Call for Applications: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for the Study of Racial and Religious Biases on College Campuses

 

 

 

 

Call for Applications

cfa_cagr_postdoctoral_fellow_racial_and_religious_biases_2017-2018.pdf

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

for the Study of Racial and Religious Biases on College Campuses

Deadline Extended: October 15, 2017

The USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research invites applications for its 2017-2018 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for the Study of Racial and Religious Biases on College Campuses.

The fellowship provides $20,000 support for a period of one semester (four months) and will be awarded to an outstanding postdoctoral scholar from Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology, or a related field such as Ethnic or Religious Studies where the scholar is an expert in ethnographic methods. The recipient will be required to spend one semester of the 2017-2018 academic year conducting research on behalf of the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research. This research will be a comparative ethnographic study of racial and religious bias in their many forms – especially antisemitism and islamophobia – on university campuses. We envision a comparative study of, for example, four colleges in Los Angeles or Southern California, focusing on the student population. Please make sure to name in your proposal the university campuses that you have chosen for your comparative research project.

The Center welcomes proposals from researchers with expertise and experience in using ethnographic methods, as well as those whose research focuses on bias based on religion, race, or other factors.

Award decisions for this fellowship will be based on the qualifications, expertise, and research experience of the applicant as well as the quality of the research proposal and its innovative methodology. The selected fellow will be expected to be based in Los Angeles for the period of this residency, to provide the Center with fresh research perspectives, to play a role in Center activities, and to give a public talk during his or her stay.

While this research project may be designed in part by the scholar selected, some possible questions to address are:

• How prevalent is racial and religious bias on college campuses among students, and what forms does it take?
• In what dimensions of campus life do racial and religious bias most often appear or emerge? (e.g., student organizations, residential life, student government, college athletics, social activities, class discussions)
• In what ways are Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of racial and religious bias consistent or different across the campuses chosen for this research?
• What are the similarities and what are the differences between Antisemitism and Islamophobia, including the forms they take and the outcomes?
• What causes Antisemitism and Islamophobia or other forms of bias on campus?
• Is there a relationship between Antisemitism and Islamophobia? If one is common on campus is the other likely to be common as well? Do they feed into each other?
• How does racism play into these biases?
• How does the racialization of religious bias compare between its different forms and the different campuses where the research is conducted?
• How is Antisemitism/Islamophobia defined by college students?
• How do Antisemitism and Islamophobia and other biases affect the experiences and performance of students on campus?
• How do students react to acts of Antisemitism, Islamophobia and other biases on campus? What about administration, faculty, and other non-students?

Founded in 2014, the Center for Advanced Genocide Research is the research and scholarship unit of the USC Shoah Foundation. The USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research is dedicated to advancing new areas of interdisciplinary research on the Holocaust and other genocides, focusing on the origins of genocide and how to intervene in the cycle that leads to mass violence. The Center organizes annual international workshops and conferences, hosts a speaker series on genocide and mass violence, and offers a competitive international research fellowship program. For further information please consult: http://cagr.usc.edu

To complete an application, please submit a cover letter, CV, writing sample, and research proposal (3 pages max) discussing your relevant expertise, the questions you will address, and an explanation of the approach you will take in conducting this research project (including methodology and timeline). In your cover letter, please include whether you propose to conduct this research during Fall 2017 or Spring 2018.

Proposals are due by October 15^th 2017. Please send to: cagr@usc.edu.