DEPT. OF ETHNOLOGY
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University
1 Ilia Chavchavadze Ave.
Tbilisi 0128
Georgia
+995 (32) 23 26 93

We ask your help in passing on this information to young scholars who
could be interested — particularly young university faculty who focus
on religions and/or secularism in the post-Communist/post-Soviet realm.

We are inviting applications for participant in a project on
anthropological approaches to religion and secularism, based in
Tbilisi, Georgia. Participants should be teaching at the
undergraduate university level, and in most cases they will be from
the former Soviet Union and Mongolia. Please see details below.

If you know of someone who might be interested in participating, we
would be grateful if you would pass this information on to them.

Sincerely,

Ketevan Khutsishvili
Maria Louw
John Schoeberlein

Co-Directors of the ReSET project on "Anthropological Approaches to
Religion and Secularism"

Call for Applications

Program on " Anthropological Approaches to Religion and Secularism" – ReSET

– Three-year program
– First year summer session in Tbilisi, Georgia
Aug. 2-15, 2010
– Supported by: Open Society Institute, Higher Education Support Program
under the Regional Seminar for Excellence in Teaching (ReSET) program

"Anthropological Approaches to Religion and Secularism"

Discipline: Anthropology
Project Period: July 2010 – June 2013
Target Region: Former Soviet Countries and Mongolia (Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia,
Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan);
those from outside the named countries may be able to
participate on certain terms (see below)
Host: Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Dept. of
Ethnology, in cooperation with the Program on Central
Asia and the Caucasus at Harvard Univ., Cambridge, USA)
Working Lang.: English (required)
Co-Directors: Ketevan Khutsushvili (Tbilisi State University),
Maria Louw (Aarhus University),
John Schoeberlein (Harvard University)
Contact: Ketevan Khutsishvili (Co-Director) <anth.rel.sec@gmail.com>
Appl. Deadline: March 26, 2010
Application at: ularism.html

Religion is emerging with new importance everywhere and quite
evidently throughout the former-Communist countries. Secularism’s
changing role is less apparent, because it is the norm inherited from
the Soviet era, but it too presents new challenges for study. Both
religion and secularism were topics that were marginally developed in
scholarship under Communism — religion, because of official
antagonism to it, and secularism, because it was treated as a
naturalized, unquestionable norm. Today, official attitudes in the
region towards religion have become more diverse, though examination
of religion in the social sciences and humanities has developed
slowly. In education and scholarship, secularism remains for many —
especially those who set agendas for public educational institutions
— an unquestionable norm and not an object of analysis.

We are starting a new project on religion and secularism, and we are
looking for people who have a deep interest the study of questions of
religion and/or secularism to join the project. The aim is to help
develop scholarship — research, debate, teaching — with new tools
for understanding these topics. Our main focus will be on
anthropological approaches, but we are keen to involve those coming
from a variety of disciplines, who would like to draw on what
anthropology has to offer in this study.

In this project, we will explore approaches to religion and secularism
together with some of the most prominent anthropologists currently
contributing to this field internationally (see the resource faculty
below). We will consider in particular how approaches that have been
developed in anthropology worldwide can be applied in the context of
teaching and research in the former-Soviet space. Anthropology is
typified by its integrated approach, treating religion (and other
aspects of the socio-cultural realm) in its local contexts,
sympathetically, as part of human experience, and analytically, as
part of larger social processes. Religion and secularism have not
been well-analyzed in the post-Soviet context in particular, and
anthropological approaches can also contribute to broader societal
discussions which are needed to analyze critically important processes
which are taking place.

Georgia, where the main summer sessions of the project will take
place, itself offers not only a picturesque and culturally-rich venue
for our activities, but is a place where the social and political
importance of the issues that we’ll be exploring are everywhere
apparent.

ReSET on "Anthropological Approaches to Religion and Secularism"

This Regional Seminar for Excellence in Teaching (ReSET), like others,
involves a group of about 25 younger faculty from the region — in
this case, the former Soviet Union and Mongolia — and a group of
resource faculty who work together over three years: We will meet for
two weeks each summer, and for several days in another meeting each
year, probably in the spring, and interact in other ways through the
rest of the three-year period. The goal is to pursue activities which
will strengthen university-level teaching of our subject matter.
Important components of this ReSET include building an understanding
of how anthropological approaches are pursued in research, and how
research can be integrated with the undergraduate teaching process.
For more information on the ReSET program, see

The seminar will explore current theoretical approaches employed by
anthropologists in the study of religion and secularism, research and
teaching methods, and related matters such as the challenges and
ethical issues entailed in efforts to approach and to understand
another religious world.

This ReSET is organized by Co-Directors Ketevan Khutsushvili (Tbilisi
State University), Maria Louw (University of Aarhus), and John
Schoeberlein (Harvard University). The institutional host is Tbilisi
State University’s Dept. of Ethnology, in cooperation with the Program
on Central Asia and the Caucasus at Harvard University. The Core
Resource Faculty include Mathijs Pelkmans (London School of Economics)
in addition to the three Co-Directors.

Project Activities

During summer sessions, there will be a variety of activities,
including seminars and workshops on anthropological theories, field
methods, ethics, teaching strategies, grant seeking, academic writing
and publishing, and much more. The program will include organized
sessions of varied character (seminars, discussions, practicums,
etc.), as well time for socializing with the group and experiencing
Georgia and other sites in the region where our spring meetings will
be held.

Both during the summer session, and in the remainder of the year
following the summer session, participants will be expected to carry
out a number of projects of varying dimensions, including projects in
research, teaching, and curriculum development. Those involved in the
ReSET — both faculty and participants — will provide intensive
inputs and feedback on the projects, and the outcomes will be aimed at
practical implementation. For example, we expect the research
projects to yield contributions to your field and publications; the
pedagogical projects will yield plans that can be implemented as new
courses and curricula.

More information about the program may be obtained by contacting the
organizers.

Resource Faculty

Nino Abakelia, Dept. of Anthropology, Chavchavadze University (Tbilisi,
Georgia)
Tone Bringa, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Bergen (Bergen,
Norway)
Marine Chitashvili, Center for Social Studies, Tbilisi State University
(Tbilisi, Georgia)
Michael Herzfeld, Dept. of Anthropology, Harvard University
(Cambridge, USA)
Ketevan Khutsishvili, Dept. of Ethnology, Tbilisi State University
(Tbilisi, Georgia)
Zhanna Kormina, Dept. of Sociology, Higher School of Economics (St.
Petersburg, Russia)
Michael Lambek, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Toronto-
Scarborough (Toronto, Canada)
Maria Louw, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Aarhus (Aarhus,
Denmark)
Saba Mahmood, Dept. of Anthropology, University of California
(Berkeley, USA)
David Montgomery, Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh,
USA)
Robert Orsi, Dept. of Religious Studies, Northwestern University
(Chicago, USA)
Mathijs Pelkmans, Dept. of Anthropology, London School of Economics
(London, UK)
Guzel Sabirova, Region Research Center, Ulyanovsk State University
(Ulyanovsk, Russia)
John Schoeberlein, Dept. of Anthropology and Program on Central Asia
and the Caucasus, Harvard University (Cambridge, USA)

We expect to invite some additional faculty to contribute to
particular sessions in the course of the three years.

Eligibility

* Applicants must be pursuing a career to teach at the undergraduate
university level. Most participants will be those who currently teach
courses for students pursuing "diplom" or "bakalavr" (i.e., post-
secondary, or BA equivalent) at institutions of higher education in
the region. Some participants may be those with advanced training in
their field who anticipate teaching undergraduate courses within two
years.
* Target participants are drawn from the former Soviet Union and
Mongolia. (Those from outside of this region who are interested in
participating may be able to; see note below under "Provisions for
Participants".)
* No prior training in anthropology is required. However, prior
background in the subject matter — independent reading, participation
in seminars, advanced training, etc. — will be considered a sign that
the applicant is more committed to the goals of the ReSET and will
have more to bring to it. Those with advanced degrees in sociocultural
anthropology are encouraged to apply, as the program will be geared
toward the needs of those who are deeply involved in the subject-matter
but who may have both greater and lesser knowledge of anthropological
approaches.
* Applicants may be those whose major focus is anthropology itself.
Equally, they may be those who expect to use anthropological methods,
theories and approaches in their scholarship and teaching in another
related field (comparative religious studies, sociology, history,
cultural studies, political science, etc.).
* A strong knowledge of both spoken and written English is a very
important requirement for participants. The ReSET will be conducted
in English, and will involve participants who have no other common
language. In order to develop an in-depth understanding of
anthropological approaches, to read the essential literature, and to
contribute to international scholarly discourse and publication,
English is vital.
* For those who may already be involved in (or considering applying
to) another ReSET project, please note that the ReSET program does
not allow ReSET funding to go toward any individual in more than one
ReSET project in a given year. (Participation in a second ReSET is
allowed only if funding to cover that individual is obtained from
another source.)
* All participants are expected to participate in all three years of
the project, and all applicants must be able to commit to this.
* There are no age limitations, but applicants who have some maturity
as teachers and scholars, as well as showing the flexibility to take
on new approaches typical of younger scholars, are expected to be
better able to benefit from and contribute to the project.

Provisions for Participants

Costs related to the ReSET project, including travel expenses,
accommodation, meals and reading materials will be covered by the
ReSET by means of a grant from the Open Society Institute’s Higher
Education Support Program.

With the OSI grant, we are able to support full costs of participation
only in the case of participants from the target region. However,
participation may be possible for a small number of "non-regional"
participants with support from other sources (especially if you can
find your own support for transportation to the contact sessions).
Those interested should enquire with Dr. Khutsishvili.

Application Process

Deadline: March 26, 2010 at 17:00 Tbilisi time (i.e., GMT +4:00).
Applications received after the deadline cannot be assured
consideration.

All applications and accompanying documents must be sent in electronic
format. The application itself is a MS Word file that we will send
you upon request (write to: anth.rel.sec(at)gmail.com), or you can
download it from the following webpage:
igion_Secularism.html.
Supplementary materials (listed on the application form) should be in
MS Word format, or scanned and sent as JPEG (*.jpg) or Acrobat (*.pdf)
files.

The electronic application form and supporting documents should be sent
via email to both addresses: anth.rel.sec(at)gmail.com (Ketevan
Khutsishvili) and schoeber(at)fas.harvard.edu (John Schoeberlein’s
address is provided as a backup in case of communications failures;
most correspondence will be with Dr. Khutsishvili
her assistants during this period).

Important Note: Once the first-round selection is completed, the
organizers will contact all of the top candidates by telephone to
make an assessment of their English ability. In a brief interview,
candidates will be asked to discuss questions related to their
scholarly interests. For this purpose, it is essential that
applicants make sure they can be reached by telephone. We will
contact you by email to schedule the phone interview, so please
make sure that, during the period April 2-23, you are checking the
email address(es) you provide, so that we can communicate about
scheduling the interview. If we are unable to reach you, this will
make it impossible to consider your application fully.

We expect that the selection process will be completed by about May 1,
and the applicants will be notified of the results shortly thereafter.
We will immediately begin the process to make travel arrangements
and inform you of preparations required in advance of the seminar
(readings, presentations, and teaching and research project
preparation).

Contacts:

With questions about the project, please contact:

Dr. Ketevan Khutsishvili
email: anth.rel.sec(at)gmail.com
tel./fax: +995 (32) 23 26 93
Backup contact: John Schoeberlein <schoeber(at)fas.harvard.edu>