Workshop: Climate and Society in Eurasia: Past, Present, and Future

Deadline to Apply: February 10, 2020

June 22-24, 2020

The Summer Research Laboratory of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign invites you to apply to the workshop Climate and Society in Eurasia: Past, Present, and Future on June 22-24, 2020. We seek scholars whose work explores interactions between climate and society in Russia, East Europe, and Eurasia. What effects have historical climate fluctuations had on the peoples and cultures of these regions, and what are the current and future implications of rapidly advancing climate change? Projects might investigate such themes as migration, disaster preparedness, water and food security, environmental justice, sustainability, development, species and habitat degradation, and biodiversity loss. Our goal is to foster multifaceted and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding these and other climate-related concerns.

The workshop will be moderated by Andy Bruno from Northern Illinois University (abruno2@niu.edu) and Pey-Yi Chu from Pomona College (pey-yi.chu@pomona.edu). We invite proposals for projects at various stages, from initial vision to drafting and revising. We also welcome applications from scholars with previous publications on the workshop's theme who are willing to share their experiences working on questions of climate from the perspective of the humanities and social sciences. The workshop's program will consist of discussing common readings, giving and receiving feedback on projects-in-development, and pursuing independent research using the library resources of the University of Illinois. We seek to build a community of scholars from a variety of disciplines, including (but not limited to) history, anthropology, literary and cultural studies, geography, sociology, environmental studies, and political science.

The due date for applications is February 10, 2020. Applicants who are US citizens conducting policy-relevant research can apply for Title VIII funding to support their stay, which provides a $1000 stipend, up to $500 for travel expenses, and up to 12 days of on-campus housing. There is also limited funding available for applicants who are not US citizens. Applications for funding will benefit from describing specifically how one might make use of the library resources available at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. For more information on application procedures and to apply, please visit: https://reeec.illinois.edu/programming-and-events/summer-research-laboratory/.