2011 HDCA CONFERENCE THEME: ‘Innovation, Development & Human Capabilities’ Bringing about human development for all is a challenge. It is not sufficient to investigate how human capabilities are expanded or diminished by our current policies, institutional arrangements, incentive structures, social practices, infrastructures and technologies. Grounded in our understanding of these realities, we also need to be creative and innovative in order to bring about change. The 2011 conference theme ‘Innovation, Development and Human Capabilities’ is an invitation to discuss and reflect on this. Whether it concerns social or technological innovation, grassroots innovation or innovation policy – to make innovation truly…

The congress is organized by the Bulgarian Association of Byzantinists and Medievists, a collective member of the Association Internationale des Études Byzantines. Patron: President of the Republic of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov. For more information: http://cim.bg/index.php/en/view/organizing-congress-byzantine-studies/

The 3rd International Travelers’ Philanthropy Conference will be held in San Jose and Monteverde, Costa Rica July 20 – 23, 2011. There will be plenary sessions, workshops & site visits in the cloud forest destination of Monteverde. The conference will explore evolving best practices in travelers’ philanthropy, including how your business, non-profit, or destination can set up and manage a giving program, and how to maximize benefits for community and conservation while avoiding common pitfalls.

The 12th International Congress of Ottoman Economic and Social History (ICOSEH) will be held in Retz (http://www.telebuero.at/retz/), a small medieval town some 80 kms to the NW of Vienna and 5kms from the border of the Czech Republic, which is easily accessible from Vienna. Arrangements for this meeting are being handled under the auspices of International Association of Ottoman Social and Economic History (IAOSEH) chaired by Professor Halil Inalcik. The local organizers are Claudia Römer and Gisela Procházka-Eisl of the Oriental Institute of Vienna University. As in previous meetings, papers are expected to be on aspects of the economic and…

We invite submissions of extended abstracts (3 pages max. )on theories, methods, or applications of social network analysis. 30 April 2011 - Abstract submission deadline Pre-conference workshops will be available on software packages useful for social network analysis (SNA). Including sessions on theories and models on SNA.

Call for Applications ****** The EU as a Global Actor From the Inside Out: The Internal Development of the European Union and its Future Role in an Interdependent World (Berlin, International Conference, July 7th - 10th, 2011) Cultural Diplomacy in Europe A Forum for Young Leaders (CDE) (Berlin, Weeklong Seminar, July 4th – 10th 2011) Europe Meets Russia A Forum for Young Leaders (EMR) (Berlin, Weeklong Seminar, July 4th – 10th 2011) ****** Dear Friends & Colleagues, On behalf of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, I am writing to bring to your attention the following major programs hosted by us…

International Conference of BRISMES, EURAMES and AFMA: "The Middle East: Aspirations and Challenges" - University of Exeter, 27-29 June 2011 The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) organizes its annual conference 2011 at the University of Exeter in association with the European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES) and the Association of Far Eastern Middle Eastern Studies Associations (AFMA). The event will be hosted by the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (IAIS) at the University of Exeter. Main theme ŒThe Middle East: Aspirations and Challenges with sub-themes, organised by the BRISMES research networks on: - Clerical Authority in…

The Umayyads (AH 41–132/ 661–750 CE) were the first great Islamic dynasty. Under their rule, the Islamic polity was transformed from a loose military confederation into a world empire. Enduring foundations were laid for such fundamental aspects of the nascent civilisation of Islam as politics, art, architecture and religious dogma. At the same time, the Umayyad period was one of great cross-cultural influence, appropriation and experimentation, and the dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews that lay at the heart of cultural life in this period gives it further resonance in today’s world. In the last two decades, fresh insights into…

Proposals on the following subject areas are welcomed: - Current theoretical debates (including multiculturalism, interculturality, diversity) - Mechanisms of exclusion (including neo-racism, neo-assimilationism, intrinsic and extrinsic ethnicization) - Cultural negotiation processes in border areas - Forms of resistance (including politics of identity, subculture) - Cultural phenomena in the everyday world - Media representations of migration - Cultures of recollection Organizers - Alpen-Adria-University Klagenfurt, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Intercultural Education (Klagenfurt, Austria) - Centre de Documentation sur les Migrations Humaines CDMH (Dudelange, Luxemburg) - Institute for Regional and Migration Research IRM (Trier, Germany) - Institute of Integration

27th Annual Conference of the Association for Israel Studies - Call for Papers Brandeis University June 13-15, 2011 www.aisisraelstudies.org/brandeis2011.ehtml “Israel as a Jewish and Democratic State” The Zionist ideal of a Jewish and democratic society has been a central issue since early settlements through the present. It continues to elicit celebration, criticism and debate in the arts, academic disciplines and the public sphere. The challenge of defining Israel also involves diplomatic relations, interactions between Jews and Arabs inside Israel and the region, among Jews in Israel and with the Diaspora, gender issues, the legal culture, the political system, and perceptions…

Berkshire Conference on Women’s History “GENERATIONS: Exploring Race, Sexuality, and Labor across Time and Space” June 9-12, 2011, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Proposals due March 1, 2010 Subcommittee Religion: belief, practice, communities, co-chairs Marion Katz (marion.katz@nyu.edu) and Anthea Butler (antheab@sas.upenn.edu). The 2011 conference will include workshops dedicated to discussing precirculated papers on questions and problems (epistemological, methodological, substantive) provoked by the notion of "Generations." To encourage transnational discussions, panels will be principally organized along thematic rather than national lines and therefore proposals will be vetted by a transnational group of scholars with expertise in a particular thematic, rather than geographic,…

The New Islamic Public Sphere Programme invites proposals for papers at the Conference on "Re-enchantment of Arab Television: Audience responses and identity constructions" to be held in Copenhagen, 27 – 29 May 2011 The main issue of this conference is how Arab audiences respond to religion and religious programming on Arab television. A focus on Islamic programming is particularly requested, but also papers on audience responses to other religious programming are encouraged. In spite of the common recognition that the effect of media has to be understood in the encounter between media discourse and audience responses, very often the Arab…

Certification, Consumption and Change Conference in Washington, DC, May 24 http://www.justmeans.com/pages/Washington-DC The National Press Club 529 14th Street Northwest Washington, DC 20045 The Certification Consumption and Change Conference will bring together 150 thought leaders from social enterprises, leading brands and certifying bodies for a day of thought-provoking panel discussions concerning the future of certification. Join senior executives responsible for ethical trade management, marketing, supply chain, sustainability and corporate responsibility. You'll discover the trends that are reshaping the face of certification, engage in lively debate with academics and practitioners, examine innovative case studies and contribute to the discussion that will define…

"The Roles and Responsibilities of the US and Europe in a Changing World Order: Evaluating the Political, Economic, and Cultural Dimensions" The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy is one of the world's leading conferences in the fields of international relations and cultural studies. This year´s event brings together key stakeholders from the US, Europe, and across the world to reflect on the future of US and European foreign policy and related issues. The program will consist of keynote speeches, lectures, panel discussions and social activities that provide for insightful discussion, debate, and reflection on these salient issues The International Symposium…

The International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy is one of the world's leading conferences in the fields of international relations and cultural studies. The 2011 conference will bring together renowned speakers from across the world to discuss how traditional concepts of power and influence are being redefined by globalization, the digital revolution and the emergence of social media. Held annually in Berlin, the program will consist of keynote speeches, lectures, panel discussions and social activities that provide for insightful discussion, debate, and reflection on these salient issues. The change over the past two decades from an international system based on independent…

A 2 days conference to address the revolution in the Arab World, the building of religious buildings, the wearing of religious clothes, the accepting/rejecting of religious norms in the public sphere such as halal, kosher etc. The issue is the tensions between religious freedom, freedom of expression, national specificity (dominant or established religion in one country: Islam in Egypt, Catholicism in Italy, "Laïcite"in France), citizenship, national identity, immigrations, conversions, existing laws in favor of established religions, claims of new religious groups, religious lobbying to impose specific norms (abortion, decency, censorship...) Sponsored by IIS- Center on Institutions and Governance, theCenter for…

Conference Aims and Scope The twenty-first century has brought new challenges for tourism. Climate change, infectious diseases, economic crises, terrorism, globalisation, and entrenched social problems pose threats and create an uncertain tourism environment that affects destinations and their populations in virtually every corner of the contemporary world. To keep pace with these challenges, governments, businesses, communities, and tourism organisations need to continuously assess environmental factors, to identify future trends and to examine various response policies and management techniques to decrease risk and uncertainty. Bearing all these in mind, ICOT 2011 aims to contribute to the debate on tourism in relation…

Why Should You Attend: A letter of credit is one method of payment used in international trade transactions. The Uniform Customs and Practices (UCP 600) are the current internationally recognized set of rules created by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) which govern the use of letters of credit. The benefit to using a letter of credit is that it provides a conditional guarantee of payment from the importer (applicant) to the exporter (beneficiary) if the terms and conditions of the documentary credit are complied with. Attend this webinar to understand the process of a letter of credit and how…

The Commandant of the U.S. Army War College cordially invites you to join this critical conversation at the U.S. Army War College’s XXII Annual Strategy Conference to be held at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania from April 5-7, 2011. Join over 20 leading experts, the U.S. Army War College Class of 2011, and 200 other strategists, academics, journalists, government officials, business leaders, and other members of the public as they examine and debate the critical relationship between the U.S. military and the American society. The conference will include panels discussing the changing role of the military; the possible divergence of the cultural…

The international conference "Quality in Alternative Care", organised by SOS Children‘s Villages with the support of various partners, takes place in Prague on 4-6 April 2011. On the one hand, the conference aims to identify ways to empower children and young people with alternative care experience. On the other hand it intends to promote the implementation of quality care standards, to provide a platform and networking opportunities, and to identify changes needed to policy and practice to align them with international frameworks. Among the speakers and panellists are Nigel Cantwell, international consultant on child protection, Michael Ungar, Professor at the…