2 Visiting Fellowships „Physical Violence in State Socialism“

Centre for Contemporary History, Potsdam (ZZF)
Institute of the Leibniz Association

The Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam (Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, ZZF) is pleased to invite applications for two Visiting Fellowships during the academic year 2011‐2012 to work within research group “Physical Violence and State Legitimacy in Late Socialism”.

Both fellowships cover a period of two months. They will provide an opportunity to pursue individual research as well as to participate in the scholarly community at the ZZF and in the Berlin metropolitan area. Fellows will be part of an international team including PhD‐candidates as well as senior researchers. The international research project, a join venture of the ZZF Potsdam, the History Department of the European University Institute, Florence, the LBI for European History and Public Sphere, Vienna, and the Südost‐Institut, Regensburg, is investigating the relationship between physical violence – both exercised by the state and in the private sphere – and the disintegration of state socialism in Central, Eastern and South‐Eastern Europe. Generously supported by the Leibniz‐Gemeinschaft, the research network includes fifteen individual projects dealing with history of stat socialism in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, the GDR, Romania, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union. The fellowships are intended to strengthen international cooperation and to overcomenational perspectives in the study of state socialism. Comparative projects are therefore especially welcome.

Further information on the ZZF can be found at: www.zzf-pdm.de

The research group on “Physical Violence in State Socialism” is part of the ZZF’s branch researching the history of communist dictatorships in post‐war Europe.

Eligibility:
The grants are directed to scholars from all countries. All applicants must hold or expect to hold a PhD (or be able to demonstrate equivalent and substantial research experience) in history or another discipline in the humanities or social sciences. Fellows are expected to conduct their own research; nonetheless preference will be given to applicants whose.

Candidates are expected to be fluent in English.

Conditions:
The fellowship carries a stipend of 5.000 EUR for a two month grant period. The non‐renewable funding is supposed to cover all expenses including travel, housing, and insurance. Fellows are expected to be present at the ZZF for two consecutive months between September 2011 and March 2012. The ZZF will provide office space, access to the internet and its library Furthermore, they will be asked to present their current project in a colloquium. The ZZF library holds approx. 75,000 items and subscribes to more than 100 periodicals. Other libraries within the Berlin‐Brandenburg area provide valuable resources for the study of the history of Central and Eastern Europe. The research group on “Physical Violence in State Socialism” would also encourage participation in its discussion and, possibly, its publications.

Sociologia.By