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ISA 2010 Annual Convention

The following activities at the ISA convention have been jointly planned by UNSA members using the old portal.

Convention Details

  • Location and Date of 2010 ISA annual convention: New Orleans, February 17 - 20, 2010
  • Theme of the 2010 convention: THEORY VS. POLICY? CONNECTING SCHOLARS AND PRACTITIONERS

Roundtable on Academic-Practitioner divide

Title: The United Nations, Academics and Practitioners: One World, Two Universes?

Participants:

  • Haack, Kirsten (Chair)

  • Mueller, Harald (Roundtable Participant)

  • Harfensteller, Julia (Roundtable Participant)

  • Mathiason, John (Roundtable Participant)

  • Paepcke, Henrike (Roundtable Participant)

The UN Studies community joins practitioners and academics in teaching and research. However, these two groups often appear to talk at cross-purpose, following very different ontological, epistemological and methodological approaches. This potentially limits our understanding of the UN overall. On the one hand, many practitioners claim that the UN can not be understand without insider experience, claiming that theory/theorists is/are unable to capture the complexity and intricate workings of the organization. On the other hand, (IR) academics dismiss micro-level study and focus on the place of the UN in the global order while accusing practitioners of being untheoretical. This roundtable addresses the differences between the ways in which practitioners and academics approach UN Studies, it questions what we ‘need’ to know, what we can do to overcome the divide and discusses potential solutions. The panel seeks to continue and open up to a wider public a discussion on the academic-practitioner divide which the UN Studies Working Group started in 2007.

 

Panel on UN Studies - focus: latest research

Title: UN Studies and constructivism

Participants

  • Oestreich, Joel (Chair)

  • Kille, Kent (Discussant)

Papers

Constructivist research has offered a number of opportunities for UN Studies: first, to move beyond the high politics of multilateral diplomacy and explore the way in which UN ideas are created and shape understanding of a number of questions (including social and economic issues); secondly, to increasingly recognise the UN as an agent beyond its principals. This panel explores different avenues of constructivist research in United Nations Studies, focussing on ideas, concepts, language and communication. Papers will show the emergence of new policies through the creation of discourses and philosophies, a reconceptualisation of actors' roles and the construction of the UN as a communicative system.

 

Venture Research Workshop Idea on "The UN in Time - Exploring diverse Dimensions of Change" (declined)

Furthermore, we have submitted a proposal for a venture research workshop which was declined. However, we hope to revive this idea at a later point of time, given the overwhelming response.

Background information is available at the ISA website: http://www.isanet.org/workshop/ and below.

 

Information about Venture Research Workshops

Scope of Venture Research Workshop Awards 
ISA created the Workshop Grants program in 1992 to promote the interaction of scholars from different parts of the global international studies community. At the annual ISA meeting in Chicago in 2007, the Governing Council substantially expanded and restructured the Workshop Grant Program, more than doubling the total amount of funds available. Two categories of grants were established: Venture Research Workshop Grants of up to $25,000 each and Catalytic Research Workshop Grants of up to $5,000 each.

Venture Research Workshop Grants are targeted for projects that venture into emerging and potentially transformative research areas or preliminary work on untested and novel and path-breaking ideas. The goal is to support truly innovative research that has the potential to make a significant leap or paradigm shift and move the frontiers of knowledge forward.

Catalytic Research Workshop Grants target projects that aim to apply new expertise or new approaches to established research topics and are likely to catalyze rapid and innovative advances. Funds may be used to support several types of workshops: to bring together authors for an edited volume; to plan for a collaborative research project; or to stimulate new approaches to the substance and analysis of a topic.

Both types of grants aim to bring together small groups of participants focusing on a significant research problem that stimulates cross-national examination or perspectives and engages the interests of several disciplines. Topics should be sufficiently well focused to allow in-depth exploration during the time proposed for the workshop. All participants are expected to present a fully-developed scholarly paper on a relevant topic in order to attend the workshop. The workshop, itself, is expected to result in significant scholarly outputs, such as a book-length manuscript and scholarly articles.

Eligibility 
Proposal submitters and all proposed workshop participants must be ISA members. Proposals from junior scholars are particularly encouraged. Workshop participants should be drawn not only from ISA's North American membership, but also from other parts of the world and should include junior scholars. All workshops must be held in junction with and at the time of the ISA 2010 Annual Convention. Other requirements are listed in the Workshop Grant Proposal Guidelines (doc).

Funding 
Grants will be awarded annually by ISA's Workshop Grant Committee. Funding may be used to provide lodging and per diems, pay for research-related travel [when compelling justification is given] as well as other workshop costs. Please consult the Workshop Grant Proposal Guidelines for limitations and restrictions. Funds will generally be available for up to eighteen months from the time grants are made. A proportion of the grant award may be held until the final Workshop Grant Report has been received at ISA headquarters.