Visiting Fellows 2011-12

Dr Louis Clerc

CEES Visiting Research Fellow, 7-13 November 2011

loucle@utu.fi

CEES welcomed Dr Louis Clerc from the University of Turku, Finland, as CEES Visiting Fellow from 7-13 November 2011. Dr Clerc writes:

PhD from the University of Strasbourg, France, I currently work as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and Contemporary History of the University of Turku, Finland. I am on research leave for three years (2011-2013) to complete an Academy of Finland post-doc.

My research interests are in the field of International History, and more specifically in three directions: France's relations with the Nordic and Baltic countries; Finland's contemporary foreign policy; Finland's public diplomacy and "national communication". I have already published on these three subjects in French, Finnish and English (see Louis Clerc publications).

My period as a visiting researcher in the Centre has been divided between three tasks:

  1. Most of my time has been dedicated to research. I have used the local resources, especially the collection of Baltic Archives kept in Glasgow University Library and the books of the Centre's collection. My fellowship also gave me the time to concentrate on various writing and research projects I am working on at the moment. I have engaged in scientific contacts with other visiting researchers (especially Columbia University PhD student Chiara Tessaris, who works on a subject set in the same timeframe and discipline as my own doctorate) and the staff of the Centre.
  2. I have also developed contacts around various research and publication projects. A meeting was arranged with Dr Paul Jordan in order to discuss a book project on small states' public diplomacy, and contacts with the Centre's staff may unfold into a research cooperation inside the EU's fp7 program.
  3. Finally, I have presented a seminar on my post-doc project, dealing with Finland's public diplomacy and the Finnish national movement's propaganda efforts (November 9th, 17.30).

Thanks to the kindness and expertise of the Centre's staff, my research fellowship has been an enjoyable and fruitful experience. I surely look forward to more contacts with the Centre, both as an individual researcher and on behalf of my institution.

 

Chiara Tessaris

CEES Visiting Research Fellow

I am currently a PhD candidate in the History Department at Columbia University and my dissertation focuses on how the League of Nations approached the Polish-Lithuanian territorial dispute over Vilna in the early 1920s and on Lithuanian cultural autonomy project for the protection of national minorities.   

When I learnt of the opportunity to apply for a visiting fellowship at the CEES, I was already familiar with the outstanding research conducted there on Baltic history.  The visiting fellow program struck me for being extremely well thought-through.  It provides plenty of time for visiting fellows to conduct individual research at the Glasgow University Library, which holds interesting collections of East Central European and Baltic sources, while creating various opportunities to meet with faculty and students.

My actual experience went even further beyond my expectations.  Discussing my work with scholars of the Department of Central and Eastern European Studies as well as with other doctoral students from the Department of Sociology and Political Sciences, has given me the opportunity to receive precious interdisciplinary feedback, which added to the valuable contribution of other visiting fellows I was able to meet.   The interest that all of them have shown in my work makes me look forward to further opportunities for future collaboration with outstanding faculty and colleagues.  The kind help and assistance of the administrative staff contributed to the thoughtful and warm hospitality of the CEES, which has made my stay in Glasgow an enriching academic and human experience.