ACLS Announces 14 Scholars to Participate in Inaugural Summer Institute for Scholars of East Central and Southeastern Europe
The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), in partnership with the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS), is pleased to announce 14 awardees of the inaugural Summer Institute for Scholars of East Central and Southeastern Europe (SISECSE). These talented scholars from Eastern Europe and North America will convene for a two-week residency on June 1-15, 2023, at the American University in Bulgaria in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. In addition to undertaking local fieldwork at regional archives, museum collections, communities, and historic sites, participating scholars will join collaborative writing workshops and engage in a series of interdisciplinary discussions on “Scholarly Writing in the Digital Age.”
The 2023 participants represent a diverse range of institutions across the United States and Eastern Europe, including Kennesaw State University, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, University of Miami, and University of Sarajevo. Their research topics include how Eastern European philosophers address the concept of truth in the age of postmodern propaganda; the impact of forced migration on gender identities and roles of Ukrainian migrants in Bulgaria during the current Ukraine-Russia War; and an examination of the 1942 Novi Sad massacre and how the legacies of genocide and mass violence are reflected in the physical urban landscape.
Learn more about the 2023 awardees and their projects.
While pandemic-related travel restrictions delayed many scholarly projects, this Summer Institute provides a crucial opportunity for scholars to advance their research and collaborate with one another as they help build better understandings of the region, its contributions, challenges, and diverse communities. Joy ConnollyACLS President
“This is a critical region for understanding political, cultural, and religious transformation from antiquity to the present day,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “While pandemic-related travel restrictions delayed many scholarly projects, this Summer Institute provides a crucial opportunity for scholars to advance their research and collaborate with one another as they help build better understandings of the region, its contributions, challenges, and diverse communities.”
“Formed in 2000, the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia has established itself as a beacon of freedom of research, scholarly excellence, and intellectual creativity in Bulgaria and the broader region of Southeastern Europe,” said Centre Director Diana Mishkova. “By bringing together, in close partnership with ACLS, East European and American scholars, this new program expands on the Centre’s expertise and networks in Eastern Europe to create more encompassing global visions in the humanities and the social sciences and stimulate dialogue across disciplines, research communities, and national academic traditions.”
The Summer Institute for Scholars of East Central and Southeastern Europe is made possible by a generous donation from Carl and Betty Pforzheimer. Additional Summer Institutes are planned for 2024 and 2025. The program builds on a long history of ACLS support for humanistic scholars and scholarship in Eastern Europe including the ACLS Humanities Program in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine (1999-2010).