"NEW FORMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN 21ST CENTURY"

9-13 May, 2008

Sofia, Bulgaria

The school will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 09 – May 13, 2008. 5 lecturers, coming from Bulgaria, Slovenia, Germany and Holland, will, each in their own workshop and from their own standpoint, address the issues concerning the problem area.

• Assoc. Prof. Nelly Ognyanova, Sofia University, Bulgaria - New Media – Participation Culture

• Prof. Rastko Mocnik, Ljubljana University, Slovenia - Social Rights in the Globalization Era

• Prof. Barbara Duden, Hanover University, Germany – Gender studies, history and perception of the body

• Ivan Krastev, Chair of Center for Liberal Strategies, Sofia, Bulgaria – The Voter, The Citizen and the Consumer - the new contraversy around the politics of human rights

• Assoc. Prof. Dimitry Kochenov, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Holland – New EU non-discrimination legislation developments

The Spring School will be followed by an ESSA General Assembly.

The Spring School is open to BA and MA students in social studies and humanities. Everyone is welcome to apply, but membership in your local student club will be an advantage when we consider your application.

Please note that the application deadline is April 14th 2008. Successful candidates will be notified by April 20th via e-mail. They will also be informed to which workshop they have been assigned, depending on their preference and the evaluation criteria (see below). The list of approved applicants will be posted on our website www.asssu.eu. The application form is available at www.asssu.eu. Please send your application forms and essays to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . In case of any problems with accessing the web site, please feel free to contact us at the above e-mail address, and we will be happy to send you an electronic copy of the form.

Applications have to be accompanied by a short essay (2-5 pages, or 400-1000 words) on the following topic: “New forms of human rights and civic engagement in the 21st century”.You are free to modify the topic using the topics for the workshops, or anything else that is part of your field of interest. In your essay, please define a certain problem from the field of human rights, civic engagement or civil society in more general, and provide arguments how and why it is significant. Essays should be written in English and submitted in a MSWord, OpenOffice, or Rich Text format.

Evaluation criteria:
1.Choice of a significant contemporary problem in the sphere of the human rights and civic engagement
2.Analytical argumentation of the significance of the problem
3.Creativity of the approach

The working language for the spring school and the assembly, as well as for the essays, will be English.

Both accommodation and food expenses will be fully covered by the organizers.
Travel expenses will be fully covered by the organizers, provided that you use second class train ticket or another cheap way of traveling (please inform us) and bring all your original travel receipts and tickets.

Participation fee: none

For more information about the keynote speakers: http://asssu.eu/taxonomy/term/7

We are looking forward to receiving your applications and seeing you in Sofia!