About the CSS Working Group

The Critical Security Studies working group was established in 2016 and takes a critical approach toward the proliferation of ‘security studies’ literature on and in the region as well as ‘strategic studies’ programs that are developing across the region. Mainstream approaches tend to advance state security interests and world power interests rather than the security of individuals, communities and societies of the region. The working group engages with existing frameworks from the field of critical security studies but also strives to move beyond them to develop alternative approaches based on regional realities, in an effort to understand the materialization of new security concerns, dynamics, spaces and affects. It also aims at connecting regional and transnational networks through the Eastern Mediterranean city of Beirut.

Objectives

The aim of the summer institute is to bring together doctoral students, early career scholars, and other junior researchers for training and mentoring with a team of faculty members who will provide sessions on a range of methodological and theoretical approaches. The institute will also include professional development sessions that will equip participants with necessary ethical and methodological tools, and help them navigate logistical obstacles while conducting critical research on security in the Arab region. Candidates from all social science backgrounds including anthropology, sociology, women and gender studies, political science and political economy are welcome to apply. Ideal candidates would have a critical and interdisciplinary research agenda, and a trajectory of engagement with public issues.

Structure

The summer institute will focus on five main components throughout the week: 

• Mentoring Sessions: The mentoring sessions will involve participants presenting their research and receiving written feedback from the faculty session leaders as well as from other participants. 
• Thematic Sessions: The thematic sessions will involve faculty members and guest speakers presenting on themes within critical security studies and the ways in which critical research on these themes can be conducted in the Arab region.  With that aim in mind, faculty leaders will provide a range of readings for participants that will structure the theoretical and methodological sessions.
• Writing Sessions: During writing sessions, participants will work on further conceptualizing their research topics based on the taught thematic sessions.  
• Field Trip: Participants will attend a site visit, a walking tour and/or a public event, which will help them contextualize some of the themes highlighted in the institute. 
• Professionalization Sessions: The professionalization sessions will involve participants and faculty leaders discussing issues pertinent to academic publishing, fieldwork, teaching, and other professional concerns.

 
All sessions will be conducted in both Arabic and English with simultaneous translation.

Expected Outputs

Participants in the Institute are encouraged to become active members of the CSS working group’s network and will be expected to share their findings in appropriate fora. Students will be invited to develop their research and publish it on the ACSS working group platform titled The Beirut Forum, the ACSS website, or partner websites. These contributions may either appear as part of a larger workshop symposium or as individual essays.

Eligibility

• The Summer Institute targets junior researchers working within critical approaches to questions of security in the Arab region and who have a record of public engagement. Junior researchers, such as those with a Master’s degree, or those who are completing a PhD degree or who are within 3 years of their post-PhD careers, are eligible to apply. However, a PhD is not a requirement for applying. Experienced researchers, activists and journalists without a PhD are also eligible to apply.
• Applicants must have an existing research project of their own (whether current or past), even if it is at a very preliminary stage.  Interested researchers must submit a research proposal as part of their application to work on during these sessions.
• Applicants focusing on one of the following themes are particularly encouraged to apply: political economy of (in)security; (in)security of everyday life; technologies of security; discourses and knowledge production and rethinking global norms and practices; borders, migration, and mobility; and gender and security. Proposed research must focus on the Arab region, however applicants with a South-South oriented project are welcome to apply. 
• Although applicants can work and present in English and need not have academic command of Arabic, they must be fluent in conversational Arabic.

Travel and Accomodation

• The ACSS will cover travel, transportation, accommodation, and meals for Arab participants based in the region for the duration of the Institute. 
• The ACSS will decide whether or not to cover travel, transportation, accommodation, and meals for Arab participants in the diaspora and for non-Arab participants outside the region on a case-by-case basis.

How to Apply

Interested applicants must submit an application on the ACSS Applications Platform. On the applications platform, applicants must select the chapter titled “Summer Institute on Critical Security Studies in the Arab Region 2025.”

Applications must include:

• Completed profile on the ACSS Applications Platform. 
• An application form including the following attachments:
  • Research Proposal (1500 words, excluding the bibliography). The proposal must concisely and clearly lay out the primary research question, the background and rationale, the methodology, literature review and theoretical framework. Applicants must clearly state the previous research (or public involvement/activism) on this topic the candidate has already conducted.
  • A cover letter/personal narrative (500 words) summarizing your overall research trajectory, where you are in your current research project, how this opportunity will benefit your research plans or professional development, and your prior experience in the Arab region.
  • An updated CV including a list of publications, grants and distinctions (where applicable).

Selection Process

A Selection Committee composed of core members and researchers from the CSS Working Group will review applications and decide on a list of finalists. Those finalists may be asked to submit more detailed information before they are officially accepted into the Institute. Final participants will be selected based on the merits of their proposals and the relevance of their research interests and backgrounds to the topic of critical security studies in the Arab region.

For Inquiries

For any questions about the program, please contact Jamil Bazzi on bazzi@theacss.org

If you have technical difficulties with the application, please contact Wassim Alam on alam@theacss.org

Timeline

Application Deadline: April 25, 2025

Selection Notification: May 15, 2025

Confirmation of participation by accepted applicants: May 19, 2025

Beginning of Summer Institute: July 6, 2025