Repeating Islands

The National Institute for the Study of Dutch Slavery and its Legacy (NiNsee) and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are pleased to announce the third annual Summer School on Black Europe entitled “Black Europe: Exploring Dimensions of Citizenship, Race and Ethnic Relations.” This course, which will examine the multiple constructions of the term Black Europe and its social, economic, and political implications, will be held June 13-30, 2010.

Students will be able to earn 3 US (5 ECTS) credits for their participation. The Summer School on Black Europe is open to advanced undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students. Preference will be given to students based on the following criteria: undergraduate and graduate students with a background in the fields of sociology, anthropology, political science, economics and/or the humanities; post-graduate students who have begun a research project in the field; professionals with an MA Degree and who are working or want to work in a field related to the topic of the Summer School. The application deadline is April 15, 2010.

See an excerpt from the official description below with the appropriate links for more information:

The seminar will begin with a historical overview of social and civil conflict in Europe leading to the formation of laws and antidiscrimination legislation within the EU.  We will trace the chain of events following social and civil conflicts that prompted these policies and analyze the legislative and intellectual discourse produced in the aftermath. We will also explore the notions of blackness as; an official categorization; as a social construction, employed by natives to indicate (non) belonging; as a Diaspora living within Europe; and as a contestation of the dominant (White) paradigm.  We will focus on the historical and colonial legacies of European countries to discuss the origins of Black Europe and investigate the impact of these legacies on policies and legislation.  This course will also seek to address the dimensions of race and ethnic relations that are unique to Europe; examining the ways in which conceptions of the “other” are institutionalized and reproduced; the rise of xenophobia in various EU countries; the legal definitions and discourse surrounding the conceptualized “other”; and examining the ways in which each country has dealt with issues of race and national identity.

During the program, students are welcome to participate in an optional two-day conference (June 25and 26) in Paris on “Museums and Migration” as part of the annual conference series at the Maison des Science de l’Homme (MSH) organized by Dr. Ramon Grosfoguel. The Summer School will conclude with a two- day symposium entitled, Public History and Collective Memory: Representations of Slavery Museums, Memorials and Monuments (June 29 and 30). The symposium will be followed by the National Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery in the Netherlands on July 1.  NiNsee will plan events to commemorate this historic event.  For more details, see  www.ninsee.nl

For additional information about this course, please contact Amy Abdou at  a.abdou@ninsee.nl  or visit the website  http://www.let.vu.nl/en/news-and-agenda/agenda/2010-1e-kwart/index.asp