Fellowship Announcement 08/09
Fellowship Announcement "Tension/Spannung"
The ICI Berlin announces the following fellowships for 2008-09 as part of its inaugural core project Tension/Spannung:
• 3-5 regular fellowships (ten months renewable for one more year).
At least two fellowships are intended for projects engaging with concepts of tension emerging from the natural sciences.
• 3 short-term fellowships (three months), two of which are intended for curators and artists.
The Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICI) is an independent centre dedicated to bringing diverse cultures and discourses into productive confrontation. The ICI formulates core projects that run over several years and form a starting point for resident fellows to work through common, focused questions.
The ICI's inaugural core project is called Tension/Spannung. The expression ‘tension’ appears in manifold contexts with diverse meanings. We speak of social, religious, electrical, sexual, and creative tension. In all these cases, tension refers to a static but unstable state. Such a state is on the verge of a dynamic process that may be destructive as well as productive. Tension provides the condition for transformations, but determines neither their beginning nor outcome. As a state of undecided potentiality, tension promises us agency and demands our involvement, while also captivating us aesthetically. By exploring the critical role of tension, the ICI’s inaugural project also seeks to reflect upon the Institute’s mission.
In autumn 2007, seven fellows started with their projects in the context of the core project Tension/Spannung. For the second year, the ICI is particularly interested in exploring further understandings of tension emerging from the natural sciences. The Institute invites scholars, curators and artists from all disciplines to link their individual projects to the topic of Tension/Spannung and to engage in a joint exploration with other fellows at the institute.
The productive exchange between fellows is a central aim of the ICI. The fellowships are therefore aimed at scholars, artists and curators interested in reflecting upon the conceptual and intellectual basis of their projects and discussing them with fellows from various academic disciplines. In particular, fellows will be expected to participate in the activities of the ICI and to be resident in Berlin for the duration of the fellowship.
Regular fellowships are for ten months beginning September 15th, 2008 and are renewable for one additional year. Short-term fellowships are for three months beginning September 15th, 2008, January 12th, 2009 and May 4th, 2009. Depending on the degree held, stipends range from 1100 to 1650 € per month.
Applicants from all disciplines holding a university degree are welcome. There is no age limit, but due to German fellowship regulations fellows must have completed their education (BA, MA, PhD, or Habil) within ten years of the date of appointment.
Interested applicants should consult the application instructions and send their application by e-mail only to the address indicated there.
Application deadline: April 6, 2008
Please feel free to download and distribute pdf versions of this announcement in English and German.
