accepted, full chapters for external review will be due by 1 December 2014.

For Global South Scholars Living Abroad

The Women's Caucus in International Studies is planning to sponsor a roundtable at ISA-New Orleans entitled Living Globalization: Female Academics at Home and Abroad. WCIS is particularly looking for female academics working in countries other than the one(s) in which they were born or raised. Particularly welcome are female academics working in/from Africa, East Asia or South America.  

Here is the  proposed blurb for the roundtable:


International studies is an increasingly globally interconnected profession.  This trend includes a growing number of female faculty who take up positions in countries other than those in which they were born and/or raised.  This professional migration suggests a number of questions that have remained unexplored.

First, what is the status of female academics in comparative perspective?  What are the differences and similarities in the experiences of female academics in various countries around the world?  Although there have been numerous studies on the status of women in academia, much of it is US-focused or consists of single-country studies.  This panel will draw attention to comparison across societies.

Second, what is the status of foreign-born female academics, or those who work in a different society from that in which they were born and/or raised?  The few studies that focus on foreign-born (female) academics address the situation of those who work in the US.  However, female foreign-born faculty are present at universities in many countries.  Are their experiences similar or different?

This roundtable is an initial exploration of the intersection of “femaleness” and “foreignness” in the international studies profession.



Please direct your inquiries to Marijke Breuning (marijke.breuning@unt.edu) -