Black Europe or Diaspora Studies in Europe
Co-directors: Professors Lucius T. Outlaw, Jr. (philosophy) and Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting (African American & Diaspora Studies/French)

The Warren Center will host a year-long faculty seminar to examine “Black Europe” and the emergent field of Black European Studies in all of it contours, across periods, and from various disciplinary and methodological perspectives.   (Though aware of the various ways in which the term “black” has been used in the European context, we are restricting the use of the term to descendants of the African continent.)

The seminar will be structured by a number of engaging interrogations: of identity, race, democracy, citizenship, expatriation, migration and immigration as points of departure, particularly as these related to such themes as the erasure (or denial) of “race” and discourses of racial difference in Europe; Europe in the making of the Americas; slavery and Europe; race and European modernity; modernism; and European engagements (literary, philosophical, historical, ethnographic, and artistic) with Africa. One of the focal and particularly complicated suppositions to be taken up during these interrogations is geo-political , relating as much to diaspora identity politics as to postcolonial studies : What, where, and when is there “ Europe”?  For example, how will the cultural, political, and economic uniqueness of France’s colonial history and the introduction of “departmentalization,” impact that identity?

We invite applications from scholars in all disciplines whose lively presence will help to focus our work and stimulate discussions. We anticipate that the successful applicant will have completed the terminal degree in his/her field and will have a record of scholarly publication. The seminar meets weekly and will allow the visiting fellow ample time to pursue a major research project. The combined interests of the visiting fellow and the Vanderbilt faculty fellows will determine the form and content of seminar discussions.

The visiting fellow is provided with a spacious office within the Center’s own building. The fellowship pays a stipend of up to $40,000 and provides $2,000 in moving expenses. Application materials may be downloaded from our web site: www.vanderbilt.edu/rpw_center. Complete applications must be postmarked by JANUARY 18, 2007

For more detailed information and application forms, click here, or please contact:

Mona Frederick, Executive Director
Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities
VU Station B #351534, Nashville, TN 37235-1534
Tel: (615) 343-6060 -- E-mail: rpw.center@vanderbilt.edu
www.vanderbilt.edu/rpw_center/

Completed applications must be postmarked by January 18, 2007.