CALAS Guest Chair Germany: Bielefeld & Kassel

The Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CALAS) in conjunction with the universities of Bielefeld and Kassel would like to announce a grant for the position of Visiting Professor from the CALAS Guest Chair Germany. The program is jointly organized by the Center of Interamerican Studies at the University of Bielefeld (CIAS) and the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Kassel (CELA). The grant includes a stay of four months at both universities between April and July of 2023. As with the research program CALAS “Coping with Crises: Transdisciplinary Perspectives from Latin America”, it is expected the recipient of the Guest Chair contributes to the development of new methodological and analytic foci in order to understand the processes of crises and change from a Latin American Perspective.

For more information about CALAS, refer to the center’s webpage: www.calas.lat

Thematic Focus

The CALAS Guest Chair Germany offered by the universities of Bielefeld and Kassel is open to academics interested in Latin America looking to understand the experiences of crises in the region both through teaching and investigation. The emphasis centers on the analysis of the different conflicts and crises of the immediate past, the present, and the perspectives stemming from their solution. The Guest Chair has as its objective the promotion of transdisciplinary education about the crises, the processes of social change that accompany them, and the role that different actors play in these events.

The thematic focus is founded in the significant experience gathered by Latin America for facing the multiple crisis. Approaching these challenges has foregrounded theoretical and empirical foci relevant not only to the region, but also, in general, for the understanding and resolution of different problems that interest humanity in its entirety. The focus of CALAS “Coping with Crises: Transdisciplinary Perspectives from Latin America” approaches, from a critical perspective, questions and issues related to how these crises and processes of change are provoked, perceived, interpreted, accelerated, deaccelerated, and faced by different social actors. What strategies emerge to face the crises? How can these new foci materialize and institutionalize to resolve problems and confront crises, including those that are transregional?

The recipient of the professorship is expected to work on these questions and the investigative focus of CALAS. In this sense, the visiting professor will also be obliged to collaborate on the reflection, deconstruction, and decentralization of issues related to the creation of knowledge, concepts, dynamics, and solutions to the crisis, as well as adapting those to the Latin American context.

Overview

The Guest Chair is intended for distinguished researchers known internationally with an academic background in the Humanities or  Social Sciences. All candidates are required to have experience with teaching and the development of investigative projects. The minimum required academic degree is a doctorate; also, additional requirements include the publication of more than one book or other works or articles of academic relevance. For teaching, the international applicants require an excellent control of English and/or German.

CALAS is dedicated to inclusion and the goal of gender parity. The applications of persons with disabilities are expressly welcome.

The CALAS Gusest Chair Germany offers a grant with competitive compensation for the stay of four months in the universities of Bielefeld and Kassel. The compensation intends to cover the cost of visa fees, lodging, health insurance, work materials, and more. In the case of permanent employment, the grant can be used to finance a temporary substitute. Also, the professorship will cover the costs of round-trip air travel to Germany.

During the stay, the universities of Bielefeld and Kassel will provide to the visiting professor an adequately equipped place of work (technical equipment, access to the internet, etc.) and the resources of the university (library, etc.). As well, the recipient will receive support for finding housing, the filing of bureaucratic paperwork in situ, and the acquiring of the required visa, etc.

Planned tasks for the CALAS Guest Chair Germany in Bielefeld and Kassel:

• Development of an investigation project that is related to the thematic focus of CALAS and its main research questions
• Publication of the results of investigation (academic articles)
• Teaching of a course in the Masters of Interamerican Studies in the University of Bielefeld (German, English, or Spanish) and another in the Bachelors or Masters of Social Sciences in the University of Kassel (German or English). Each course should include the organization of exams and other methods of student evaluation.
• Completion of at least one public academic event (lectures or conference) in each university about the research topic being developed and, when appropriate, in the other universities that participate in the project of CALAS (University Leibniz of Hannover and University Friedrich Schiller of Jena)
• Preparation of a final report of five pages about all the activities realized during the time of the Guest Chair

Application

 The online application form must be filled out and include the following documents in Spanish or English:

• Motivation letter stating qualifications to hold the professorship, as well as expectations and objectives.
• Summary of the research project, including a timeline and work plan, with a maximum of 20 bibliographic sources (max. 2,000 words).
• Proposal for two interdisciplinary courses (max. 1 page each with title and brief course description). One course should be in German or English (Kassel), the other in German, English, or Spanish (Bielefeld).
• Proposal of two papers related to the CALAS research approach and have the possibility to be published as articles (1 page each, with a maximum of 10 bibliographic references).
• Two-page curriculum vitae with a list of relevant publications and courses taught in English and/or German.
• Copy of doctoral certificate

Timeline

• Deadline for submission of application: July 17, 2022
• Announcement of results: September 30, 2022
• Start of the professorship: April 1, 2023 (April and May in Bielefeld; June and July in Kassel).

The call for applications is subject to the award of funds by the Universities of Bielefeld and Kassel. Due to the number of applications, rejections cannot be justified.

Further information

Prof. Dr. Olaf Kaltmeier, Bielefeld University

Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Burchardt, University of Kassel

contact Nadine Pollvogt: calas@uni-bielefeld.de

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