Forgetting as a Trauma Management: Case of Central and Eastern Europe
Submit proposal by May 4th, 2014.
http://www.acadeuro.wroclaw.pl/
The Academia Europaea and the Polish Regional Office on International Relations in Wrocław welcome paper proposals for the international conference Forgetting as a Trauma Management: Case of Central and Eastern Europe to be held on October 9-10, 2014, in Wrocław, Poland.
Context and rationale:
The region of Central and Eastern Europe is overburdened with history, centuries-old grudges, rival narratives and ethno-political conflicts. From Poland and Baltic states, through Ukraine and Hungary to the East and West Balkans political cultures are dominated by various grievances, fears and pursuits of amends as a consequence of unprocessed historical traumas. Competing regimes of memory manifest themselves in different interpretations of symbolic dates, places and traditions. Undoubtedly, they are substantial parts of national and communal identities, but at the same time they preserve and in many cases fuel historical traumas, grievances and past resentments. That vicious circle of commemorating history and fueling historical grudges poses questions about the role which is played by collective memory in the processes of trauma management and reconciliation. Can we keep the memory of historical events alive without preserving historical grievances? What is required for reconciliation: the act of forgiving or the act of forgetting? The goal of this conference is to assess the various means in which communities and nations could and can overcome historical resentments. A selection of the conference papers will be published in the quarterly New Eastern Europe.
Interdisciplinary approach:
Conference papers from the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Possible Topics:
Specific regimes of memory in Central and Eastern Europe
Processes of trauma management and reconciliation in Central and Eastern Europe
Collective memory and its management
Conflict and reconciliation
Forgetting as a way of overcoming historical trauma
The role of language and narratives as transmitters of history
The management of archives and museums with regard to histories of trauma
APPLICATION: The registration is available at: www.acadeuro.wroclaw.pl; submit a 300-word proposal and a curriculum vitae with list of publications by May 4th, 2014. All applicants will be notified about the selection of participants before May 16th, 2014.
SECOND REQUIEREMENT: Selected candidates will be asked to provide by September 10th, 2014 a 3000 to 5000-word paper. These papers will be made available on-line. The paper should not have been published previously. All workshop participants are asked to read these submissions prior to the conference. Participants who do not meet the submission deadline will not be able to attend the conference.
TARGET GROUP: postdoctoral early career researchers and PhD candidates.
SEMINAR LANGUAGE: English.
FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS: The organizers will provide accommodation and meals, reimburse travel expenses to a certain maximum, conference fee, insurance costs and costs of publication of the refereed conference papers.
ORGANISING COMMITTEE:
Prof. Ivan Denes (Academia Europaea Member, István Bibó Center for Advanced Studies of the Social Sciences and Humanities, Budapest)
Prof. Siegfried Huigen (Academia Europaea Member, University of Wrocław)
Prof. Krzysztof Ruchniewicz (Willy Brandt Center for German and European Studies, Wrocław)
Dr Piotr Sula (Institute of Political Science, University of Wrocław)
Dr Adam Cianciara (Regional Office on International Relations, Wrocław)
Dr Aleksandra Nowak (Academia Europaea Knowledge Hub-Wrocław)
Coordinator:
Dr Aleksandra Nowak
nowak@acadeuro.wroclaw.pl
tel/fax: +48 71 770 20 26
mobile: +48 506 388 101
