João Cardoso Rosas // On Human Rights: Historical and Theoretical Issues

Reappraising the Challenges of Interdisciplinarity in Social Sciences and Humanities: Ethical and Political Debates

University of Málaga

1-2 December 2017

In academia, interdisciplinarity can be experienced in different contexts, and lead to a variety of outcomes. For instance, interdisciplinarity can be the methodological engine of meaningful research, or merely appear as a rhetorical device. Research methods can be interdisciplinary, but also the fields of study themselves. When addressing an audience where people belong to different disciplines, feedback can be enlightening, but sometimes results are not as stimulating as expected, as if people belonging to different disciplines speak different languages. Some scholars see the contingency that interdisciplinarity creates as a weakness, and therefore as a reason to strengthen the frontiers between approaches and academic disciplines. Still, this buzzword permeates academia. It is not no be missed in research grant applications, CVs, journal articles, and informal conversations, but it has not been frequently thematised as a methodological challenge.

This workshop seeks to address these issues and reflect on the role that interdisciplinarity plays nowadays, particularly in the fields of political philosophy, ethics and moral philosophy, political science, history, international relations, and adjacent disciplines. We invite proposals (up to 150-word abstracts) addressing topics such as civil rights, democratic experiences and practices, intellectual and conceptual history, and political rhetoric.

Keynote Lecture

Prof. João Cardoso Rosas, University of Minho

On Human Rights: Historical and Theoretical Issues

Organisers

Civic Constellation II: Debating Democracy and Rights (FFI2014-52703-P, 2015-2018)

www.uma.es/civicconstellation

Convenors

Dr Marta Postigo, University of Málaga

Dr Rosario López, University of Málaga