Democracy and Inequality: The Challenge of a Society of Equals

Target Group

The course invites applications from humanities and social science graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and junior faculty who have received their Ph.D. within the last 5 years. Applications from advanced undergraduate students will also be considered. 

The course admits and fully funds a minimum of twenty students and reserves one-third of available spaces for applicants from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We envision that the course may be of interest to young scholars seeking to understand democracy’s present challenges from a wide array of (inter)disciplinary investments including anthropology, area studies, communication studies, cultural studies, gender studies, globalization/transnational studies, legal studies, philosophy, political science, political theory, postcolonial studies, social movement studies, and sociology.

Pre-requisites

Participants need to be conducting research related to the course’s core themes and questions. 

Language requirements

The language of instruction is English; thus, all applicants have to demonstrate a strong command of spoken and written English to be able to participate actively in discussions at seminars and workshops. Some of the shortlisted applicants may be contacted for a telephone interview.

The course focuses on the following discipline areas

anthropology
area studies 
communication studies
cultural studies
gender studies
globalization/transnational studies
legal studies
philosophy
political science 
political theory
postcolonial studies
social movement studies
sociology

"Generally, and epistemologically speaking, it was crucial to see how social movements can be understood and analyzed under such a variety of lenses. " 

"The course was helpful for me in both directions, reinforcing the concepts I already knew about social movements and democracy theory, and introducing me to new approaches and ideas that I will be able to incorporate in my research and reflections. " 

"The course was excellent. The academic discussions were advanced but easy to follow and they were extremely engaging and fascinating. We were introduced to complex issues and ideas in a very approachable way, and I feel that the faculty also treated us as capable of advanced deliberation which made the atmosphere nice and accommodating, and I personally benefited from it greatly." 

"The course was useful in exposing me to different strands of thought on these topics, in enabling me to meet students and professors from around the world doing interesting work, and in locating my work in a broader conversation. I hope to maintain these connections and be able to more directly situate my work in the tradition of debates on democracy." 

"The course was very useful in that I was able to connect my research question to a larger theoretical debate and was able to engage with others in that discussion." 

"The course used diverse examples from international faculty. Very insightful and challenging." 

Please read the following directions carefully.  
Below is the list of the documents you need to prepare or arrange for submission: 

1. Completed online SUN Application Form (see notes below) 
2. Full Curriculum Vitae or Resume, including a List of Publications, if any
   Please upload your Curriculum vitae or resume, including a list of publications, if any. 
3. Statement of Purpose (max. 1 page) 
   In the Statement of purpose, please describe how the course is relevant to your teaching, research, studies, or professional work, and in what way you expect to benefit from your participation.
   You are advised to consult the detailed course description on the course webpage so that the statement of purpose is in accordance with the main objectives of the course. 
   Please provide the name, contact email, and phone number of a person (a faculty member, job supervisor, etc.) who can be contacted by the course directors to attest to your abilities, qualifications, and academic/professional performance. 
4. Personal Statement on Financial Aid
   Those who are eligible and wish to apply for financial aid should specify their reasons in the “Personal statement on financial aid” section (Funding page of the application form). 

Optional Attachments: 
You can upload further optional documents on the Qualifications page such as academic documents that you think may be relevant to support your application in the 'Other Supporting Documents' section. All documents should be merged into a single PDF file not exceeding the size of 2 MB. No passwords and encryption are allowed.