Mieke Bal, Interculturality: Travelling Concepts and Moving Cultures

     

Objectives and format

Interculturality is the basis of an open-minded, globalized world consisting of migratory cultures. It helps to develop key competences that are urgently needed in Western cultures of the Third Millennium. The Interculturality Masterclass: Travelling Concepts and Moving Cultures (7 to 16 October 2015) consists of 6 work days and is a theme-related combination of a Workshop, a Symposium, a Seminar and a film screening. The program focuses on various kinds of intercultural entanglements within research fields of the Humanities from an interdisciplinary perspective, including selected aspects of art theory and history, as well as literary studies, film studies, and European cultural history, brought together as “cultural analysis”.

The Masterclass starts on October 8 with a introductory workshop and a public screening of Mieke Bal’s newly released art-house film Madame B (2014) with introduction and Q&A, followed on October 9 by an International Symposium on Intercultural Encounters in which participants will engage in discussions with a series of invited speakers. During the weekend (October 10-11) participants have the opportunity to prepare their own assignments and presentations, to be discussed with Mieke Bal in a Seminar on October 12 and 13. Each participant will bring in a case, or object, for close analysis in these frameworks. They will examine this object in terms of its different cultural affiliations and intermedial as well as intertemporal aspects. The results will enhance its hybrid status rather than only its smooth “high art” characteristics. The seminar will train participants in close analysis of cultural objects from the perspective of interculturality. It focuses on communicative and visual aspects of modern globalized societies as well as the intercultural state at earlier times, highlighting, also, the language of intermediality.

The objects the students bring in will be constant concrete reference points and he analysis of them must, in the end, enrich our understanding of them. Some of these objects are in Rome, and will be visited on site. In the 31⁄2 hour morning sessions, participants present the object chosen from their projects and propose a close analysis in terms of interculturality, demonstrating how the combination of close analysis and theoretical reflection on the concept yields original new and relevant insights. Each presentation must not exceed 25 minutes, followed by a discussion of 20 minutes. This means 4 presentations each morning, followed by 30 minutes of synthesis and evaluation. In the afternoon, participants rethink the proceedings of the morning session and (re-)read the texts in the Reader. On-site visits during the afternoons will be included according to participants’ chosen artifacts. During the following days (October 14 and 15) participants prepare their final presentations for the trial conference on October 16 (morning), which concludes the Seminar.

Course information

• Staff: KNIR-fellow prof. dr. Mieke Bal (Universiteit van Amsterdam), in conjunction with prof.dr. Einar Petterson (University of Oslo), dr. Dagmar Reichardt (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen), and prof.dr. Harald Hendrix (KNIR, coordination).
• Credits: 5 ects, assigned upon completion of the final essay.
• Languages used in the Masterclass: English (& passive French).

• Teaching method(s): Seminar, site visits, lectures, presentations, assignments and essays. 
• Assessment: on-site oral presentations, active contribution to plenary discussions, participation in conference, assignments and a final essay to be submitted after the stay in Rome

Admission 

The Masterclass is open to a maximum of 20 selected students at (R)MA or PhD-level, as well as to early career researchers in the humanities and beyond.

Fees

Tuition is free for selected participants. Dutch participants may be eligible for KNIR bursaries covering all expenses (see below). Other participants are required to organise and cover their stay in Rome at their own initiative and expenses.

Bursaries for Dutch participants

Selected participants from KNIR partner universities (Universiteit van Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit, Universiteit Leiden, Universiteit Utrecht, Radboud Universiteit, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) are eligible for 10 KNIR bursaries, comprising all expenses related to the Masterclass (tuition, lodging in Rome, excursions, travel, etc.). Personal expenses, including meals, are not included. Students receive a reimbursement of their expenses for travelling to Rome (to a maximum of 200 euro, based on tickets provided) after submission of their final essay.

Applications

Applications are welcome until 25 June 2015. Notice on acceptance will follow before 10 July 2015. This will include information on the selection for KNIR bursaries. Applicants need to submit an application letter containing information on their motivation, their C.V. and on the marks obtained in their current programme. This needs to be supplemented by a short statement on the research project and the object they intend to discuss during the Masterclass. Candidates can apply by filling out the application form and sending it, together with the application letter and their research statement, to: secretary@knir.it. Download the application form at <www.knir.it>.

Facilities in Rome 

Participants with a KNIR bursary will be housed at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome’s Villa Borghese Park. From there, it is only a short walk to the historical centre of Rome. The KNIR accommodation consists of shared bedrooms and bathrooms, and includes a living and dining space, a large kitchen, washing machine and wireless internet. All residents have 24/7 access to the library and gardens of the Royal Netherlands Institute.   

Contact information

Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome Via Omero 10-12
00197 ROMA
E-mail: secretary@knir.it Phone: (0039)063269621