Recent and Upcoming "Non-CSPT" Conferences of Note
| Theme | Ottomans and Others: Cultural Exchange in the Old World |
| Dates | March 8-9, 2002 |
| Remarks | Hosted by the Folger
Institute in Washington, DC. This international conference brought
together leading scholars and emerging voices in the academy for an
examination of the multifaceted diplomaticm intellectual, artistic,
religious, and military contacts and interactions in the early modern
period, interactions that continue to shape global histories and disciplinary
boundaries alike. It sought to inform a growing interest in the impact of Islam and, specifically, of the Ottoman empire on the emerging definitions of self and state in the West by moderating scholarly exchange between those working in western historiographical traditions and their counterparts in Ottoman studies. It considered the consequences of conceptual shifts of foci to frontiers, borderss, and margins. It examined the trade and travels of commodites and the artifactual record. It identified new sources of archival materials and generate dnew directions for research. |
| Theme | America and the Enlightenment: Constitutionalism in the 21st Century |
| Dates | November 15-16, 2001 at the Institute of United States Studies, London, UK |
| Remarks | Panelists included Barry Shain, A.E. Dick Howard, John Diggins, Steven Smith, Paul Rahe C Bradley Thompson, J.R. Pole, John Dunn and Kenneth Minogue, and the keynote speech was delivered by Bernard Bailyn |
| Website | www.sas.ac.uk/iuss/events_enlightenment.htm |
| Theme | Social Capital: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (a EURESCO Conference) |
| Dates | September 15-20, 2001 at Exeter University, UK |
| Chairman | Dario Castiglione, Department of Politics, University of Exeter |
| Website | www.esf.org/esf_euresco_conference.php?&conference=173&meeting=1&page=2 |
| Remarks | In the current literature interested in either economic development,
institutional performance or democratic legitimacy, 'social capital'
has increasingly become a key concept. In so far it has been invoked
as part of the explanation for each of the above processes, it is
assumed that it has a precise empirical and quantifiable content.
In so far as it has been linked to the goods that come from them,
it has been given a strongly normative connotation. In spite of its success, or perhaps because of it, social capital risks becoming an overloaded concept. Its use in various disciplines and specialised literatures has open up the prospect of positive cross-fertilisation, but has also broadened its application to the point of making it vague in content and imprecise in its application. This conference brought together scientists from various disciplines and approaches (political scientists, sociologists, economists, geographers, social theorists) to assess the scientific cogency and productivity of the concept. In the European context in particular, the study of social capital issues may have important policy implications for what it may tell us on the interconnections between economic performance, good governance and their socio-cultural pre-conditions. Participants Included: Elinor Ostrom, Pinna Norris, Robert Putnam, Alessandro Pizzorno and Mark Warren. This Conference was financed through a European Science Foundation Grant, and also supported by the European Commission. Dario Castiglione |
| Theme | Philosophy and Aboriginal Rights: Critical Dialogues |
| Dates | June 22-25, 2001 at University of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Remarks | This international conference, co-sponsored by the Canadian Philosophical
association and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
of Canada, aimed to establish a dialogue between indigenous scholars,
non-indigenous theorists working on aboriginal rights, and members
of aboriginal communities. Presenters included Taiaiake Alfred, John Borrows, Alan Cairns, Marlene, Castellano, Paul Chartrand, Gordon Christie,_Ward Churchill, Frank Cunningham, Trudy Govier, Sakej Henderson, Will Kymlicka, Kent McNeil, Paul Patton, Audra Simpson, James Tully, Dale Turner, Jeremy Webber, Daniel Weinstock, and Melissa Williams. A panel of elders -- Renee Gurneau, Tobasunakwut Kinew, Leroy Littlebear, and Kathy Mallet -- offered commentary throughout the conference. The four days made clear the breadth of legal, philosophical, and social-scientific thinking on aboriginal rights; it also foregrounded the challenges of making this work relevant to the struggles of aboriginal communities, and of undertaking scholarly work in genuine dialogue with diverse aboriginal voices and perspectives. Especially striking was the difficulty of bridging scholarly work (by indigenous and non-indigenous theorists alike) and the politico-theoretical perspectives of aboriginal elders; this is a dialogue that many at the conference have committed themselves to continuing. |
| Proceedings | www.uwinnipeg.ca/~stomsons/philosophy_and_aboriginal_rights.htm |