Department of Ethnology and Anthropology, Lithuanian Institute of History, and Balkan Ethnology Department, Institute Of Ethnology And Folklore Studies With Ethnographic Museum, Bulgarian Academy Of Sciences, and International Society for Balkan and Baltic Studies is organizing an international conference “Balkan and Baltic States In United Europe: History, Religion, And Culture III” on 9–11 October 2017 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Our traditional conference ‘Balkan and Baltic States in a United Europe: History, Religion, and Culture’ will be held in Lithuania in 2017. This conference is one of the events to be held in preparation for the centenary of the independence of the Republic of Lithuania. On 16 February 1918, Lithuania became an independent state, and one of the main actors in this event was Jonas Basanavičius (1851-1927). He was a historian, folklorist, ethnologist, doctor and politician, and a real patriarch of the Lithuanian state. Also, for almost a quarter of a century he worked in Bulgaria. So, he is a historical and cultural symbol of the unity of the Baltic and Balkan states. This is one more reason to hold our third conference in Lithuania.
The conference continues the discussions which began in Sofia at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences dedicated to processes of EU integration in the regions of the Balkans and the Baltics at the conference ‘Balkan and Baltic States in United Europe: History, Religion, and Culturе’ (October 2008) and ‘Balkan and Baltic States in United Europe: History, Religion, and Culture II’ (October 2014).
Our third conference marks the tenth year of our meetings and discussions on the Balkans and the Baltic region in the United Europe. On one hand, this theme continues to be very important in the framework of the European Research Area. On the other hand, the dynamics of geo-political processes in Europe and in the world (Brexit, USA-EU-Russia relations etc.) gives a new dimension to this topic: how is history interpreted, and what are the changes in the religious landscapes in both regions? What is the situation with ethnic and religious communities? What are the new problems and topics in the Baltic and Balkan, European and World Research Area? The conference aims to attract researchers interested in presenting their investigations concerning these processes. Moreover, it hopes to provoke discussion, and encourage
scientific contact between researchers from both regions and the European Research Area as a whole, as well as with the USA, Russia, and countries from the post-Soviet area, and thus enlarge their theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches.
The conference is targeted at scholars and researchers from all disciplines and backgrounds who are interested in presenting papers related to the topic of the conference. Recent PhDs and other young researchers are also encouraged to participate.
The themes of the presentations may vary, without being limited to:
- History and ‘national narratives’;
- Local, regional and global religious space (traditional, modern and postmodern religious movements and forms)
- Migration and mobility. Migrants and refugees: new European challenges
- Identity and its representations;
- Social interaction and cultural expression: everyday life, festivities and ritual forms;
- Culture in all its aspects: traditional, contemporary, cultural heritage, sub-cultures etc.;
- The scientific, political and social activity of Jonas Basanavičius;
Languages: English and Russian.
Organising Committee: Dr Ekaterina Anastasova and Dr Žilvytis Šaknys (heads), Dr Svetoslava Toncheva and Audronė Daraškevičienė (secretaries), Dr Marianka Borisova, Dr Mila Maeva, Dr Rasa Paukštytė-Šaknienė,Dr Rasa Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė and Dr Irma Šidiškienė
For more information, programme and paper abstracts click here.