Archive 2020

The ZOiS Caucasus Network, founded in autumn 2019, met for an online event on 10 December. The aim of the network is the networking and exchange of institutions and individuals working and researching on the regional focus Caucasus.

We are looking for PhD and MA students who would like to present their current research on Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union as part of the ZOiS Conference virtual Poster Session. The call is open to all disciplines until 15 December 2020.

Our first fully virtual academic conference with 10 Panels and digitial coffee breaks. An encounter of social sciences and cultural studies to explore what young people make of history and how it is represented from them.

From October 2020, ZOiS will participate as an Associate Partner in the strategic partnership GloCalEast, which is funded by Erasmus +. The three-year consortium, headquartered in Bratislava, aims to network between science, civil society and governments in Eastern and Central Europe.

According to official preliminary results, Belarusian president Aliaksandr Lukashenka has been reelected for another turn on 9 August. In the aftermath of the election, massive protests are taking place in the country. In the light of these current events, ZOiS has put together a dossier on politics and society in Belarus.

Drawing on qualitative interviews with representatives of state organisations, experts, and religious leaders, the report examines how the Azerbaijani state’s stance on religion has changed, what the main factors of this transformation are and how the state is responding to growing religious plurality.

In addition to a detailed overview of the vision, objectives, research projects, events, publications, and further activities of ZOiS, the Annual Report 2019 takes a look at “The Arts and Research” as well as “Interdisciplinarity”. Moreover, ZOiS researchers explain what makes their projects relevant to society.

The ZOiS Caucasus Network, founded in autumn 2019, met on June 24 for an inter institutional online event of ZOiS and the Bertelsmann Foundation. The aim of the network is to network and exchange institutions and experts who work and research with the regional focus of the Caucasus.

This year, ZOiS is a partner of Viadrinicum summer school, which focuses on the countries of the Eastern Partnership and in a broader sense of Central and Eastern Europe. The focus of this issue is on (post-)migration. ZOiS Senior Researcher Tsypylma Darieva will participate as a lecturer.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has not just restricted field research, conferences or time-consuming writing projects. By deeply affecting Eastern Europe societies, it also has an impact on the research topics themselves. ZOiS researchers explain how Covid-19 has changed their work.

On the occasion of Victory Day on 9 May, ZOiS put together a selection of publications and research results addressing the topic. The celebrations that have to be postponed because of the Covid-19-pandemic this year are an important part of the official culture of remembrance particularly in Russia.

Gender research is one of the important, newer fields of historical research. In contrast, topics on family and women‘s history have not yet been sufficiently analysed for Eastern Europe. The junior researchers‘ conference in Vilnius would like to take up this subject area and discuss it with young researchers. Any proposal relevant to the topic is highly welcome.

Over recent decades, there has been a rise in the number of grassroots initiatives in urban spaces across Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Tsypylma Darieva und Carola S. Neugebauer have edited a new volume on urban activism and change „from below“ in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, which is now released by DOM publishers.

The workshop wishes to bring together scholars working on the production of historical narratives and those working on the reception of these narratives among young people. Perspectives can be historical or focused on the present. We strongly encourage submissions that address different parts of Europe.

What conditions will shape the run-up to the 2024 presidential election in Russia? What type of leader is likely to emerge—if, indeed, a leadership change takes place? These are the questions at the heart of the scenarios presented by FES ROCPE and ZOiS and discussed first at the Munich Security Conference 2020.

As part of the BASEES Regional Conference and EEGA Results Conference 2020, the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) is organising a PechaKucha Night for young researchers on 15 September in Berlin. In addition, researchers from Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia can apply for travel grants covering their accommodation and travel expenses for the whole BASEES/EEGA regional conference.