International Summer Seminar “From Qing dynasty to Republican China: continuities and ruptures”

Application deadline: 5 May 2024

Application form: https://forms.efeo.fr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=789459&lang=en

Presentation:

This Summer Seminar programme is aimed at students from different disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, dealing with Chinese historical studies. The selected period stretches from the Qing dynasty to the Republic (first half of the 20th century). It offers an optimal stage for the study of large-scale processes and syntheses in link with world history. By focusing on this period, the Summer Seminar’s approach will aim at providing a new comparative meaning to Chinese history and the humanities in a global perspective. The programme will place a strong emphasis on sources to facilitate better knowledge and access to the different types of documents in an interdisciplinary perspective.

Purpose and Format:

The purpose of this international Summer Seminar is to offer students enrolled in Ph.D. and post-doctoral programs of Chinese studies in European universities a week of intensive work, mixing textual approaches and, methodological and historiographic debates. 

The format will combine direct confrontation with sources and open debates on recent developments in the discipline. It will enable the participants to strengthen their ability to approach the primary Chinese historical documentation of the period and their mastery of the techniques specific to the historian of China. It will also allow the participants to gain an in-depth understanding of the major theoretical and historiographical issues of the day, as well as of the main research trends in the last decades regarding the thematic fields selected, to enable each of them to consider his or her own research in the light of these questions and the context underlying them. 

Planned to last five full days, the Summer Seminar will be divided into eight sessions, which will allow participants to work together alternately on the reading and translation of primary sources (mornings) and to discuss in groups the recent orientations of historiographical and theoretical debates on the history of modern China (afternoons).

All the reading material and a detailed program of the Summer Seminar will be made available to the participants beforehand. 

Participants:

The Summer Seminar will admit eighteen Ph.D. candidates and post-docs (within three years of the degree) from different disciplines in the humanities and social sciences enrolled in universities or research institutions worldwide.

Composed of seven China scholars – historians, anthropologists, and specialists of literature –, the pedagogical team will oversee and supervise the work of the participants during the Summer Seminar.

Working languages:

English and Chinese will be the working languages during the Summer Seminar.

Dates and Location:

The Summer Seminar will be held over the week of 8-14 September 2024. It will take place at « La Vieille Perrotine » (Saint-Pierre d’Oléron). Practical details will be provided to the participants upon confirmation of their selection.

Application process: 

Prospective participants are asked to apply by filling in the following application form https://forms.efeo.fr/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=789459&lang=en. All applications should be accompanied by a cover letter, a CV, and a description of the candidate's research project. A recommendation letter written by the applicant’s advisor or tutor should be sent directly to the following email address: luca.gabbiani@efeo.net.

The application deadline is set to 5 May 2024.

Successful applicants will be notified during the first half of June 2024.

Accommodation and travel allowance:

Lodging and meals will be covered for all participants during their stay at Île d’Oléron, as well as transportation between La Rochelle and « La Vieille Perrotine ».

A travel allowance may be provided to some participants enrolled in universities or research institutions in Europe (including the UK, Switzerland, and Norway). For candidates who wish to apply for such an allowance, the request should be clearly mentioned in the candidate's cover letter and an itemized travel budget to and from La Rochelle should be added to the application.

Please note that because of budget constraints, only a limited number of travel allowances will be available this year. Applicants are thus strongly advised to apply for funding to their university or research institution for their travels to and from La Rochelle.