CfP: Contemporary Political Myth and Reality in Eurasia, February 12-13, 2026

The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Clements Center for National Security, and Department of Government are pleased to announce a joint conference on Contemporary Political Myth and Reality in Eurasia, taking place February 12-13, 2026, at UT Austin.

Eurasian states face mounting challenges amid growing polarization, gaps between social needs and political responses, and disinformation blurring myth and reality. Further, Eurasian states face additional pressures from a legacy of authoritarian rule, active conflict and irredentism, and political mobilization of social divisions across the region. Yet Eurasian countries also have unique strengths in navigating these challenges, with strong national identities, robust civic engagement, bursts of democratic progress, and deep cultural traditions.

The conference explores the complicated social and political realities and myths shaping the contemporary Eurasian region, as they are poised to either discourage democratic progress or inspire civil society to action. Academic disciplines have each made progress in understanding the complex dynamics in their area of social, political, legal, or cultural study, yet these lessons are often stove-piped. Meanwhile, states—and students training to work in those states—must grapple with the intersection of challenges across all of these areas. This conference tackles this by bridging disciplines, academic and policy spheres, and policy and cultural studies to critically examine these pressing issues in Eurasia. Panels will be designed to foster discussion among experts from political science, law, linguistics, history, sociology, cultural studies, policymaking, and other fields.

Co-hosts include the Center for European Studies, the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, the Comparative Literature Program, the Department of Communication Studies, the Department of Religious Studies, the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice, and the Strauss Center for International Security and Law. This event will thus be deeply interdisciplinary, fostering creative engagement on a diverse range of critical topics from state-building and democratic backsliding to the construction of national heroes and minority-majority identities to technology’s role in the spread of these narratives.

Please submit proposals here by October 15, 2025:

Full panels: https://forms.gle/PKQR9qhSfj21V6Un8 

Individual papers: https://forms.gle/CQ6jXK8JhVS3URCg8 

The working language of the conference will be English. For questions or more information, please contact us at eurasiapolicyforum@gmail.com. We look forward to welcoming you to the University of Texas at Austin!