Call for applications Interdisciplinary doctoral workshop University of Crete / IMS-FORTH / École française d’Athènes

Established in February 2022, “Governing islands” is a dynamic and innovative research program in the field of island and maritime studies, with numerous European and international scientific partnerships (France, Italy, Argentina, Spain, Slovenia, Algeria). In addition to organizing several scientific events (seminars, conferences, workshops), it is actively involved in doctoral training: in February 2023, twelve doctoral candidates in history, geography and political science took part in a workshop organized at the École française de Rome, on “Investigating islands and sea histories (16th-21st centuries)” (https://gouviles.hypotheses.org/1250).

 “Governing islands” is now organizing a second workshop, to be held in Rethymno, Greece, from October 13 to 17, 2025, in partnership with the École française d’Athènes, the University of Crete and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS-FORTH). Under the title “Measuring islands: knowledge, administrations, populations (early modern and modern times)”, it aims to bring together doctoral candidates studying past and present island configurations with the tools and methods of the various human and social sciences. The purpose of this workshop is twofold:

  1. to present and discuss research “in progress”, focusing on the sources of the investigation and their use(s).
  2. to examine the resources and limitations of the various disciplinary dialogues that can be established around the island as an object and field of investigation.

 Three main themes will be under particular scrutiny: 

  1. Knowledge: What kind of knowledge is produced, established, disseminated and mobilized in the process of understanding and appropriating island environments? who is producing, using, and circulating it? We shall focus here on the knowledge produced in relation with the government of island territories, as well as on the scientific and ecological knowledge related to the use and governance of resources, in order to understand processes of construction, transmission and “patrimonialization” of this knowledge, whether scholarly, lay or administrative.
  2. Administrations: How have the modes of governance of island territories and societies been developed and implemented over time? How did the knowledge, governance and exploitation of islands and archipelagos lead to the production of specific material, and how can this material be examined within the framework of approaches that are both firmly rooted in a disciplinary methodology, and sensitive to the contributions of other disciplines? Can these approaches combine with a broader concern to focus on the granularity of documentary and material sources, without losing sight of the necessary general scope of analyses by definition situated in a specific context?
  3. Populations: How are island societies understood and transformed through the very process of governing island territories? How does identifying social forms and skills specific to these populations contribute to an ethnography - real or imagined - of these spaces, which in turn feeds both representations and government techniques? 


ORGANIZATION

The workshop will consist of reading seminars run by the instructors, presentations by attendees of their sources and material, and excursions to certain sites related to the theme of the workshop. Applicants are required to attend all activities. Discussions will be held in English and French; a minimal knowledge of French is required. The workshop shall welcome doctoral candidates of all nationalities working on islands. The University of Crete, the Institute of Mediterranean Studies and the École française d’Athènes will provide training, lunches and accommodation (in single-sex double room). Participants will be responsible for their own transportation to Rethymno, and are therefore invited to seek support from their home institution(s).

HOW TO APPLY

During the workshop, doctoral candidates will be asked to present an aspect of their research, emphasizing both the originality of the material under study, and the methodology used to analyze it. Candidates from all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences are invited to apply. They must be enrolled in a doctoral program at a university at the time of the workshop. 

Application files shall include the following two attachments, to be attached directly to the online form (https://missions.efa.gr/) in PDF format before May 12 (12:00 Athens time): 

  • A letter of recommendation
  • A letter of motivation (max. 2 pages)
  • A resumé (max. 2 pages)
  • A brief presentation of the thesis project (max. 1 page)
  • A title and abstract of the planned presentation (max. 1 page) 

Information on the Missions platform (in French only): https://fiches- pratiques.efa.gr/books/dispositifs-etudiants/chapter/seminaires-de-formation-doctorale  Contact: dir.moderne@efa.gr 

Download programme: Ελληνικά / English

 

Organizing and scientific committee: Gilles de Rapper (École française d’Athènes), Valentina Favarò (Università di Palermo), Mathieu Grenet (Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès), Hugo Vermeren (CNRS/TELEMME), Eleftheria Zéi (University of Crete) 

https://gouviles.hypotheses.org