Research in Central & East European Studies

CEES Seminars & Events 2009-10

West Coast Seminars

Next Seminar : 

WEDNESDAY 19 MAY 2010, 5.30pm    RESCHEDULED FROM 03 MARCH
Dr Rutger von Seth
Honorary Fellow, Department of Politics, University of Glasgow
'From the Soviet to the Post-Soviet Russian Press: Democracy and the Elusive Public Sphere'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

ALL WELCOME

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SEMESTER 2 PROGRAMME

WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY, 5.30pm
Dr Julia Lajus
Marie Curie Research Fellow, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University of Birmingham
and
Center for Environmental and Technological History, European University at St Petersburg
'Soviet participation in the Second International Polar Year (1932-33):
from international cooperation of scientists to a state project
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY 2010, 5.30pm
Professor David Moon
Department of History, University of Birmingham
'Debates on climate change in 19th Century Russia'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

WEDNESDAY 03 MARCH 2010, 5.30pm    PLEASE NOTE THIS SEMINAR HAS BEEN RE-SCHEDULED FOR 19 MAY

Honorary Fellow, Department of Politics, University of Glasgow
'From the Soviet to the Post-Soviet Russian Press: Democracy and the Elusive Public Sphere'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

WEDNESDAY 10 MARCH 2010, 5.30pm
Toshtemir Majidov
Research Fellow, University of Stirling
'The Effect of the Global Financial Crisis on the Central Asian Countries:
the Case of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan'
 University of West of Scotland, Paisley Campus, Room P114

WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH 2010, 5.30pm
Dr Derek Averre
Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham
‘A reluctant troika? US, EU and Russian perceptions of European security governance’
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL 2010, 5.30pm
Dr Nataliya Kibita
Honorary Research Fellow, Central and East European Studies, University of Glasgow
'The sovnarkhoz reform'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

WEDNESDAY 05 MAY 2010, 5.30pm
Eleftherios Antonopoulos
PhD student, UACES scholar, European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde
‘Pre-accession assistance as a mechanism of europeanisation: the effects of CARDS/IPA on administrative capacity in Croatia’
EPRC, Strathclyde University, Room 951, Graham Hills Building, 40 George Street

WEDNESDAY 19 MAY 2010, 5.30pm    RESCHEDULED FROM 03 MARCH
Dr Rutger von Seth
Honorary Fellow, Department of Politics, University of Glasgow
'From the Soviet to the Post-Soviet Russian Press: Democracy and the Elusive Public Sphere'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

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SEMESTER 1 PROGRAMME

Wednesday 07 October 2009, 5.30 pm
In collaboration with the Terry Wade Memorial Lecture Series
Inaugural Lecture
Dr John Dunn (Honorary Research Associate, Slavonic Studies, University of Glasgow)
'How many Slavonic languages are there?'
University of Glasgow, Room T316, Adam Smith Building

Wednesday 21 October 2009, 5.30pm
Dr Charlotte Alston, Division of History and Politics, School of Arts and Social Scieinces, Northumbria University
'The Baltic States and the Paris Peace Conference of 1919'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

Monday 09 November 2009, 5.30pm
In collaboration with the Uralic Peoples Film Festival
Professor Dr János Pusztay, University of West Hungary
'The Finno-Ugruis and Uralic National Minorities in Russia'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

Wednesday 18 November, 5.30 pm
Dr Monica Ciobanu (CEES Visiting Research Fellow)
Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Plattsburgh State University of New York
http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/centralandeasteuropeanstudies/visiting%20fellowships/#d.en.134963
'Communist Regimes, Legitimacy and the 1989 Revolutions in Eastern Europe'
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

Wednesday 2 December, 5.30 pm
Dr Tony Heywood
 (Department of History, University of Aberdeen)
‘Russia’s Great War and Revolution 1914-1922: The Centennial Reappraisal’
University of Glasgow, CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

Doctoral Work in Progress Workshops

SEMESTER 2

Thursday 27 May 15.00 - 16.30
CEES Seminar Room, 8 Lilybank Gardens
Holly Porteous
Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Gender in Contemporary Russian Women’s Magazines

This Work in Progress paper will discuss how feminist and media theories can be used to study gender discourses, particularly those regarding femininity and feminine behaviour, within the genre of popular women’s lifestyle magazines in Russia.

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Wednesday 12 May 15.00 - 16.30
CEES Seminar Room, 8 Lilybank Gardens
Brendan McGeever
'Lenin and the 'Jewish Question' 1903-1914: the theoretical contours of a debate'

This Work in Progress Paper will look at Lenin's writings on the 'Jewish Question', and in particular his critiques of the Bund. It will try to identify some of the theoretical and philosophical aspects of Lenin's position.  

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Wednesday 05 May 15.00 - 16.30
CEES Seminar Room, 8 Lilybank Gardens
Mary Bailes
'Vasilii Vasil'evich Dokuchaev and the environmental science community in late imperial St Petersburg'.
Considering the merits of a 'geographical' approach to the history of science in tsarist Russia.

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Wednesday 24th March 15.00 - 16.30
CEES Seminar Room, 8 Lilybank Gardens
Eleanor Bindman
"European Promotion of Human Rights in Russia: A Theoretical Framework"

focusing on various theories of human rights and European external policy including 'normative power Europe'
and
Ammon Cheskin
"Discourse theory and national identity"
discussing how theories of discourse can be applied to studies of national identity, with particular attention to the formation of Russian-speakers' identity in Latvia.

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SEMESTER 1

Wednesday 7th October 15.00 - 16.00
No 2 University Gardens, Room 209
Brendan McGeever and Michael Comerford will outline findings and raise related methodological issues from project work carried out during the CRCEES Summer School in Tartu:
"The Bottle Collectors of Pirogov Park, Tartu, Estonia- an attitudinal study"

This short paper will present a group research design which was competed over three days at the CRCEES Summer School this year in Tartu. The project aims to undertake an ethnographic and sociological  exploration of the phenomenon of 'bottle collecting'- a process in which socially and economically excluded men and women collect empty bottles in Pirogov park, in order to 'cash' them in at a local depository.

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Wednesday 14th October  1500-1600
No. 2 University Gardens, Room 209
Marina Germane
Updating on current research

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Wednesday 28th October  1500-1600
No. 2 University Gardens, Room 209
Eleanor Bindman & Liam Coutts
'Research ethics in theory and practice'

Looking at how institutional ethics standards are formulated and how they apply in the Russian/Eastern European field.

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Wednesday 4th November 1500-1700
No. 2 University Gardens, Room 209
Monica Ciobanu (CEES, Visiting Fellow)
Master Class
'Memory, Truth and Justice in Post-Communist Romania'

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Thursday 5th November 1400-1500
Lab B (room 912=T312), Adam Smith Building
Mahara session (aimed at PDPs) with Dr Dickon Copsey
OPEN TO BOTH Postgraduates and Staff. This session is important as it will facilitate development of Personal Development Plans.

Between Segregation and Social Integration: Recent Immigrants and Foreign Workers in the USA and in the UK

  28 June 2010
University of Glasgow
The Wolfson Medical School, Seminar Room 1 (Yudowitz)

This one-day workshop is organised as part of a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship held by Dr Judit Molnar in the Department of Central and East European Studies, and will feature speakers from Glasgow, Washington, Hungary, and Finland.

Judit Molnar, University of Glasgow and University of Washington, Seattle
Alexandra Cseke, University of Miskolc
“Immigration and immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Washington State and integration trajectories of the Russian speaking immigrants”

Rebecca Kay, University of Glasgow
“Experiences of Social Security and Prospects for Long Term Settlement in Scotland amongst Migrant Populations from Central Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union”

Taulant Guma, University of Glasgow
“Approaching social security, welfare and risks amongst East European migrants living in Glasgow from different perspectives: Reflections on two small empirical studies”

Matt Sparke, University of Washington, Seattle
“Mapping the future of global health”

Katharyne Mitchell, University of Washington, Seattle
“Transnational Spaces and the Perpetuation of Neoliberal Urban Governance”

Sandor Illes, Hungarian Central Statistical Office Demographic Research Institute, Budapest
“Circulation and International Circular Migrants in Hungary”

For full details of speakers please see the conference programme: Between Segregation and Social Integration programme

If you would like to participate please complete and return the following registration form stating name, affiliation, contact details and any dietary requirements to Mrs Maggie Baister by 18 June 2010:
m.baister@lbss.gla.ac.uk
Department of Central and East European Studies, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8RZ

Between Segregation and Social Integration REGISTRATION

Project website

Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowships for Career development
Call identifier: FP7 . PEOPLE . 2007.4-1-IOF
Proposal N° 219671 - SEGREG-INTEGRATION

UK Baltic Study Group Annual Meeting 2010

Monday 17 May 2010
The Wolfson Medical School, Seminar Room 3 (The Gannochy)

The Department will host the 2010 Annual meeting of the UK Baltic Study Group on 17 May.

The morning meeting, for UKBSG members, will focus on recent developments in Baltic Studies.

All are welcome to attend the afternoon session of presentations and discussions :

• Mark R. Hatlie, Eberhard Karl Universität, Tübingen:
'Riga at War, 1914-1919'

• Ian Thomson, University College London:
'Tallinn during World War Two'

• Matthew Kott, Hugo Valentin Institute, Uppsala University
'What Can We Gain from a Comparative History of the Romani People in the Baltic Sea Region?'

To attend (by 10 May 2010) or for further information,
please contact David Smith - d.j.smith@lbss.gla.ac.uk
To join UKBSG, go to http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~pol206/member1.php

UK Baltic Studies Group website

Visiting Research and Guest Seminars

GUEST LECTURE

Professor Dr Peter Haslinger

 Director, Herder-Institute, Marburg
Professor of East Central European History, Justus-Liebig University Giessen

 Prof Dr Haslinger will present the results of his latest book

"Imagined territories: nation and space in Czech political discourse, 1880-1938"

THURSDAY 13 MAY
6.00 pm
CEES Seminar Room

Tea/Coffee from 5.30

ALL WELCOME

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Visiting Erasmus Lectureship

Dr Sándor Gallai, a colleague from our partner Corvinus University of Budapest, will be in Glasgow next week from 03 - 06 May as part of an Erasmus programme.  You are warmly invited to his guest seminar:

"Revolution in the polling booths?!" - Elections in Hungary, 2010

TUESDAY 04 MAY
3.00 pm
CEES Seminar Room, 8-9 Lilybank Gardens

Dr Gallai is Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Corvinus of Budapest.

ALL WELCOME

ESRC Festival of Social Science Schools Event: 'Migration, identity and integration: new and old communities in Glasgow'

19 March, 2010
Seminar Room 3 (The Gannochy), Wolfson Medical School Building, University Avenue

Professor David Smith, Head of Department, will open and welcome all to this ESRC funded event hosted by the Centre for Russian, Central and East European Studies (CRCEES).

This event brings together secondary schoolchildren from Central and East European (CEE) migrant communities and local Scottish children from schools across Glasgow to discuss their experiences. We also aim to ascertain if there are specific gendered aspects to the experience of migrant communities.

We hope that the CEE and Scottish schoolchildren will benefit from exploring their commonalities/differences and in doing so hope to foster a greater understanding between these communities. We also hope that the schoolchildren will benefit from being in a University environment and being introduced to social sciences / area studies research and be encouraged to think seriously about applying to University to study these subjects.

The event should help to break down barriers across the various CEE migrant communities and also between these and the Scottish schoolchildren and will explore the gendered aspects of migrant schoolchildren’s experiences.

Baltic Film Festival 8-13 March 2010

The Department is pleased to support the Baltic Film Festival to be screened at Gilmorehill G12 from 8-13 March 2010, in collaboration with the Lithuanian Embassy.

For details of the films and screening times please see the G12 website.  Baltic Film Festival

Baltic Film Festival Programme (pdf)

The Mekas' film "Lithuania and Collapse of the USSR" will be introduced by Louis Benassi, curator, artist and filmmaker. Louis Benassi has curated and programmed experimental film for numerous international film festivals, including Jonas Mekas’ retrospective at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2002. In 2001 he began Spool-Pool, a transient forum for film and the spoken word. www.spoolpool.com. 

This event will be followed by a Question and Answer session.   Professor David Smith from the Department will be on the panel.

 

Uralic Peoples Film Festival

09  - 13 November 2009
Gilmorehill G12

Ancient shamanistic rituals, living according to the laws of nature and the indigenous peoples' traditional lifestyle in the globalising world.

Admission free with ticket from Box Office

The films will be combined with lectures about the Uralic Peoples in the Department.

Uralic Peoples Film Festival Programme
Uralic Peoples Fim Festival and Lecture Programme Summary

Professor Professor Dr János Pusztay (University of West Hungary)
The Finno-Ugric and Uralic National Minorities in Russia
Monday 09 November at 5.30
Coffee from 5.00
Seminar room, 8 Lilybank Gardens

Dr Eva Toulouze (INALCO, Paris)
The history of the Finno-Ugric peoples in Russia -  Imperial times, period of Sovietisation and the present situation
Tuesday 10 November at 5.00
Seminar room, 8 Lilybank Gardens

The traditional ways of living and survival. Adaptational models of the intellectuals among indigenous peoples in Russia
Thursday 12 November at 5.00
Seminar room, 8 Lilybank Gardens

or please see the G12 website :
http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/gilmorehillg12/whatson/

or for further information please contact Lea Kreinin (l.kreinin@lbss.gla.ac.uk)

Brest Fortress Photographic Exhibition

BREST FORTRESS - THE FORTRESS THAT FENDED OFF HITLER -COMES TO SCOTLAND

With the approach of Remembrance Sunday, and recalling Britain’s wartime alliance with the Soviet Union, the Interfaith Chaplaincy, Chapel Corridor (South), West Quadrangle, Main Building, Gilmore Hill Campus, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ will play host to a temporary exhibition of photographs of  Brest Fortress in Belarus from 2 to 9 November 2009.
 
Today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the fortress, originally built as a defensive measure after Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, was the site of the first battle on the Eastern Front in World War II.  When Hitler  invaded the Soviet Union on June 22 1941 the fortress held out for over a month when the Germans had expected to secure it within a matter of hours.  In recognition of its heroic defence, after the war the Fortress was given the title of ‘Hero Fortress’ thus ranking it alongside the likes of Stalingrad and Leningrad in the epic battles on the Eastern Front in World War II.

Today it is a Memorial Complex to the Fallen.  The defence of Brest Fortress holds a place in the hearts of all the people of the former Soviet Union not dissimilar to our own about Dunkirk.  Its defence may have ended in defeat, but it showed the spirit and tenacity which would prove indomitable and lead to ultimate victory.

The Exhibition links in to Britain’s role as an ally of the Soviet Union, including the Arctic Convoys and concludes with some photographs of the link up between the British and Soviet Armies at Wismar in East Germany on 3 May 1945 when the 6th Airborne Division with Armoured Units  from the Royal Scots Greys linked arms with the 2nd Bylorussian Front in Operation Enterprise.

As the Russians would say Иди и смотри – Eedee ee Smotry ‘Come See !
ADMISSION FREE
See websites www.brestfortressinuk.co.uk  and www.gla.ac.uk/chaplaincy
Tel. +44 (0)141 330 5419
  

Latvian Music Past and Present

Latvian Music Past and Present
with a recital of folk songs accompanied
by the traditional instrument - the kokles
Uģis Prauliņš

Wednesday, 28 October at 5.30
Coffee from 5.00
CEES Seminar room, 8 Lilybank Gardens

Uģis Prauliņš is a composer with a background of different musical influences. In the 1970s and 1980s he played in rock bands before turning his attention to composing and arranging. He now works as a film composer, while still retaining an interest in his own concert and liturgical music. In 1999 he achieved enormous success with his album Odi et amo, which won the best album award of the 1999 Grand Prix, Latvia, gaining international recognition. In the same year, his Pagan Yearbook won the Latvian Best Folk Album award. He was the chairman of the Latvian Composers’ Union from 2004 until early 2009 and is still the chairman of the Council of Creative Unions in Latvia.

Jazz-Rock from Estonia

Trio Sooäär - Vaigla - Ruben

25 October 3 pm
St Andrew’s in the Square
1 St Andrew’s Square, G1 5PP Glasgow

Jaak Sooäär - electric guitar
Raul Vaigla - bass guitar
Tanel Ruben - drums

Estonian jazz trio Sooäär-Vaigla-Ruben have played together for almost 10 years. In 2007 they released their first CD "no99 jazzklubis” which was very well received by both critics and audiences. In spring 2009 the trio released their second album "Tuljak" which contains jazz arrangements of choral songs by the first Estonian female composer Miina Härma (1864-1941).

The trio has performed in most parts of Estonia and also abroad: in Baku, Azerbaijan and St.Petersburg, Russia.

Jaak Sooäär is one of the most active jazz musicians of the Baltic region. He plays with different internationally renowned jazz groups and has also worked with Ray Anderson, Conny Bauer, Han Bennink, Will Calhoun, Anders Jormin, Joe Lovano and others.

Raul Vaigla has played for many years with jazzrock groups Radar and V.S.P. Project and has released his solo CD in Finland. He is also the establishing member of Estonian cult rock band Ultima Thule.

Tanel Ruben is one of the most sought after drummers in Estonia.  He has performed together with many internationally renowned musicians and has released three CDs.

Opening of Estonian Library

Saturday 24 October
3.00 in the seminar room

Earlier this year the Estonian Ambassador to the UK Margus Laidre handed over Estonian books to the University of Glasgow. The books, Estonian translations of British authors, will primarily be used for teaching Estonian in Scotland and will be available for borrowing by Estonian language students, local Estonians and Estonian students in Scotland.  The Library will be housed in the CEES departmental seminar room.

Estonian books presentation

The  will be followed by a screening of the Estonian film 'Taarka'

Taarka – a despised woman and a worshipped singer.

The first film in the Seto language in the world (Setu - a dialect of South Estonian found on the border with Russia) is about the brightest hero of a small people, the folk singer Hilana Taarka, a woman who lived her whole life as an outcast in a small chimneyless hut; as an unmarried mother of children in poverty, begging her bread, doing odd jobs and singing. As she always sang the truth, she was feared, despised and coveted. Taarka sang throughout her remarkable life, from a small Seto village to international fame. And she sang really well. She became the Mother of the Song, a legend. But as a woman, as a member of the community, the Seto people never really accepted her.

 

CRCEES Summer School Estonia July 2009

Staff and several students from the Department took part in the Annual CRCEES International Summer School at the University of Tartu, Estonia from 11-25 July.
The theme of this year's event was "Perspectives on Political Transformation in CEE". 

Please read Professor David Smith report on this extremely successful event. CRCEES International Summer School 2009

To find out more about CRCEES Summer Schools please see their website

1979-1989 The Decade of Solidarity

CEES was pleased to support the GU Polish Society exhibition and event "1979-1989 The Decade of Solidarity" on 25 October 2009.  The event was attended by staff and students from the Department.

The 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in Poland and the 20 years of Polish sovereign government were celebrated in the country and in Polish communities across the world in various ways, including most recent celebrations in Kraków. Among many events, a civic initiative Razem '89 (Together '89) was collectively undertaken by numerous Polish NGOs in order to evoke civic spirit among the Poles and encourage people to actively participate in this celebration. Eventually, the wave of enthusiasm hit many, inter alias, the Polish Societies in the UK, during this year's congress in London. It was there that students decided that all active Polish Societies (currently 22) wold work together on '1979-1989. The Decade of Solidarity'.

For further information and pictures of the event please visit their website.

Postgraduate conference: Asia and Caucasus Studies in the UK

CEES PhD student Rebecca Reynolds presented a paper at the postgraduate conference "Central Asia and Caucasus Studies in the UK: Focusing on Communities, Societies and States" at the University of St Andrews on 6-7 November 2009.  The conferencewas organised by the Institute for Middle East, Central Asian and Caucasus Studies and supported by CRCEES.

Rebecca's paper was entitled  Homebuilding, homemaking and consumption of domestic space in rural Kyrgyzstan.
Abstract:  R Reynolds paper St Andrews Nov09.

4 students from the MSc and International Masters programmes also attended the event.

Conference website

 

 

Professor Terry Cox, New Publication

Challenging Communism in Eastern Europe
1956 and its Legacy

Edited by Terry Cox

Marking the 50th anniversary of events in 1956, that were a major turning point in the history of communist-ruled Eastern Europe, this book contains a selection of some of the most recent research on those momentous events and their memory and legacy.  The book contains edited contributions from historians and social scientists from Hungary, Poland, the UK and the USA.  Their contributions are the fruit of research which has only been possible since 1989.  In the years since the fall of the communist regimes the state archives have been opened to researchers and it has been possible to collect the testimony of eye-witnesses without fear of repression and censorship. The outcome of 1956 led to Poland embarking on its own distinctive version of communist rule.  Meanwhile 1956 in Hungary saw the first society-wide attempt to overthrow a ruling communist regime – only to be put down by Soviet military intervention.  In both countries the events of 1956 had lasting repercussions for society and its relationship with the communist regime.  In retrospect they can be seen as paving the way for the eventual fall of the communist regimes in East Central Europe in 1989.

ISBN: 9780415495677
ISBN-10: 0415495679
Publication Date: 20/02/2009

Part of the Routledge Europe-Asia Studies Series, edited by Terry Cox.
The Routledge Europe-Asia Studies Series focuses on the history and current political and economic affairs of the countries of the form ‘communist bloc’ of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Asia.  As well as providing contemporary analyses it explores the economic, political and social transformation of these countries and the changing character of their relationships with the rest of Europe and Asia.

Professor Geoff Swain New Publication

Between Stalin and Hitler
Class War and Race War on the Dvina, 1940-46

By Geoffrey Swain

Covering the horrors that took place in Latvia from the beginning of the Second World War until 1947, this book focuses on the heart of the 20th century: Stalinist industrialization, collectivization and political annihilation; Nazi expansionism and genocide; with local nationalism, local nationalist rivalries, and local anti-Semitism. The author traces the developments in one particular region of Latvia, Daugavpils. There, the dilemma of Hitler or Stalin, the ideological struggle of fascism or communism was more acute than anywhere else in Europe since the population was actively involved in establishing both.


• ISBN: 978-0-415-54604-1
• Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
• Publication Date: 14/08/2009

CEES PhD student contributes chapter to new publication

CEES PhD student Ada-Charlotte Regelmann has contributed a chapter to the recently published book  “Minority Integration in Central Eastern Europe. Between Ethnic Diversity and Equality.” Edited by Timofey Agarin and Malte Brosig Amsterdam/New York, NY, 2009.
http://www.rodopi.nl/functions/search.asp?BookId=BALTIC+18 .

Ada’s chapter is entitled ‘Political Community, Political Institutions and Minority Politics in Slovakia 1998-2006’.
 
The book presents a timely examination on a range of issues present in the discussions on the integration of ethnic minorities in Central Eastern Europe: norm setting, equality promotion, multiculturalism, nation-building, social cohesion, and ethnic diversity. It insightfully illustrates these debates by assessing them diachronically rather than cross-nationally from the legal, political and anthropological perspective. The contributors unpack concepts related to minority integration, discuss progress in policy-implementation and scrutinize the outcomes of minority integration in seven countries from the region. The volume is divided into three sections taking a multi-variant perspective on minority integration and equality. The volume starts with an analysis of international organizations setting standards and promoting minority rights norms on ethnic diversity and equal treatment. The second and third sections address state policies that provide fora for minority groups to participate in policy-making as well as the role of society and its various actors their development and enactment of integration concepts. The volume aims to assess the future of ethnic diversity and equality in societies across Central Eastern European states.

New Publication

1948 and 1968 – Dramatic Milestones in Czech and Slovak History

Edited by Laura Cashman (former CEES PhD student, postdoctoral fellow and honorary research fellow)

This volume has been published to coincide with the anniversaries of two significant milestones in Czech and Slovak history – the establishment of communist rule in 1948 and the Prague Spring of 1968 – and in anticipation of the 20th anniversary of the 1989 ‘Velvet Revolution’.  Given the ultimate failure of the communist system, these events and their legacy for Czech and Slovak society and politics merit continued study, particularly given the wealth of new data made available when state and Party archives were finally opened in the 1990s.

The essays in this volume, by witnesses, historians and social scientists working in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the USA, Australia and Europe offer a reappraisal of those turbulent events. They present new and original research, based on information from archives which were not opened until after 19090 and which is not yet available to audiences who do not speak Czech or Slovak.  This volume will, therefore, be of interest to both specialists and general readers who are curious to learn more about these events.

ISBN: 9780415499903
ISBN-10: 0415499909
Publication Date: 21/09/2009

Part of the Routledge Europe-Asia Studies Series, edited by Terry Cox.
The Routledge Europe-Asia Series focuses on the history and current political and economic affairs of the countries of the form ‘communist bloc’ of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Asia.  As well as providing contemporary analyses it explores the economic, political and social transformation of these countries and the changing character of their relationships with the rest of Europe and Asia.

Research student awarded ESRC / Scottish Government internship

PhD research student has been accepted to the ESRC and Scottish Government 2010 Student Internship Scheme from  December 2009 - March 2010.

The internship is sponsored by the Scottish Government Directorate General for Economy, Business Management and Support and is based in the Culture, External Affairs & Tourism (CEAT) Analytical Unit which focuses on areas such as migration, the Scottish diaspora, international development, public and cultural diplomacy, cultural participation, broadcasting, crosscutting areas of culture such as education, health and justice, tourism.

Research student awarded European internship

PhD research student has been awarded a scholarship by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) to carry out a traineeship at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from April to July 2010.

Annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture

Public Lecture

Professor Geoff Swain will deliver the 10th Annual Holocaust Memorial Lecture

A Spectacle at the Railwaymen's Garden: Remembering the Holocause in Latvia

Tuesday 26th January 2010
Western Infirmary Lecture THeatre

Tea/Coffee from 5.30pm
Lecture 6.15 pm

Visiting Research Fellow, Mr Keiji Sato

Mr Keiji Sato is a research fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), based at the Slavic Reseach Center in Sapporo, Japan.  The Department  is pleased to host Mr Sato, who is in the UK from 1 February 2010 to 31 January 2011 on a JSPS-funded fellowship to pursue his current research on ethnic mobilization in the Baltic States, Moldova and Ukraine at the end of Soviet period. During his stay in Glasgow he will work closely with Professor David Smith, Head of Department, who is his designated mentor under JSPS fellowship.

All in the Department are pleased to welcome Mr Sato to Glasgow.

AHRC Case Study: Historical analysis contributes to policy debates on minority rights in Europe

A new AHRC report on the value and impact of arts and humanities research will feature Professor David Smith’s project "Ending Nationalism? The Quest for Cultural Autonomy in Inter-War Europe" in a chapter entitled “Measuring our standing: benchmarking and sharing good practice” as a case study for a section of the report covering worldwide impact.

The report will be aimed at government and other stakeholders, and will set out the importance of the arts and humanities to UK society and to the economy.

Please read the chapter:   AHRC report on the value and impact of arts and humanities research

Dalglish Visiting Fellow 2010

The Department is pleased to welcome Mr Dmitry Omelchenko from Region Research Centre, Ul'yanovsk State University as Dalglish Visiting Fellow 2010 from 20 May to 13 June.

Dmitry is a qualified ad maker and copywriter and has recently started a PhD degree in sociology and gender studies.  His research will link his longstanding interest in cinema with this area of study focussing on "Representation of masculinity in western and modern Russian movies:  the influence of globalization on images of men in different cultures" as the topic of his thesis.  He will continue and hopes to complete the first part of this theoretical research while in Glasgow. 
 
For the most part, his area of interest is in Hollywood movies. The world receives images of what is right and what is wrong via American cinema.  How hard is it to resist those images - and, indeed, is this even important?  Dmitry's research will explore this kind of question.

Dmitry will give a seminar on his research this Wednesday 02 June at 3.00. 

New partners on International Masters programme

Professor David Smith and Dr Clare McManus recently travelled to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, where they successfully negotiated cooperation agreements with two new international partner institutions - the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) and the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP). Both agreements had prior approval from the Senate Office and the International Office. They offer CEES students at Glasgow the opportunity to study at these institutions as part of the International Masters in Russian, Central and East European Studies, and also provide a foundation for future collaboration in research and PhD training and exchange. Both institutions also expressed an interest in sending their own PGT students to Glasgow in future, as part of a reciprocal arrangement
 
The agreement with ADA is an MoU and finance agreement, allowing Glasgow students to go to Baku for one or two semesters on an exchange basis.  The agreement with KIMEP is a fuller MoA providing for the award of a double degree by the two institutions.

Signing of the agreement has been reported in the Azerbaijan press (in Russian), where ADA's Rector makes reference to the importance of cooperating with a department in one of the world's top 100 universities.http://www.day.az/news/society/212338.html. 

English translation:   Society: Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy to Exchange Staff with British University
 
"On Wednesday (02 June 2010) the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Glasgow (UK), which provides for exchange of students and staff, joint research and the organisation of symposia.

ADA Rector Hafiz Pashaev hailed as highly significant an agreement with a University that belongs to the world’s top 100 Institutions of Higher Education. “The University of Glasgow, which recruits thousands of students annually from different countries across the world, plans to send students to Azerbaijan, where they will take courses in international relations, diplomacy and social sciences”, said H. Pashaev.

Most significant for the University of Glasgow is ADA’s programme on the Caspian Basin and Caucasus. It intends to send students to Azerbaijan from next year. “As well as receiving first-class tuition, overseas students will also be able to familiarise themselves with local realities”, said the Rector.

David Smith, Head of the Department of Central and East European Studies at the University of Glasgow said that the agreement was the first of its kind to be signed with the countries of the Caucasus. “I am sure that our students from across Europe and North America will be very interested in receiving instruction at ADA about the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Caspian Sea Region”, said Smith

Over the last two months, the Diplomatic Academy has signed agreements with two institutions in Turkey (the University of Bilkent and the Middle Eastern Technical University), the Oman Institute of Diplomacy, and also with the Egyptian Institute for Diplomatic Research."

More details will be available shortly but for further information at this stage please contact Dr Clare McManus (c.mcmanus@lbss.gla.ac.uk) .

07.06.2010