Previous Institute Workshops
2008-2009 Institute sponsored Research Workshops
East of California, Across Ethnic Studies: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Ethic Studies Workshop
Convener: Nitasha Sharma
"This yearlong research workshop series advocates the necessity collaboration between discrete Ethnic Studies scholarships and disciplines and aims to open dialogue for faculty and graduate students whose work advances comparative and relational approaches to the study of race and diaspora. Our [workshop] arises from the interests and commitments of faculty, administrators, and graduate students representing a number of disciplines who are dedicated to the development and growth of both individual Ethnic Studies programs and Comparative Ethnic Studies as an intellectual and methodological endeavor.
In addition to theorizing the impact and continued importance of institutional development experienced by the first Ethnic Studies departments in California, this set of four research workshops will present work that cuts across discrete Ethnic Studies paradigms and contributes to analytical, relational and comparative studies of race."
Literature, History, and the Stakes of Interdisciplinarity
Convener: Julia Stern
"This workshop seeks to explore the links and gaps between literary and historical projects in American Studies. “English” and “History” share a concern with interpreting culture by examining written archives, yet they bring markedly different methodologies to bear on their shared interests. The question of how to negotiate between these two fields has a powerful impact on research, at both the personal and the institutional level. Thus this workshop will provide a forum for rigorous dialogue about our methodological convergences, divergences, and questions. Rather than treat “interdisciplinarity” as an unmitigated good, we ask not only how history and literary study, as disciplines, can inform one another, but also when and why they might want to assert their differences."
Political Theory and the Bible
Convener: Michael Loriaux
"The premise for the workshop is the importance of biblical references and readings in much contemporary political philosophy, both American and European. Examples of scholars who have developed new perspectives on political possibilities and pathologies through the medium of biblical readings include Michael Walzer, Michael Sandel, William Connolly, Jan Assmann in Germany, Talal Assad, Jean-Luc Nancy, Jacques Rancière, Jean-Luc Marion in France, as well as our colleagues Bonnie Honig and Charles Taylor. The workshop would build on and in some sense extend the very successful graduate student workshop that examined philosophical readings of the letters of St. Paul."
Mellon Foundation Kaplan Center Initiatives Grant workshops which ended in 2008
Classical Traditions Initiative--led by Sara Monoson (Political Science/ Classics)
Critical Race Studies--led by Martha Biondi (African American Studies)
Claims of Theories--led by Nasrin Qader (French & Italian)
Program in the Study of the Imagination--led by Claudia Swan (Art History)
New Urban Studies--led by Laura Hein (History).
