CFP: Online Talk Series “The Human–Animal Bond in Eastern and East-Central Europe” (Oct 2026–Feb 2027)

Overview

Animals have long occupied an ambivalent place in human societies,
serving as sources of food, labor, and material resources while also
becoming central objects of scientific experimentation and cultural
inspiration. At the same time, they have increasingly become subjects of
ethical consideration, raising questions about agency, suffering, and
dignity. As inhabitants of a shared world, animals have been shaped by
humans and have, in turn, played a crucial role in defining the human
itself. By positing a sharp distinction between mind and matter,
Cartesian dualism grounded the identification of the human in opposition
to the non-human—a process that, as Giorgio Agamben argues with his
concept of the anthropological machine, continues to this day.
Consequently, to speak about animals in the broadest sense is also to
speak about humans.

Scientific research on animals, as well as the origins of zoology, can
in part be traced back to Aristotle. The long nineteenth century, from
the late eighteenth century to the outbreak of the First World War,
witnessed profound transformations in the understanding of animals.
Developments in physiology, medicine, and the natural sciences made
animals indispensable to experimental research and contributed to
advances in zoology. At the same time, literary, philosophical, and
public debates increasingly addressed the moral implications of their
treatment. Animals thus emerged as crucial figures in discussions of
life, consciousness, morality, and the place of human beings within the
natural world.

Within the culturally diverse contexts of Eastern and Eastern-Central
Europe, including the territories of the Romanov (Russian) Empire, the
Habsburg Monarchy, and the Ottoman Empire, these developments
intersected with broader intellectual transformations. Religious
traditions encountered emerging scientific and philosophical
perspectives that redefined the relationship between humans and animals.
Influenced by evolutionary thought and modern science, humans were
increasingly understood not as separate from nature, but as its most
highly developed animals.

Aims of the Lecture Series

This lecture series explores discourses and knowledge about animals and
the human–animal relationship throughout the long nineteenth century in
Eastern- and Eastern-Central Europe. Key questions include: What ideas
and concepts regarding animals and the human–animal relationship were
prevalent in the natural and social sciences, the humanities, and
religion? How were scientific findings adapted and reinterpreted in
literature and culture? What imaginative or counter-concepts of animals
emerged in literary and cultural contexts? Finally, the series examines
how practices of dealing with animals shaped ethical reflections on
their treatment.

We invite contributions that explore how animals and the human-animal
relationship were represented, conceptualized, and contested within the
intellectual, literary, and scientific cultures of the period. By
bringing together perspectives from literary studies, philosophy, the
history of science, and cultural history, the seminar aims to illuminate
the role of animals in shaping modern debates about nature, knowledge,
and humanity in Eastern- and Eastern-Central Europe.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
·       Animals in scientific experimentation, particularly in physiology,
medicine, and psychology
·       Historical case studies of experimental practices involving animals,
including ethical and epistemological implications
·       Literary representations of animals and their role in moral,
philosophical, or social debates
·       Animals in public culture: zoos, exhibitions, popular science, and
visual representation
·       Early vegetarian movements and other refusals to consume animal
products, including their theoretical foundations and motivations
·       Discourses on animal suffering, compassion, and early animal
protection movements
·       Religious perspectives on animals in interaction with scientific and
modernist discourses
·       Changing conceptions of the human–animal relationship in the context
of evolutionary thought and modern science

The online talk series forms part of a broader initiative to establish a
research network and prepare a series of publications.

Submission Guidelines
·       Abstract: 250–300 words
·       Short Bio: 100 words
·       Deadline for Submission: 15.06.2026
·       Notification of Acceptance: July 2026
·       Submission Email: humanimalbond@gmail.com

Seminar Details
·       Format: Online
·       Duration: 1h30
·       Presentation Length: 30 minutes, followed by discussion
·       Monthly October 2026 – February 2027 every third Friday

Organizers
Dr. Nadine Menzel (Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg,
nadine.menzel@uni-bamberg.de)
Dr. Maxim Demin (Ruhr-Universität Bochum,
Maksim.Demin@ruhr-uni-bochum.de)

Reminder: May 1 Deadline for Fall 2026 Study Abroad

A brief reminder that the application deadline for SRAS Fall 2026 study abroad programs is May 1.

Our fall programs offer students the opportunity to engage directly with the Baltics, Central/Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia through field-based, regionally focused study. Coursework spans disciplines including international relations, history, media, and cultural studies, combining disciplinary coursework with language study in Russian and other regional languages.

Fall 2026 programs include:

• Baltic Security and the Information Environment — Riga, Latvia
• Identity and Conflict in the Caucasus (ICON) — Tbilisi, Georgia (with regional travel)
• Central Asian Studies — Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (with regional travel)
• Security & Diplomacy: CEE Perspectives (Warsaw, Poland)
• Russian as a Second Language (RSL) — Bishkek, Tbilisi, and Riga

Across programs, students combine classroom learning with structured fieldwork and regional travel, engaging with the historical, political, and cultural dynamics of the areas they study.

CARTA-2026 conference

CARTA (The Central Association of Russian Teachers of America) is pleased to invite you to its 28th Annual Conference that will take place on March 27-29, 2026 at Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, Austin, TX.                

Join your colleagues for sessions, panels, exhibits, award presentations, and cultural activities. Send proposals for individual papers, complete panels, and round tables on Russian language, literature, history, culture, language pedagogy, and related topics no later than January 20, 2026.

For more information about the conference please contact Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya: msukholu@ecok.edu

The conference registration and membership forms can be found at https://cartaws.wixsite.com/online

Canadian Association of Slavists Annual Conference

May 7, 2026 – May 9, 2026

University of Ottawa

CALL FOR PAPERS

The annual conference of the Canadian Association of Slavists will take place at the University of Ottawa May 7 through 9, 2026.

Proposals are invited for individual papers, panels, and roundtable discussions. Complete panels are preferred. Proposals can be submitted by filling out the necessary form at: https://event.fourwaves.com/casottawa2026

The deadline for all proposals is February 16, 2026. All proposals must be submitted through the conference application portal. Proposals submitted by e-mail will not be considered. ALL PRESENTERS MUST BE MEMBERS OF CAS. Join CAS online: https://slavists.ca/membership/

The conference welcomes papers from the wide range of disciplines devoted to the study of central and eastern Europe, the Balkans, Eurasia, Russia, the Soviet Union, and the post-Soviet space. In the past, this has included panels on (in alphabetical order):

•  Cinema

•  Folklore and Ethnographies

•  History

•  Linguistics (comparative and Slavic)

•  Literatures and Cultures

•  Pedagogy and Second Language Acquisition (teaching of individual skills; curriculum design, presentation of new teaching materials; use of technology in language teaching; study abroad; etc.).

•  Politics, Policy and Governance

•  Religion

The meeting of the Canadian Association of Ukrainian Studies (CAUS) is traditionally part of the CAS conference and therefore Ukrainian Studies are always very prominently represented at the CAS Annual Meeting, including panels on, for example, Ukrainian folklore and ethnography; diaspora studies; Ukrainian Canadian literature; museum studies; Holodomor studies; Ukrainian history, literature, politics, and culture.

Early career scholars and graduate students are especially encouraged to participate. We kindly ask our senior CAS membership to support graduate students in applying to participate in the conference. Limited funds are available to graduate students to help with the cost of attending the conference. An application form for the 2026 Travel Grant will be sent out in March 2026 by the Secretary-Treasurer and will also be available on the CAS website.

CAS members can use the Canadian Slavonic Papers (CSP) mailing list to help them form panels and roundtables: canadian-slavonic-papers@mailman.srv.ualberta.ca

For any further questions, suggestions or concerns please contact the conference program chair: Mark Conliffe: mark.conliffe@ucalgary.ca

 

CAS is looking forward to hosting you in May on the University of Ottawa campus!

CfP: LINC 2026 Graduate Conference at Florida State

We are excited to announce the Call for Papers (CfP) for the upcoming Literatures & Linguistics Interdisciplinary (LINC) Graduate Conference on “Beyond Fracture: Reimagining Futures through Divergence and Convergence: Constructing New Paths Across Division, Resistance, and Solidarity. 

The conference is scheduled for March 5-6, 2026 at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. Organized by graduate students, this interdisciplinary conference will provide a space to discuss divergence and convergence as tools for imagining and reimagining the future across fields, including literature, linguistics, cultural studies, history, gender and sexuality studies, and others.

 

This year’s theme, “Beyond Fracture: Reimagining Futures through Divergence and Convergence,” invites participants to examine ways that we can chart directions for the future. Submissions that reflect a diverse range of interests, from linguistic analysis to cultural studies and literary exploration are welcomed.

 

We invite faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and independent scholars to submit proposals by October 17th, 2025, at midnight at this link: https://forms.gle/sseeWtfehZtXrWW3A. Presentation formats include individual papers and panels. 

 

For full details, including submission guidelines, deadlines, and potential topics, please refer to the call.

If there are questions or someone would like to discuss potential proposals, please reach out to mllgradconference@gmail.com. 

Call for paper proposals: ACLA Seminar on Form, History, and the Second World

I wanted to let you know about an American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) seminar I am co-organizing with Alice Lovejoy (Univ. of Minnesota) entitled "History, Modernity, and Second World Forms." I'll paste the full seminar description below.

Please note that this year's ACLA meeting will take place online, from May 29th to June 1st, 2025. You can submit an abstract for consideration at https://www.acla.org/node/add/paper. The deadline for paper proposals is October 14th.

Feel free to email me directly with any questions.

Here is the seminar description:

"How might renewed attention to the cultural production of the former Second World help us move past one of the defining impasses of literary studies after globalization: namely, the antinomy between an overarching, “one and unequal” world system and the radical particularity associated with “multiple” or “alternative” modernities? Recent scholarly efforts in East European and Eurasian literary and cultural studies -- drawing on insights from postcolonial studies, World Systems theory and the theory of uneven and combined development -- have significantly reframed the region’s relationship to modernity. Implicit but yet to fully emerge from these promising developments is a model of comparison that can work across the multiple temporal and spatial scales that make up Second World literatures and cultures, and that can speak at once to the particularities of national traditions, genres, and individual works and to their broader stakes for humanistic inquiry.

Much like the “Three Worlds” model of international relations, the formerly state socialist cultures in question were rendered largely invisible within the wider humanities after the end of the Cold War. Nevertheless, East Europe and Eurasia --the immediate geographic peripheries to Europe’s imperial core -- once represented a rival form of development that, for all its contradictions, played a key role within the worldwide non-capitalist and anti-colonial imaginary.

Issuing from some of Europe and Asia’s earliest decolonizing nations, the literatures of the former Second World were comparative from the jump, produced by and within supranational formations founded upon a vast cultural and linguistic heterogeneity. The various articulations of socialist modernity to which the Second World was home, along with their rapid resignification as archaic remnants after 1989, invite us to rethink contemporary comparative frameworks plotted geographically along a Global North/Global South imaginary. It is not simply that this “global East” slots uneasily into a North/South framework. Even as the spatial is inseparable from any consideration of Second World literatures, the temporalities of belatedness, acceleration, and non-synchronicity proper to them complicate extant models of literary history and contemporary criticism. They also demand a reading practice attuned to both uneven socio-historical development and the exigencies of aesthetic form. Addressing these questions requires a comparative and interdisciplinary approach that moves beyond not only the familiar pitfalls of rigidly “national” frameworks, but also the subtler essentialism that can be encouraged by the “regionalism” of area studies. Rather than searching for uniquely East European or Eurasian modern/ist phenomena, we seek to identify how global modernity, as such, manifested itself in what we now call the former Second World."

Call for Applications: USHMM Public History Postdoctoral Fellowship

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

USHMM Public History Postdoctoral Fellowship

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is seeking a postdoctoral fellow to research, review, and write content for USHMM’s online Holocaust Encyclopedia. This position is located in the Digital Learning Tools branch within the Museum Experience and Digital Media (MEDM) division of the Levine Institute for Holocaust Education. The position combines professional experience with time to pursue independent scholarly research and interact with other fellows in the Museum’s Visiting Scholar Programs. The position is located in Washington, DC and is hybrid telework eligible, within the local commuting area of the Museum worksite. This is a two-year term position. The application closes March 28, 2024.

Application Materials and Requirements

Qualifying applicants must have a PhD in an area of content expertise about the Holocaust or a related field and submit:

- A curriculum vitae (CV)

- Cover letter

- Project proposal for independent scholarship project (1,000 words or less)

- Subject matter-related academic or professional writing sample

CFA: Frank Porter Graham Chair in Global History, UNC-Chapel Hill

Deadline: December 9, 2022

The History Department at UNC-Chapel Hill (https://history.unc.edu) invites applications for this distinguished professorship in global history, beginning 1 July 2023. Applicants for the Frank Porter Graham chair in Global History should have a Ph.D. or equivalent in History or a related field and hold the rank of full professor with tenure (or equivalent) at the time of appointment. The UNC-Chapel Hill History Department seeks to appoint an outstanding scholar whose research and teaching considers questions related to global history, broadly defined. Regional specialists as well as scholars adopting international, transnational, and/or comparative approaches, whether within a particular region or beyond, are encouraged to apply. The committee welcomes applications from historians working in all periods and geographical areas.

Candidates for this position should demonstrate proven excellence in their field(s). They should possess a strong publication record and a commitment to teaching and advising undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to service within the department and university. We expect the Frank Porter Graham Professor to play an active role in co-advising graduate and undergraduate students pursuing topics and applying methodologies associated with global history. They should also possess the ability to engage themes that cut across regional specializations and academic disciplines, as our faculty regularly participate in interdisciplinary working groups as well as events and programs organized by area studies centers across campus. Importantly, the Frank Porter Graham Professor will be expected to engage with diverse public audiences beyond the University. The UNC-Chapel Hill History Department is committed to a vision of the University where all where all members of the community feel valued and can thrive. The ideal candidate will share this commitment.

To apply, please follow this link (https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/243585) and submit online your current CV and a cover letter. Your cover letter should keep the above-mentioned vision in mind while addressing the main themes of your research, your teaching experience, and your past engagement with public audiences. Please also include contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion in any of these areas.  The application also requires a list of four persons, with contact information, who could provide letters of recommendation. The committee will notify finalists before soliciting letters of recommendation. The Department of History is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes all to apply, including those who live and teach outside the United States. We particularly welcome applications from women, BIPOC, veterans, LGBTIAQ+, individuals with disabilities, and other groups of people from historically and currently marginalized backgrounds. Review of applications will begin on 9 December 2022 and will continue until the position is filled.

CFP: Conference on disability history

Deadline: December 15, 2022

The working group “history of disabilities in Eastern Europe” at Indiana University invites applicants to submit proposals for papers at a conference hosted by the Indiana University Berlin Gateway on June 30-July 1, 2023. The two-day conference aims to foster opportunities for collaboration and networking and to feature research projects in any aspects of the history of disabilities in the region, with a focus on the modern period. We are able to provide funds for travel and accommodations for some participants on a competitive basis and will prioritize junior scholars from Eastern Europe. The conference will be hybrid to enable participation by those unable to travel. Please send any inquiries to the organizer, Maria Bucur, mbucur@indiana.edu. To be considered, please submit a title and short abstract (up to 250 words) of the paper to be presented, together with a 2 page CV. Deadline: December 15th, 2022.

Summer Program: univie: summer school for European Cultural Studies

Deadline: June 15, 2021

univie: summer school for European Cultural Studies - Art & History

July 17 - July 30, 2021

The summer school courses provide an introduction into European Cultural Studies. The view of Europe from the outside is mostly dominated by economic issues. But Europe is very much defined by its history and culture. Two key aspects of this preoccupation with the European area will be offered in the summer courses.

The two-week program offers two academic courses taught online. One course deals with history, politics, and everyday life in this area and the second course approaches Europe from the artistic side and examines and analyzes the visual culture in Europe. 

The courses are held by distinguished scholars with international teaching experience. The interdisciplinary lectures will lead to an understanding of European art and history.

The online courses encourage interactive participation. These courses with international participants offer the possibility to discuss European art and history with students from all over the world. 

A welcome session will introduce the participants to the summer school and give them the opportunity to meet informally with the staff and each other. The summer program also includes online excursions. Social online gatherings as well as group work in breakout rooms will encourage intercultural and social exchange between the students. Participants thus broaden their horizon, meet colleagues from different fields of study, and make new friends.

Summer school online program fees are € 675 for one academic online course, or € 1,150 for two academic online courses. The fee includes registration, orientation material, welcome session, introductory course, one or two academic online courses, teaching material, online excursions, and one free transcript.

External students have to pay the Austrian students' union fee of € 20.20 to be admitted to the University of Vienna. 

Having seen the academic program of your university, we believe that the courses offered at the univie: winter school for Cultural Historical Studies would complement your university’s course offerings perfectly.

More information about the univie: summer school for European Cultural Studies can be found at our website at https://shs.univie.ac.at/summer-school/european-cultural-studies-online-program/

The application deadline is June 15, 2021.  For further information or special requests, please contact the Program Coordinator, at sommerhochschule@univie.ac.at. It will be our pleasure to be of assistance and to answer any questions you might have.

CFP: War and Diversity Beyond the Battlefield: Cultural Encounters in the Polish Lands 1914–1923 (Panel for the 4th International Congress of Polish History)

 Deadline: August 1, 2021

Kraków, 19–22 October 2022

Every five years since 2007, Kraków has hosted the International Congress of Polish History. Each of these remarkable events has brought together hundreds of scholars from all over the world to share their interest in Poland’s history, culture, and language. From its beginnings, the main aim of the Congress has been to provide a forum for developing dialogue, exchanging experiences and inspiration, and popularizing research in Polish history. We have now begun planning for the continuation of this project, and we warmly invite you to be part of this, the Fourth International Congress of Polish History. In spite of the uncertainty and unpredictability that the pandemic has brought, we are going ahead with the organization of the Congress, firm in the belief that it will be possible for us all to meet safely in Kraków in October 2022. The theme of the Congress will be ‘Cultural Encounters.’ We set out to look at the history of the Polish lands through the lens of mutual relations and interaction and of the multiple cultural currents and models that have circulated in the country for centuries. Ideas, customs, identities and languages, have come together as if in a crucible, a laboratory, or a transhipment port. Cultural, ethnic, linguistic, religious, economic, demographic, and social diversity has always been a dominant note in Poland’s past, and has left lasting traces in its cultural legacy and collective identity. As we invite our fellow scholars with research interests in Poland to Kraków, we hope to explore the dynamics, scale, and complexity of these interactions, probe the main channels of transmission and retransmission, and consider the outcomes for Poland of these cultural encounters. We have pledged to adopt the broadest possible definition of culture, to take account of both its elevated and popular registers.

                  As a part of the 4th Congress, we propose a panel entitled: “War and Diversity Beyond the Battlefield: Cultural Encounters in the Polish Lands 1914–1923.” Within this framework, we seek to reconsider the Polish territories as a meeting point of cultures and nations during the First World War and the early post-war period. This extended historical moment saw the last gasp of land empires that died on the battlefield and the birth of a multi-cultural, post-imperial Polish state from the remnants of fallen states. The process of imperial collapse and the construction of new nation states was accompanied by multiple cultural clashes in a context of lingering influences from pre-war times. We invite presentations examining various aspects of these cultural encounters including:

• The experience of nonPolish members of imperial armies stationed in Galicia or Congress-Poland (e.g., Austrians, Hungarians, Slovenes, Slovaks, Czechs, Romanians, Germans, Russians) and their interactions with local populations;

• Impressions of noncombatants during World War I and the border conflicts that followed it, including the experiences and observations of war reporters, politicians, diplomatic staff, intellectuals, artists etc.;

• Postwar realities, including the observations of staff and representatives (of non-Polish background) from international foreign missions after 1918 in the newly-created Second Republic of Poland;

• Postwar transitions such as shifts in a sense of belonging after the rise of new states, changes in self-identification on cultural grounds before and after 1918;

• People on the move: wartime migrations (refugees, exiles, internees, repatriates) and cultural encounters;

• The remnants and cultural memory of empires and war, including the repurposing of physical remains such as fortresses, internment and POW camps, sites of memory such as monuments and cemeteries, artistic renderings of memory, or residual administrative practices carrying over from imperial rule and wartime, interrogating where we find continuity and where we see rupture after 1918;
  

• Cultural encounters in the early years of newly created Poland after 1918, dominated by Poles but inhabited by other nations (Ukrainians, Jews, Lithuanians, Belarussians and Germans), whose sense of belonging was different (especially those arising as a consequence of long-lasting conflicts).

 

Any other potential contributions linking cultural encounters and Polish territory in WW1 are warmly welcome.

The 4^th Congress is scheduled for October 19–22, 2022 and will be held in Kraków. The languages of the Congress will be English and Polish. For our panel “War and Diversity” we invite up to 8 speakers and discussants, all contributions should be approximately 20 minutes in length. Please submit proposals of approximately 250 words to Keely Stauter-Halsted (stauterh@uic.edu) and Kamil Ruszała (kamil.ruszala@uj.edu.pl) by August 1, 2021. The complete roster of speakers will be announced by the end of Summer 2021. Congress organisers are seeking funds for lodging in Kraków and to cover travel expenses (especially for non-European scholars). Further details will be provided later.

Panel moderators plan to follow-up after the Congress and collect contributions to publish in a journal as a special issue.

CFA: Postdoctoral Fellowship at Indiana University Bloomington

Deadline: April 10, 2020 


The Russian Studies Workshop (RSW) at Indiana University’s Russian and East European Institute (REEI) and Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies (HLS) invites applications for a one-year postdoctoral fellowship beginning August 1, 2020.  Applicants should be scholars conducting research on Russia while contributing to interdisciplinary and international debates. Special consideration will be given to scholars who have conducted extensive research and have strong Russian language skills. The fellowship is $50,000/year and includes benefits.

Requirements
The postdoctoral fellow will teach one course per year; importantly, after teaching this course, the finished syllabus and auxiliary materials (handouts, course packets, etc.) will be shared with HLS at the end of the fellowship. The fellow is expected to maintain a vigorous research program during the fellowship, and actively participate in the RSW, including leading a monthly writing group for Russian Studies PhD students. Fellows are required to be in residence in Bloomington, Indiana.

Eligibility
Applications from social science disciplines (including History) are welcome. Applicants should have active research programs on Russian politics and/or society; comparative focus is welcome. We especially invite applications from colleagues whose research foci align with the following thematic concentrations: Russian Regional Studies (including Siberian Studies), Human Rights, and/or Civil Society. Fellowships are open to scholars who have received the PhD or Kandidat degree in the relevant discipline during the last five years. The successful applicant must have PhD or Kandidat degree in hand by August 1, 2020. 

Application Process
To apply, please submit all application materials in a single PDF file to rsw@iu.edu. Letters of reference should be sent directly to the workshop at rsw@iu.edu. All application materials (including letters of reference) must be received on or before April 10, 2020. Candidates may be invited for a video interview.  Awards will be announced by May 10, 2020. All applicants are required to submit the following:

Curriculum Vitae.
Research proposal: 2-3 page statement describing the research project the applicant would pursue at Indiana University if awarded a fellowship, indicating its relation (if any) to the PhD or kandidat’s dissertation and/or the relevance of the work to Russian Regional Studies, Human Rights, and/or Civil Society.

A writing sample, such as an article or dissertation chapter.
Teaching statement: 1-2 page statement outlining the applicant’s teaching experience and teaching philosophy. Applicant should describe 2 or 3 courses (undergraduate, or joint upper-level undergraduate and graduate) they would like to teach at Indiana University. Strong applications will include sample syllabi of courses the applicant has previously taught and/or proposes to teach at Indiana University.

Letters of recommendation: 2 letters of reference that include an evaluation of the applicant’s research. At least one letter should evaluate the applicant’s teaching qualification.

CFA: Yad Vashem/USHMM Workshop: Everyday Life of Jews in the USSR during the Holocaust and its Early Aftermath

Deadline: April 20, 2020


Dates: Monday-Friday, August 30–September 3, 2020, Jerusalem

The Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem and the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) are pleased to invite applications for a research workshop entitled, "Everyday Life of Jews in the USSR during the Holocaust and its Early Aftermath." The workshop is scheduled for August 30–September 3, 2020 at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. This is the third research workshop co-organized by Yad Vashem and USHMM with a focus on the former Soviet Union.

The workshop will focus on the Holocaust and everyday Jewish life during World War II and early years after the war in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Topics might include, but are not limited to the following themes: antisemitism, evacuation and Jewish life in the Soviet rear, ghettoization, collaboration, hiding, resistance, gender, violence, Jewish children and families during the Holocaust, survival in camps and ghettos, Jews in the Red Army, trauma, art and literature.  

Participants will be expected to submit a paper (no more than 15 pages) a month prior to the beginning of the workshop for circulation among the participants. Daily sessions will include 30-minute presentations followed by a discussion (up to 30 min), as well as an opportunity for participants to do research at Yad Vashem’s library and archives.

Applications will be accepted from doctoral candidates (aspirants) and scholars who obtained their Ph.D. (or candidate of science degree) within the last five years. Applications are welcome from scholars working in all relevant academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, geography, film studies, history, Jewish studies, law, literature, material culture, philosophy, political science, religion, sociology, and other fields.

All application materials must be received by 20 April 2020. Incomplete applications will not be considered after this date. Late applications will not be accepted. The selected participants will be notified by 20 May 2020. 

Please send all application materials via email to

shlomit.shulchani@yadvashem.org.il:

1. A current Curriculum Vitae outlining the applicant’s qualifications (including previous coursework, research projects, presentations, and publications).
2. An abstract of no more than 1000 words for your proposed paper (including title and discussion of methodological and theoretical issues).
3. A letter of recommendation (for students only) addressing the applicant’s scholarly potential. To preserve the confidentiality of recommendation letters, faculty recommenders must email their signed letters (on institutional letterhead) directly to shlomit.shulchani@yadvashem.org.il.

The workshop organizers are Dr. Arkadi Zeltser, Director of the Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union at Yad Vashem (arkadi.zeltser@yadvashem.org.il) and Dr. Daniel Newman, Program Manager of the Initiative for the Study of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union, USHMM (danewman@ushmm.org).

The organizers will cover the cost of economy class flights to and from the workshop, lodging for the seminar’s duration and meals. Participants must obtain their own health insurance.

The workshop will be conducted in English.

CFP: Fifth Annual Tartu Conference on Russian and East European Studies

Deadline: January 20, 2020 

You are invited to submit proposals for panels, roundtables and papers for the Fifth Annual Tartu Conference on Russian And East European Studies on 7-9 June 2020, Tartu, Estonia under the theme “Post-Socialist (dis)Orders”. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Prof Mark Lipovetsky (Columbia University) and by Dr Ayşe Zarakol (University of Cambridge).

The collapse of socialism was greeted both in the East and in the West as a return to civilization, a resumption of the normal course of history after the communist experiment. The general expectation was that after a period of transition, former socialist countries would become market democracies, rendering obsolete the very notion of Eastern Europe. Thirty years later, it is clear that the post-socialist world has developed as a complex hierarchy of geographic and social spaces, where diverse identities and historical legacies produce specific political, economic and cultural dynamics. Conference participants are invited to reflect on these challenges as they are faced by local communities and entire nations; comparative research focusing on the region and beyond is particularly encouraged. Please find full details of the Call at the conference website.

The Tartu Conference is a venue for academic discussion of the fundamental cultural, social, economic and political trends affecting all aspects of people’s life in Russia and Eastern Europe. Inaugurated in June 2016, this forum brings together scholars from across multiple disciplines, from the region and beyond. The Programme Committee will consider proposals addressing the above and related questions as well as other issues relevant to the development of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia from any disciplinary angle. Interdisciplinary perspectives are particularly welcome.

Each paper proposal must include an abstract of no more than 250 words. Panel and roundtable proposals should list all speakers, along with abstracts and, if available, information about the chair and the discussant (alternatively, these can be assigned by the Programme Committee). Please use this link to submit your proposal by 20 January 2020.

The 2020 Tartu Conference is organized by the Centre for EU–Russia Studies (CEURUS) at the University of Tartu, in cooperation with the PONARS Eurasia research network. Please find more information the conference website www.tartuconference.ut.ee

CFA: Residence Grant 2020-2021 at the Center for Urban History (Lviv, Ukraine)

Deadline: January 15, 2020

The Center for Urban History invites researchers of various fields in the humanities from different countries to apply for the 2020-2021 Residence Grant.

We welcome applications for research that offer broad interpretations of urban history as a discipline at the intersection of various approaches of humanities and social sciences. The chronological and geographical frames of the proposed research are limited to the 19th and 20th-century history of East and Central Europe. 

We especially encourage historians, culture studies scholars, and anthropologists. 

The program includes:

• five one-month residence grants for young researchers, working on their PhD thesis or preparing them for publishing,
• five two-week residence grants for advanced researchers,
• three residencies on digital urban history in cooperation with the Lviv Interactive project, an online encyclopedia representing the history of Lviv through places and spaces
• one residency in digital urban history, jointly with the Urban Media Archive

The Center offers

• accommodation in the guest rooms of the Centre
• a place for research at the office
• shares access to its library resources, urban media arсhive, research works, scholarly contacts
• provides an opportunity to present and discuss the preliminary results of the grantee’s project at the Center’s Urban seminar or public lectures.

Applications have to include:

• Project Description (1000-2000 words)
• Curriculum vitae
• List of publications
• Letter of recommendation for non-holders of PhD or relevant degree

Please submit the application to the email grants@lvivcenter.org. For further details on the application, please click here.