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Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life Summer Seminar

Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life
Announces the launching of its 2014 Summer Seminar
And invites applications from advanced graduates, post graduates, and early career scholars

2014 Minerva Summer Seminar
June 22-25, 2014
End of Life: Between the Expected and the Unexpected
The Seminar will be held in a country hotel on the Judean Hills (near Jerusalem) and will be led by an international group of experts in the fields of medicine, psychology, anthropology, philosophy, law, and public health.

The primary aim of the Minerva Summer Seminar is to expose international and local outstanding graduates, post graduates, and young scholars to current research, findings and debates on the quality of the end of life, and to promote the development of papers and projects related to these issues. The convening of international, interdisciplinary groups of leading experts in the field and of emerging scholars also aims to encourage new collaborations and promote new research themes as well as to set new agendas for innovative future research on end of life.

The theme of the 2014 Minerva Summer Seminar is End of Life: Between the Expected and the Unexpected. The seminar will examine the continuum of control over dying and the dying process. It will aim to elucidate current theoretical, methodological, and practical concerns through cross-disciplinary discussions. Aligned with the spirit that guided the founding of the Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life, the format of the Summer Seminar is designed to enable reflection on common values, enhance sensitivity to cultural issues and include multiple religious and ethical perspectives to the Summer Seminar’s theme. The seminar will be conducted in English.

Sample of possible foci of related interests: • Public ethics • Applied ethics • Ethics of end of life decisions • Philosophy of autonomy and responsibility • Bioethics and the law  • Cultural history of death and dying • The meaning of the body after death • Death in global society • Cross-cultural meanings of death and dying • Postmodern versions of life after death •  Suicide • End of life decision making • Systems of health care delivery at end of life • Delineation of end of life• End of life stage  •  Quality of life at the end of life

The faculty (in alphabetical order)

 Dieter Birnbacher, PhD
Professor of Philosophy, Institute of Philosophy, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf
Practical Philosophy
Shai Brill, MD
CEO, Beit Rivka Geriatric Rehabilitation Hospital
Co-Director, Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life,
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University
Internal Medicine and Geriatrics; End of life; Caring for care givers
Jiska Cohen-Mansfield, PhD, ABPP
Professor, Department of Health Promotion
School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University
Co-Director, Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life
Psychology; Gerontology; and Health Promotion.
Andrea Marlen Esser, PhD
Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Philipps University of Marburg
Ethics and Practical Philosophy
Haim Hazan, PhD
Professor of Social Anthropology,
Department of Sociology and Anthropology,
Tel Aviv University
Co-Director, Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life
Anthropology, Aging, Suicide.
Ralf J. Jox, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor for Medical Ethics
Institute of Ethics, History and Theory of Medicine
Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich
Interdisciplinary Center for Palliative Medicine, University of Munich
Palliative Care, Bioethics
Shai Lavi, PhD
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law,
Tel Aviv University
Director, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
Co-Director, Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life
Sociology of Law
Vincent Mor, PhD
Florence Pirce Professor of Community Health
Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice
The Brown School of Public Health
Senior Health Scientist Providence, RI Veteran’s Administration Medical Center, Health Services Research
Health Services Research
Silke Schicktanz, PhD
Professor of Cultural and Ethical Studies of Biomedicine
Department for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine
University Medical Center Göttingen
Crosscultural Biomedicine and Bioethics

Funding
The 2014 Minerva Summer Seminar will host 20 participants. Successful applicants will be fully funded for lodging, meals, participation in seminars, workshops, local transportation and a half-day tour of Jerusalem. Airfare to and from Israel is not included. A small number of partial stipends for airfare based on need and quality of project are available on a case by case basis.

The Place
The 2014 Minerva Summer Seminar will take place in Hotel Tzuba (near Jerusalem). It offers a uniquely friendly atmosphere that stimulates both scholarly and personal interaction between participants and faculty in formal and informal gatherings. http://www.belmont.co.il/en/

Application process:
In order to apply, please send the following by February 21, 2014 to: minervaeol@post.tau.ac.il
a) Application form – download from the website: www.MinervaEOL.tau.ac.il
b) A one page statement of purpose and research involvement in the topic.
c) A two page CV
d) Those interested in seeking partial airfare funding need to send an additional letter explaining their situation, and a letter of recommendation.
Applications will be evaluated according to their relevance to this year’s theme and academic quality. German scholars are especially encouraged to apply.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by March 21, 2014.

Contact:
Minerva Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the End of Life
minervaeol@post.tau.ac.il
www.MinervaEOL.tau.ac.il

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