13. October 2008 15:15
ESF names Professor Milena Žic Fuchs as the Chair of the Humanities Science Committee
The European Science Foundation (ESF) has named Professor Dr. Milena Žic Fuchs as the new Chair of the Standing Committee for the Humanities (HUM (formerly SCH)). The announcement came after the Governing Council of the ESF voiced its endorsement for Professor Žic Fuchs to replace Professor Gretty Mirdal for a 3-year term starting from 1 January 2009.
“Since I have held various high-ranking positions in Humanities research, I think I can further enhance the position of the Humanities within the ERA (European Research Area). I also come from a part of Europe where integration into European research is just beginning, and it is precisely this area in which I think I can make a contribution. It should be stressed that the ESF has already begun affirmative action with the purpose of integrating researchers from Central and Eastern European countries into many of its instruments. The disciplines within the Humanities have to, by the nature of their subjects, cover the entirety of Europe, and not be restricted by present borders. A wider historical perspective is a must in much of the research within the Humanities” commented Professor Žic Fuchs.
Professor Žic Fuchs is currently the Chair of Linguistics in the English Department of the University of Zagreb. She is also the former Minister of Science and Technology in Croatia. To date Professor Žic Fuchs has published over 30 articles in international and Croatian journals. These articles cover research topics on semantics, discourse analysis, Cognitive Linguistics and the influence of communication technologies on language. In 2007 she authored a dictionary of acronyms (20000 lexical entries), and her book Cognitive Linguistics and Language Structures: the English Present Perfect is pending publication. She has also presented over 20 papers at international conferences on a variety of topics.
Professor Žic Fuchs has been a member of the Standing Committee for the Humanities of the ESF since 2005 and in 2006 she was appointed member of the Core Group of the Standing Committee. With the new position Professor Žic Fuchs said she will focus on guiding the Humanities in Europe in order for them to attain their unique position.
“With the advent of the concept of global Humanities it is exceptionally important to keep a wise balance between the position of the Humanities in Europe and their future position within a far larger global framework. In other words, it is important not to lose track of our priorities under the pressure of global research. Thus, it is neccessary to keep our “European identity” on one hand, and at the same time open up to the world on the other. This will most certainly will be a major challenge in the future” said Professor Žic Fuchs.
Professor Žic Fuchs also stressed that for the Humanities it is also very important to keep a balance between disciplinary research on one hand, and interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research on the other. This position has already been stressed in the Standing Committee for the Humanities Position Paper published in 2007, and is of utmost importance due to the nature of the disciplines themselves, as well as being pertinent since the Humanities undergo constant reevaluation and rethinking.
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Short biography of Professor Žic Fuchs
In 1977 graduated from Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb having majored in English language and literature, and Ethnology.
In 1982 received M.A. in Linguistics (Semantics) and in 1989 Ph.D. in Linguistics (Cognitive linguistics).
In 1978 appointed assistant lecturer for linguistics in the English Department, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. In 1990 appointed assistant professor, and in 1996 associate professor. From 2002 holds position of Chair of Linguistics in the English Department, University of Zagreb.
In 2002 the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences elected her as Associate Member in the Philology Department of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Scholarly achievements
Milena Žic Fuchs was the first scholar to introduce Cognitive Linguistics into Croatian linguistic circles. Her book entitled Knowledge of Language and Knowledge of the World (1991) was the first book in Cognitive Linguistics written in Croatian and is one of the most quoted books in Croatian linguistics. Apart from taking part in evaluation panels within the ESF, Milena Žic Fuchs has also been a member of evaluation panels for COST and is at present a member of an ERC panel for Advanced Researcher Grants.
Teaching experience
She taught various courses in linguistics in the English Department: courses on Semantics, Cognitive Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, and Introduction to Linguistics. She also teaches Semantics, Cognitive Linguistics and American Linguistics at graduate level for PhD candidates in Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies. She has also taught courses in Cognitive Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology, University of Zagreb and courses in Cognitive Science at the Faculty of Electronics and Computer Science, also at the University of Zagreb. She has supervised more than 10 MA and PhD thesis.
She has been awarded two Fulbright grants: first, 1984/85 – spent at UCLA, Los Angeles, California; second, 1995/96 New York State University at Buffalo where she taught courses in Semantics and Cognitive linguistics at graduate level for PhD candidates in Linguistics and Cognitive Science.
Media contact:
- Mr. Thomas LauE-Mail
