The Institute for Constitutional Studies (George Washington University) announces an interdisciplinary RESEARCH SEMINAR, to be held in Washington, DC, from, June 11 to 17, 2007 (NOTE: these are revised dates).
The topic is"Constitutionalism"and the seminar will be led by Aviam Soifer (dean of the University of Hawaii law school) and Mary Sarah Bilder (Boston College). The seminar is open to advanced graduate students and junior faculty members. International participants are especially invited to apply. Participants will receive free lodging, a travel allowance, and a modest per diem to cover food and additional expenses. Lodging will also be available from June 6 for participants who want to conduct additional research in the DC area. The application deadline is now April 22.
The Institute will also host a WORKSHOP for college instructors -- "New Approaches to Teaching the Constitution" -- in Albany, NY, from July 8 to 14, 2007, previously noted here. The application deadline for this workshop is April 13.
UPDATE: In response to a reader's query, I asked organizers of the Constitutionalism workshop about their focus. It is not limited to constitutionalism in U.S. history, and is framed broadly to encompass many geographic areas. Specifically, Mary Bilder said that she and Avi Soifer "broadly defined the topic so as to attract a wide variety of people interested in constitutionalism. Ideally, we will have some people whose work is in American constitutionalism, some people whose work is in the history of British imperial and American colonial constitutionalism, some people whose work is in contemporary post-colonial constitutionalism in countries that were formerly part of the British empire, and some people whose interest is in global constitutionalism. I have been very interested in Australian constitutionalism, particularly the way in which Australian and Canadian constitutionalism diverge from British constitutional model in a manner different from American constitutionalism. We would love it if people interested in that subject applied." I asked whether scholars interested in other countries such as Germany and Japan should apply, and the answer was yes!
