International Collaborative Research Grants (ICRG) Competition

"Reconceptualizing Public Spheres in the Middle East and North Africa"

The SSRC's Program on the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) recently completed its second annual grant competition supporting international collaborative research focusing on the MENA region (defined as Iran to Morocco). The competition called for proposals bringing researchers in different locations together to address issues related to the changing nature of public spheres in the region. The notion of "public spheres" was used in a broad sense, to cover a range of historical and contemporary aspects of the MENA region. Acceptable topics included, but were not limited to:

  • The transformation of socio-economic conditions, state and non-state structures, political regimes and conditions of political participation.
  • The construction of citizenship and other/alternative individual and collective identities, and their impact on discourses and practices concerning self, family, community, sexuality, gender and ethnicity.
  • The emergence of sites of cultural production and consumption as well as the creation of new publics through media and information technologies.

Regardless of specific topic, proposals were required to engage critically with the literature on public spheres and to assess the relevance of particular approaches and concepts to the MENA region.

Awards:

The maximum amount awarded wass $35,000 for a maximum duration of 18 months, undertaken during the period of July 2003 through December 31, 2004.

Eligibility:

  • The competition was open to Ph.D holders of any nationality, from any country and from any discipline as long as the proposed research was well grounded in social science theory and methodology.
  • Research teams included multiple partners from various locations but were all required to include at least two researchers in two different countries of the MENA region. The research itself focused on one site or many sites in the MENA region, and intra-regional, cross-regional or global comparisons were also encouraged.

Please see the document entitled Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for complete eligibility requirements.

Application Process:

The application process included two stages: a preliminary proposal stage and a final proposal stage. A selection committee screened preliminary proposals and chose a small number that moved on to the second stage of the application process. Applicants selected to advance to the second stage were invited to a workshop held in Cairo, Egypt from March 5–9, 2003. In this workshop the theme of the program (Reconceptualizing Public Spheres) was further elaborated, the concept of collaboration was discussed and the specific research proposals commented upon. Guidelines for the final proposal were also explained. Preliminary proposals were accepted in English, Arabic, Farsi, Turkish, and French, however the working language of the competition and the workshop was English.

Semifinalists submited final proposals and application materials on May 12, 2003.

Please continue to visit our website for announcements for future ICRG competitions, or contact us directly:

MENA Program
Social Science Research Council
810 Seventh Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 377-2700
Fax: (212) 377-2727
E-Mail: mena@ssrc.org

 
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