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The ICI Berlin announces five 10-months fellowships for the 2011-12 focus Multistable Figures and Complementarity of the core project Tension/Spannung.

Since September 2010, the ICI Berlin has taken multistable figures – Kippbilder – as point of departure for exploring further the topic of its current core project Tension/Spannung. These images not only continue to fascinate cognitive scientists as a form of optical illusions, but they also function as models for probing complex epistemological, aesthetic and ethical tensions.

For 2011-12, the focus is Multistable Figures and Complementarity. The presence of complementary aspects in multistable figures provides an attractive model for the coexistence of different disciplines, systems, discourses, and cultures. At the same time, complementarity is a complex notion that can be understood and function in various ways, capable also of promoting both indifference and conflict. By exploring different ways in which multistable figures and relations of complementarity may function, the ICI Berlin seeks to reflect upon the possibilities and limits of bringing diverse cultures and discourses into productive confrontation beyond indifferent coexistence and violent conflict.

The ICI Berlin invites scholars from all disciplines to link their individual projects to the topic of Tension/Spannung and engage in a joint exploration of the focus Multistable Figures and Complementarity with other fellows at the Institute. We especially welcome applications from individuals who will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in scholarly research.

The productive exchange between fellows is a central aim of the Institute. Applicants should be interested in a theoretical reflection upon the conceptual and intellectual basis of their projects and in discussing it with fellows from other disciplines. In particular, fellows will be expected to participate in the weekly colloquia, bi-weekly informal meetings, and other activities of the Institute and to be resident in Berlin for the duration of the fellowship.

The fellowships announced are for the academic year 2011-12 (19 September – 8 July). Depending on the degree held, stipends range from EUR 1350 to 1750 per month. There is no age limit, but applicants must have received an academic degree within ten years of the date of appointment.

Interested applicants should consult the application instructions and send their application by e-mail only to the address indicated there. Please note that the ICI Berlin has temporarily suspended fellowships for artistic projects.

For information and the application forms, please visit the ICI Berlin website.

Application deadline: 14 January 2011.

About ICI Berlin: The Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry is an independent centre for research and culture dedicated to exploring how diverse cultures can be brought into productive rather than pernicious confrontation. It takes 'culture' in a broad sense to include cultures associated with different identities (such as age, class, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion, sexuality), spaces (such as city, internet, work) or discourses (such as art, economics, law, media, politics, science). It understands 'culture' as a contested and problematic notion and remains open to its various meanings in relation to other terms (such as implicit knowledge, nature, signifying practice, structure of feeling, ways of life).