- Travel Grants for Early-Stage Researchers
- AHRC network meeting
- 10-12 October 2018, University of Birmingham, UK
Between 10-12 October 2018 the symposium “Peace Babies – Unintended Consequences of UN Peacekeeping” will take place at the University of Birmingham (UK).
Using the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), as a case study, the meeting will address fundamental questions related to the difficulties 'peace babies' face as a result of their biological origins and resulting life circumstances as well as the challenges they and their mothers face in accessing support.
1) Engaging with current debates regarding accountability of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, and indeed of the UN, for acts committed by their personnel while deployed in PSOs, the project will recalibrate the discourse on 'peace babies'.
2) Using the case study of MINUSTAH, the network will engage in dialogue about circumstances of conception in consensual, exploitative and coercive relations; discuss the geographic mapping of where cases have occurred in relation to UN peacekeeping camps; exchange knowledge about the home countries of the alleged fathers and the impact of their provenance on their children. It will further consider the life experiences of women raising children fathered by UN peacekeepers including the children's identity, perceived stigma and discrimination, local understanding of rights and justice, identified needs and barriers to accessing services.
The symposium will address the topic of Peacekeeper-fathered children from an intersectoral and interdisciplinary perspective, including psychology, sociology, history and political sciences.
The meeting will be funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. As part of the symposium we are planning an interdisciplinary workshop for early career researchers. The financial support of the AHRC allows us to offer ten conference grants for early career researchers (Masters, PhD students, early postdocs) which include the costs of travel, accommodation and, where applicable, visa. These grants will be offered to researchers who work on any aspect of the social consequences of peacekeeping, and will be awarded in a competitive process. Grant recipients have the opportunity to introduce and discuss their research during the workshop, will receive feedback from senior colleagues and will participate in the rest of the conference. The conference will be held in English
Applications including a letter of motivation, a short outline of the research project and, where applicable, a list of publications ought to be sent electronically to Branwen Onono (bco642@student.bham.ac.uk) or Sam Noakes (s.noakes@bham.ac.uk) before 30 June 2018. Notification of submission decision: around 15 July 2018.
Professor Dr Sabine Lee, University of Birmingham (UK), Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK, s.lee@bham.ac.uk
Dr Susan Bartels, Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen’s University, 76 Stuart Street, Victory 3, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 4V7, susanabartels@gmail.com