News
The Institute is delighted to announce that its Director, Professor Hastings Donnan, has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy. Fellows are elected to the Academy for their outstanding research and work across the Humanities and Social Sciences. This is a wonderful achievement and Institute staff join in congratulating Hastings on this major award.
For more information, please click here.
Senior Fellow Professor John Brewer was recently interviewed by Martin O'Brien for the weekly newspaper, The Irish Catholic, in the article Professor Brewer discussed an array of topics but mainly his research in Northern Ireland and why the Church needs to do more to combat conflict in the North.
For more from the artice please see the attachment here.
The Institute has allocated funding and support for the 2013-2014 academic year to the new Interdisciplinary Research Group on ‘Conflict Transformation and Policing Extremism’. This group is led by Professor Beverley Milton-Edwards, Professor of Politics and Director MA Violence, Terrorism and Security, School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy.
The Institute has also allocated a second year of funding and support to the following Interdisciplinary Research Groups:
‘Art, Performance and Media in the (Post-) Conflict Societies: The Production of Shared Space’, led by Dr Stefanie Lehner, School of English.
‘Mobilities, Ethics, Technology’, which is now led by Dr Heather Johnston, lecturer in Politics and International Studies, School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy. Year one had been previously led by Dr Michael Bourne.
‘Social Justice and the Divided City: The policy relevance of conflict research in Belfast’, led by Dr Katy Hayward, senior lecturer in Sociology, had already been awarded two year funding in 2012.
Please click here for further information on all the groups.
Staff of the Institute and their guests were invited to visit the Áras an Uachtaráin in Phoenix Park, Dublin to meet the President of Ireland. They also met a number of practitioners, activists and academics engaged in north-south relations, as well as viewing the house and gardens.
Above: Institute staff and guests at Áras an Uachtaráin with the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina, July 2013.
From Left to Right: Prof John Brewer, Dr Katy Hayward, Prof Hastings Donnan, Dr Milena Komarova and Dr Neil Jarman
An ESRC award of £14,000 has been awarded to Professor Pete Shirlow (Senior Institute Fellow) and Mr David Grant (School of Creative Arts) with regard to the 'Applied Drama and Mental Health in North Belfast' project.
The funding is to help develop a short pilot project led by freelance applied drama facilitator, Jason Hines, through which a Men’s Group associated with the Lighthouse organisation in North Belfast, strive to develop a short performance to highlight the importance of mental health issue for them and their peers.
The specific objectives of the proposal are to create the opportunity for knowledge sharing between the Lighthouse organisation which offers support for those affected by suicide and researchers in Queen's University's Schools, with a view to developing a longer-term relationship and dialogue between the two. At the core of the project will be weekly two hour applied drama workshops.
The project will draw on a number of methodological approaches which are new to the Lighthouse team that are linked to the Image Theatre work of Augusto Boal that has well-established throughout as a means of visual communication which allows for the release of difficult ideas which are difficult to express in words. The use of imagistic tableaux created using the participant’ own bodies can open up topics and issues that may not emerge through more conventional discussion. But the theatrical context allows for an aesthetic distance to be created between the direct experience of participants and their representation in stage images. These initial techniques can lead on to more developed discursive exercises such as forum theatre.
The Institute was officially launched on 21st May 2013 by President Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize winner and a UN mediator.
There is a special QTV report available, which highlights the occassion.
Seminar Podcasts
We are pleased to announce that we now have a Seminar Podcast section, which includes four recent launch events.
Please click here for the link.
Dr Milena Komarova, Research Fellow at the Institute, has completed a staff profile video on the staff gateway, please click here to view.
Call for applications for an Institute Fellow 2013 - 2014
The Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (ISCTSJ) invites applications from academic colleagues at Queen’s wishing to take up a Fellowship available in the Institute during the 2013-2014 academic year. One position is available for academic year 2013-2014. The successful applicant will be appointed full-time to the Institute for this period.
The closing date for applications is 4 pm on Friday 17 May 2013.
The Fellow will play a central role in assisting the Institute Director, other Institute members, and colleagues in relevant Schools, to deliver an imaginative programme of activities in the field of conflict transformation and social justice. He or she will also take the lead on at least one of the Institute’s core activities and be expected to apply for external research funding and to lead major grant applications, as well as focus on the development of successful and sustainable research partnerships of all kinds, including those that involve research users.
An agreement is already in place that will compensate the relevant Schools during the period of the secondment thereby permitting the Fellow to dedicate his or her time to Institute activities during the period of the Fellowship. Arrangements for the supervision of postgraduate students while on secondment will reflect those that operate during Sabbatical Leave.
Application is by summary CV by email to the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice: ctsj@qub.ac.uk. The application should be accompanied by a letter of support from the applicant’s Head of School. The applicant must attach to the CV a three-part appendix containing the following information:
- A brief summary statement indicating how the applicant’s prior research experience is relevant to current and future research plans, including publications, engagement in collaborative networks, developing links to research councils or other stakeholder partners and grant applications.
- A short statement of how the applicant expects to benefit from full-time engagement with the Institute and of how occupancy of the fellowship will benefit the School.
- A research timetable for the Fellowship period that includes clear milestones and measurable outcomes.
Applications will be reviewed by the Institute Management Board and a recommendation for appointment forwarded to the Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences for confirmation.
Call for applications – Interdisciplinary Research Groups 2013 – 2014
The Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (ISCTSJ) invites applications from researchers interested in establishing an Interdisciplinary Research Group to focus on a particular problem, question or issue in the broad field of conflict transformation and social justice. Two awards worth £5,000 each will be made for academic year 2013-2014. Previously successful applicants are eligible to apply for a second year of funding up to a maximum of two consecutive years. The programme of activities is expected to start in September of the year in which the award is granted.
The closing date for applications is 4 pm on Friday 17 May 2013.
Interdisciplinary Research Groups will involve researchers from different Schools and will be committed to pursuing an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to conflict transformation and social justice. Successful applications are likely to include staff at different stages of their career as well as research students. They may also include non-academics and research users with the aim of developing the social, cultural, economic, political, policy or other impact of the work being undertaken. No particular format is prescribed, but it is envisaged that Interdisciplinary Research Groups are likely to operate through workshops, seminars and conferences.
Through the successful delivery of its programme of activities, each Interdisciplinary Research Group will contribute to the Institute’s goal of ensuring that Queen’s University becomes a recognized leader in research on conflict transformation and social justice. They will help the Institute engage with and attract leading researchers from other institutions and develop successful and sustainable partnerships with academics and, as appropriate, with research users, policy makers, practitioners and other non-academics.
The funding is principally intended to support a programme of activities within Queen’s and cannot normally be used to support archival, empirical or field research. We expect that Interdisciplinary Research Groups will work towards a particular objective with measureable outcomes, which could include publication, research grant application, a performance, exhibition or public policy intervention. The overall aim of the Interdisciplinary Research Group should be to enhance our understanding of conflict transformation and social justice broadly defined.
Applications should be submitted by email to the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice: ctsj@qub.ac.uk and include the following information and be no longer than four A4 pages:
- Name of the proposed Interdisciplinary Research Group
- Name and School of the proposed leader making the application
- Other staff and research students proposed as regular members of the Group and their affiliation at Queen’s (approval must first be sought from all of those so listed).
- An outline of the topic/issue which the Group will address and its relationship to existing research at Queen’s
- A statement of the Group’s aims (which may refer to: publications and impact enhancement; funding council themes and strategic initiatives; how Institute funding will facilitate current/future grant applications; development of international research networks).
- An outline of activities with clear milestones and anticipated outcomes
- An indication of how research students will be involved in the proposed activities
- Plans for developing the Group’s activities
We are pleased to announce the launch of the ISCTSJ Blog.
Please click here to join in and contribute!
Institute New Location
On Monday 22nd April 2013, the Institute will move to it's new building, 19 University Square.
We look forward to welcoming you!
The Institute welcomes papers on any aspect, both domestically and globally, of conflict transformation and social justice. It particularly welcomes papers informed by perspectives from across different disciplines and work which is comparative in scope. These comparisons may be across space and/or through time. All papers are refereed and we aim to return comments to the author within 4-6 weeks of submission. Papers are accepted on the understanding that they represent the views of the author and not those of the Institute itself. We strongly encourage submission by new, emerging and established scholars.
For further information and guidelines, please click here.
£235K Grant Success: HANDHOLD – Science, Security and Power in Action
Members of the Interdisciplinary Research Group “Borders: Materiality, Mobility, Ethics & Technology”, which is funded by the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, have been successful in securing research funding of over £235,000 for their “HANDHOLD: Science, Security and Power in Action” project. As part of the Cross-Council Global Uncertainties Programme, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in collaboration with the UK government DSTL Futures and Innovation Domain are funding this project under the call “Science and Security: Linking Social Science, Arts and Humanities to understand the impacts of science and technology on defence and security.”
This is an 18 month inter-disciplinary research project linking the social sciences and science and technology. The project involves Dr Mike Bourne (PI), Dr Heather Johnson and Dr Debbie Lisle from the School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy; Dr Teresa Degenhardt and Dr Katy Hayward from the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work; and Dr Charles Gillan, Dr David Linton and Dr Ivor Spence from the Institute of Electronics, Communication and Information Technology (ECIT).
This research maps and analyses how new security technologies are developed in practice, by focussing on the development of an integrated portable Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) detection device. It addresses some of the top tier of UK National Security concerns and contributes to cross-disciplinary and applied knowledge about the drivers of Science and Technology development in relation to defence and security needs. It explores how issues of science and security shape each other and will offer important lessons for technology development, implementation, and policy making, as well as for academic knowledge.
£197K Grant Success: ‘From Plantation to Peace: Derry/Londonderry as the UK's first City of Culture’
Senior Research Fellow Professor Peter Shirlow, in association with Dr Philip Boland (PI) and Dr Brendan Murtagh (The Institute of Spatial and Environmental Planning, QUB), have been successful in securing research funding of over £197,000 for ‘From Plantation to Peace: Derry/Londonderry as the UK's first City of Culture’ project. Full funding has been received from the Leverhume Trust via its Research Project Grants. This is a 3 year inter-disciplinary project that links Environmental Planning, Politics and Cultural Studies.
The study aims to determine how events such as the City of Culture will in practice help to overcome seemingly intractable cultural differences. This project sets out to unpack, investigate and problematise the City of Culture concept and how it intends to create a more peaceful, equal, respectful and shared city. The key research question concerns the extent to which culture becomes a transformative vehicle for peace-making and conflict resolution in Derry/Londonderry. The project aims to begin in May 2013.
