Skip to main content
This course is archived
Course date
July 12–23, 2010
Location
Budapest
Application deadline
Course delivery
In-person

Philosophers and political theorists have debated the question of the nature of freedom in the Western intellectual tradition at least since the Stoics. Yet questions regarding the interpretation of experiences of those whose voices have been denied by the very subjugation of which they speak have emerged in new and ever more poignant ways in recent decades. The current situation calls for a forum that brings both sets of questions into dialogue.

On the philosophical side, long-running discussions of the nature of freedom have included, for example, the supposed distinction between "negative" and "positive" notions of freedom, and the relation between freedom and agency, autonomy, (human) rights, power, and so on. In addition, in recent years theorists have re-introduced neo-republican conceptions of freedom, on the one hand, as well as expressed greater skepticism toward neo-liberal and individualistic treatments of freedom. In other areas of social theory, however, the challenge of understanding the experiences of what many label "subjugation" or "oppression" without condescendingly imposing external ideals of individualism, agency, or secular self-determination - not to mention the question of whether and how "the subaltern" can "speak" - has come to be taken much more seriously.

The plan for this summer school is to bring these two lines of investigation into contact. We will conduct a careful, critical analysis of debates about the nature of freedom (or liberty), and its relation to concepts such as autonomy, rights, and democracy, and attend to the social implications of various dominant understandings of freedom in the contemporary global context. At the same time, we will examine accounts of experiences of what has been labeled "subjugated" and "oppressed" existences, both from the first- and third-person point of view. We will attend to the question of interpretation, looking closely at issues of cross-cultural communication and the dangers of cultural imperialism.

In the end, the goal will be to enrich and disturb standard assumptions about freedom, liberation, and oppression operative in Western, liberal discourses, while, at the same time searching for possibilities to enhance the conditions of freedom, whatever those turn out to be.

Completed CEU Summer University Application Form

We strongly advise the use of Google Chrome to enable the full functionality of the form.

Notes:

  • You may apply to a maximum of two summer courses. In case of being admitted, you can only attend both if the two courses do not overlap in time.
  • If you applied to CEU before, please use your existing login and password to start a new application. If you do not remember your password from last year click on Forgotten Password. With technical problems, bugs, or errors related to the online application forms please contact the CEU IT Help Desk.
  • Right after login, please select the ”Summer University” radio button from the "Type of course" list, and leave all other fields empty.
  • All application materials must be submitted with the online application form(s). Materials sent by postal mail, electronic mail, or fax are not considered.
  • The maximum allowable file size for upload is 2MB per file and the acceptable file formats are PDF, JPG, and JPEG. Ensure all security features (e.g. passwords and encryption) are removed from the documents before uploading them.
  • Applications cannot be edited after submission. Please submit your application only when it is 100% final and complete.
  • Further user instructions for the online application are included in the form itself. Should you have questions regarding the application form, check the relevant Frequently Asked Questions.
  • Applications submitted after the deadline will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Inquiries

If you need help or more information during the application process, please feel free to contact the SUN staff via email.

Notification

The SUN Office will notify applicants about the selection results in April. Please check the 'Dates and deadlines' section on the relevant course websites for notification deadlines planned earlier or later. The final decision is not open to appeal.