Programme aim and philosophy

The Network of Transnational Doctoral Research is dedicated to the provision of adequate structures and platforms for the mentoring and exchange of views among early‐career scholars. It aims to enhance the knowledge and exposure to the academic world of young researchers, with emphasis on the encouragement of innovative and independent research. 

The 2013 programme will focus on the timely, complex and challenging topics included in the broader research area of Multiculturalism and the Law. While the primary aim is to encourage legal scholars to participate, train and exchange views, the conveners will support and promote inter‐disciplinary research that is deemed desirable (if not necessary) to grasp the complexities of the selected topics.

Programme Events

For 2013, the Doctoral Programme on Multiculturalism and the Law will include two different types of activities available to an international group of doctoral students.

1. Intensive Doctoral Training Workshop (19-20 April 2013 hosted by the CEMS/SOAS, London, UK)
This event will be organized on the basis of a mixture of PhD presentations, followed by feedback session from peers and more experienced scholars. Participants will situate their on-going projects and share with trainers and group coordinators their achievements and concerns. London Workshop (SOAS)

2. Transnational Research Colloquium on Multiculturalism and the Law (15-16 November 2013 in Lucerne, Switzerland)
The second event of the doctoral program will be the opportunity to discuss more advanced findings of the research groups as well as for stock-taking on the implementation of the entire programme. Keynote speakers will be additionally invited in order to enrich the added value of the event for participants 

Programme aim and philosophy

The Programme is dedicated to the provision of adequate structures and platforms for the mentoring and exchange of views among early-career scholars, including a purposeful dialogue between disciplines. It aims to enhance the knowledge and exposure to the academic world of young researchers, with emphasis on the encouragement of innovative and independent research. Most activities will be open to the public in order to maximize the visibility of the University of Lucerne in the field of doctoral training and research with clear implications for civil society.

Academically, culture is a contested concept due to its multi-layered and context-dependent meanings and interpretations. The legal discipline has just started attempts to pin down a (legally) coherent understanding of ‘culture’ and its implications for law. We are particularly interested to join the debate as to how cultural diversity has become a powerful concept in legal terms, replacing often race as a marker of difference. There are several areas where law and culture are linked such as for example culture and human rights, culture and sustainable development, culture and governance and culture and religion, to name a few.

The Program is dedicated to the provision of adequate structures and platforms for the mentoring and exchange of views among early-career scholars, including a purposeful dialogue between disciplines. It aims to enhance the knowledge and exposure to the academic world of young researchers, with emphasis on the encouragement of innovative and independent research. Most activities will be open to the public in order to maximize the visibility of the University of Lucerne in the field of doctoral training and research with clear implications for civil society./typo3/

Academically, culture is a contested concept due to its multi-layered and context-dependent meanings and interpretations. The legal discipline has just started attempts to pin down a (legally) coherent understanding of ‘culture’ and its implications for law. We are particularly interested to join the debate as to how cultural diversity has become a powerful concept in legal terms, replacing often race as a marker of difference. There are several areas where law and culture are linked such as for example culture and human rights, culture and sustainable development, culture and governance and culture and religion, to name a few.

Dates: July 25 - 29, 2016

Location: Maria-Rickenbach, Kanton Nidwalden

Language: English

The Summer School is organized by the UNILU Centre for Comparative Constitutional Law and Religion and the Institute for Research in the Fundaments of Law  lucernaiuris in partnership with a network of international law schools.

Expressions of interest are invited in English from doctoral scholars within and outside Switzerland on any aspect relating to the study of how legal pluralism, defined as the operation of several legal orders in one social space, impacts on human rights broadly understood, and vice versa.

The Programme envisions focus on the following research angles but will not exclude other equally relevant inquiries:

(i)                  What are the current shape(s)/pattern(s) of the interaction between legal pluralism and human rights?

(ii)                What are the implications that a legal pluralism discourse carries for human rights?

(iii)               To what extent and under what conditions does legal pluralism constitute a coherent vision of the interplay between law and religion/culture?

The Summer School will feature keynote lectures, roundtable discussions, thematic workshops, book review discussions as well as paper sessions in which PhD candidates and other young scholars will address the general themes of the event through their individual research projects . Opportunities for informal exchanges and networking will also be provided through joint social activities.

The programme will last for 5 days and is free of charge for doctoral candidates. The organizing institutions will cover all catering and accommodation expenses. Reasonable efforts will be made to cover travel expenses as well.

The programme offers:

• · An international academic environment within Switzerland

  ·   Inter-disciplinarity in research and in discussions

  ·  Intensive training combining a variety of research exercises and applying different techniques

  ·    Informal environment of debate and discussion

  ·    Exposure to related themes of other doctoral researchers

  ·    Unique opportunity for networking and exchanges of knowledge among peers

Abstracts of proposed contributions (of no more than 300 words) should be sent to Kyriaki Topidi via email: Kyriaki.topidiremove-this.@remove-this.unilu.ch. They should be accompanied by a cv and a short statement of motivation.The deadline for abstracts is 1^st March 2016.

Applications from researchers in law, sociology, cultural studies, political science, philosophy, theology, social anthropology and global studies are welcome. Accepted papers will be considered for publication in a subsequent edited volume.

Further information about the programme and previous events can be found at: www.unilu.ch/en/faculties/faculty-of-law/institutes-and-research-centres/center-for-comparative-constitutional-law-and-religion-ccclr/research/network-of-transnational-doctoral-research/ .

The UNILU Programme on Comparative International Doctoral Research relies on a network comprising experts from SOAS, the Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, the University of Pisa, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, the University of Vienna and the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law. The programme is generously supported and funded by the UNILU Faculty of Law.