International Conference organised on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of Ethnology SAS under the auspices of the European Commission Representation to the Slovak Republic.
Where: SAS Congress Centre, Smolenice Castle, Slovakia
Organizers: T. Podolinská, G. Kiliánová, M. Vrzgulová, K. Popelková (Bratislava, Slovakia), Z. Uherek (Prague, Czech Republic), G. Bárna (Szeged, Hungary), T. Smolińska (Opole, Poland), C. Royer (CEFRES, Prague, Czech Republic)
Thematic and methodological challenges in current ethnology and anthropology
Applied anthropology – How to cope with current social and societal challenges? (migrants, poverty, unemployment, the ageing of Europe, marginalised communities, intercultural communication)
Ritual as a social practice in present-day society (private and public celebrating as a form of establishing personal or group/nation/state identity
Communication and memory: inter-generational transfer (focus on shifting sets of values and behaviours – generation-based focus)
Rumours and their functions in relationships between groups
Cultural heritage
Young Scientist Forum (PhD students´ poster presentation)
V4-Networking Panel (presentation of the recent research of all partners and creating a new platform for further cooperation and networking)
A lecture by Zdenko Maršálek (ÚSD, AV ČR) in the frame of the seminar on Modern Jewish History of the Institute of Contemporary History (AV ČR) and CEFRES in partnership with the Jewish Museum
Foreign units of the Czechoslovak Army operating in the Second World War were made of Czech and Slovak soldiers as well as citizens of every nationality existing in the Czechoslovakian republic in the interwar period. Jewish volunteers became an important part of the exiled troops. Even though the number of Jewish soldiers in these units was very high, their importance became marginal for various reasons. This contribution, based on a quantitative analysis of the phenomenon, will focus on the problems brought by the coexistence of soldiers with different nationalities, confessions and origins.
A lecture by Gábor Egry (Institute of History – Hungarian Academy of Sciences)
Discussant: Rudolf Kučera (Masaryk Institute – AV ČR)
Where: Na Florenci 3, building C, 3rd floor, conference room.
Volunatry firefighters from Ciacova. Source: romaniainterbelica.memoria.ro
The end of WWI in East Central Europe brought about similar developments: the collapse of empires and the emergence of nation states. But behind the façade of seemingly uniform transformations and the general tendency of nationalizing in the new states, local societies and micro regions were sometimes less constrained in exerting influence upon the specific conditions of transition than it is presumed according to the overarching narrative of imperial collapse and nation-state building. The imperial past did not vanish without a trace, furthermore, the new entities often operated as mini-empires reviving or retaining people, methods and structures of imperial management of power and population.
Comparing case studies of local transition offers an insight into the local contexts, how different local social constellations, imperial prehistories, helped local groups to negotiate their positon in the new states. While certain practices, habits, institutions were retained and often used to co-opt the new elites into the circles of the old, peculiar imperial figures managed to move swiftly between successor states and broader social changes altered the general balance and conferred agency to hitherto disadvantaged groups. In my lecture I will outline the most important factors behind different paths of transitions and how individuals situated themselves in the new world of nation states.
A lecture by Professor Yaacov Ro’i (Tel Aviv University)
Where: CEFRES library Language: English
Professor Yaacov Ro’i from the Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies at the Tel Aviv University is a leading expert on history of Jews in the Soviet Union. Among his recent publications are however also books on Islam in the postwar Soviet Union.
The lecture will be followed by a workshop during which Dr. Kamil Kijek, Dr. Kateřina Čapková and Dr. Stephan Stach will present their projects on postwar history of Jews in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Basis of the workshop will be a discussion of their texts under the leadership of Prof. Ro’i.
To take part in the workshop following the lecture of Prof. Ro’i, please write to capkova@usd.cas.cz.
The event is co-organized by the Institute for Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences and by CEFRES.
