Project Description
Political, social, virtual, intellectual and cultural borders are hotly contested, both in international contexts around issues of migration, security, trade, or global education and within nations trying to deal with increased diversity and changing notions of national culture and history. Geographical borders separate states, regions and cities.
We invite applications from Ph.D. students worldwide studying borders and bordering phenomena in different regions of the world. Both empirical research based on extensive fieldwork and projects centered on theoretical reflection are eligible for support. Innovative and challenging research questions as well as comparative approaches are highly welcome.
Fields of study:
Questions concerning borders, state transformation, democracy, social welfare, and security are the focus of the current topics. We encourage applications for projects concentrating on following aspects, although other topics will also be considered:
the conceptual construction of borders,
the changing nature and functionality of national borders and its effect on regionalization,
materiality and symbolism of borders,
transformation of border and regional regimes,
supra- and sub-national integration,
citizenship and belonging,
security and securitization,
transnational social protection,
cultural borders and their manifestation in arts and cultural production.