Application open (deadline: 15.04.2012) - SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
Since 1999 the Institute for Minority Rights organizes a Summer School on the topics of Human Rights, Minorities and Diversity Management. The international Summer School hosts 20 - 30 students from all over the world and offers a platform to discuss and elaborate on current topics in the field of diversity management with outstanding academic experts but also practitioners from international organizations, such as political advisers of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, lawyers from the European Court of Human Rights, experst and members of the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities etc.
European states and Canada have in common linguistic and cultural diversity. Within a typical European state and Canada, there is a majority, predominant language, as well as at least one national linguistic minority (more than one, in the case of many European states) and indigenous peoples. Linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples all have particular needs and claims that must be accommodated; indeed the duty to accommodate has a foundation in law. Immigration from other parts of the world has added a third layer of diversity that has presented its own set of challenges to be addressed. However it has also presented the states of Europe and Canada with an enormous opportunity to enter into transparent discussion about: i) what the values are of a liberal democracy; and ii) how should newcomers to our homelands be accommodated without sacrificing values such as gender equality, rule of law, and freedom of conscience.
Assimilation does not seem to be the way to go. Now, policies of multiculturalism are coming under increasingly critical scrutiny, even attack. Only recently, multiculturalism has been declared in various European countries as “an utter failure”.
- However, have the U.K., the Netherlands, France, and Germany really turned their backs on multiculturalism?
- Or has there only been a terminological shift while the governments of European states and Canada nevertheless maintain their multicultural policies?
- Has the apparent European backlash against multiculturalism had any impact on Canada?
- Are the policies vis-à-vis diversity really so different there?
- If so, how, and can Europe learn from the “Canadian model” in order to develop sustainable diversity management policies of its own?
Teaching body from academia: Prof. Nasar Meer (University of Southhampton), Prof. Keith Banting (Queen's University tbc), Prof. Christian Leuprecht (Royal Military College), Prof. Phil Triadafilopoulos (University of Toronto), Prof. Joseph Marko (University of Graz), Prof. Giovanni Poggeschi (University of Lecce), Prof. Antonio Bultrini (University of Florence), Prof. Jens Woelk (University of Trento), Dr. Roberta Medda-Windischer, Dr. Karl Kössler (EURAC) et. al.
Teaching body from international organisations: Dr. Ilze Brands-Kehris (Director, Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities), Dr. Gabriel Toggenburg (European Union Fundamental Rights Agency), Dr. Mirjam Karoly (OSCE-ODHIR Special Advisor on Roma an Sinti Issues), Dr. Natalie Sabadnaze (OSCE HCNM)
For the detailed programm click here.
Who should participate?
- Master’s and PhD students wishing to acquire greater competitive personal competence beneficial for a future career in academia or in practice-oriented professions;
- Lawyers, economists, social scientists and others working in non-governmental organizations, particularly those concerned with anti-racism initiatives and immigration settlement initiatives;
- Civil servants from local, regional or national administrations who primarily deal with minority and diversity related issues and therefore require both theoretical and practical training in diversity management; and
- Journalists and teachers interested in recent developments, current theories and advanced training in related fields.
Why should you participate?
- Listen to the experiences from the Summer School students in 2010
- Read, what former students think about the Summer School: Brian Seaman (Calgary-Canada),Magomed Gizbulaev (Dagestan-Russia)
Diploma and credits (possibility of a publication)
You can either chose to obtain a diploma of participation or write an essay after the Summer School and obtain 5 ECTS points. The best three essays will be published in a special edition of the European Diversity and Autonomy Papers.
Canadian students have the option to get credits from the Royal Military College (credit DM575 Human Security). For further information, please write to meir@eurac.edu
Application Process, Tuiton fees and Scholarships
Please submit the application form (.doc or .pdf) together with a motivation statement and a short essay on the topics spelled out in the application form until 15.04.2012 to meir@eurac.edu
- Tuition fee: 300€ - Accommodation, travel costs and other expenses are not covered by the tuition fee.
- Convenient accommodation for every participant will be arranged by the organizers in the Youth Hostel of Bozen/Bolzano.
- 8 Scholarships covering accomodation in a 4 bed-room at the Youth Hostel as well as reducing the tuition fee to 100 € are available. Selection is based on the application and in particular the short essay.
Methodology of the Summer School
Students will not only get an in-depth view on various dimensions of diversity management, human rights and in particular minority rights, but also will have the opportunity to discuss with international leading academics, lawyers and practitioners from international organizations how accommodation policies may be successfully implemented. Moreover, the teaching approach of the Summer School not only provides for interactive thought-provoking academic lectures, but also provides students with the opportunity to engage in hypothetical case studies and role playing exercises. The legal perspective, focusing on the one hand on the theoretical aspects of cultural accommodation and on the other hand on the implementation of legal standards, will lay the groundwork for further discussion about the social and political implications of increasing diversity in society.
Location and Institutions
The Summer School will take place in the city of Bolzano/Bozen, which itself is populated by a German-speaking minority, a majority population of Italian speakers and a third group of migrants and immigrants constituting 13% of the city’s population and which speak neither German nor Italian as their mother tongue.
This year’s Summer School is offered by the Institute for Minority Rights of the European Academy Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC) with the assistance of the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre (ACLRC) at the University of Calgary, in Calgary, Canada as well as the Royal Military College of Canada.
EURAC - The European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano is located in the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol in northern Italy. The case of South Tyrol is often referred to as a model case of self-governance as well as a model solution for minority protection and of the accommodation of diversity. Hence EURAC is able to provide exceptional theoretical and practical knowledge in the examination and application of issues related to minority protection and regionalism, as well as in relation to immigration in regions with strong cultural identities.
ACLRC – The Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization affiliated with the Law Faculty at the University of Calgary, Canada. The Research Centre undertakes research and engages in educational activities on current civil liberties and human rights issues. The ACLRC also responds to members of the public who call with questions about civil liberties and human rights and are thus experienced not only on the theoretical implications of diversity management but the practical implementation of such policies as well.
Royal Military College of Canada
