Monday, October 19, 2009
Twenty years ago, East Germany opened its borders. The Berlin Wall fell, David Hasselhoff sang, and Central Europe transformed.
This weekend, the Center for Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (CREES) played host to a conference called “Central Europe 1989: Lessons and Legacies” to discuss those political and social transformations. Experts from universities across North America and Europe covered topics from economic development to gender issues in Central Europe in the past 20 years. Central Europe includes former East Germany, Poland, Hungary, former Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Slovenia.
According to Edith Clowes, director of CREES, the purpose of the conference was to explore changes across the entire region.
“What we are trying to do is look at the region as a whole,” Clowes said. “The problems they share, the advantages they share, and how they can talk among themselves as a region to move forward.”
Jan Kubik, political science professor at Rutgers University, was a keynote speaker. Kubik, who is originally from Poland, discussed developments in the fields in sociology and anthropology in Central Europe. Kubik said that bringing together academics with different specializations helped participants to get a comprehensive look at the issues.
“The major strength of the conference is that it is so diverse,” Kubik said. “After 20 years there are a lot of things to analyze and to refresh our memories.”
Kubik also said she thought the conference highlighted the importance of Central European studies. Laszlo Kulcsar, associate professor of sociology at Kansas State University, agreed. He said that the conference could inspire a new generation of scholars.
“It really allows people who are fresh out of graduate school, starting their professional career, and still researching these things to keep these ideas alive,” Kulcsar said. “It’s not like it’s been 20 years and the problems are solved. It’s been 20 years and some have been solved and some new issues emerged. It’s a continuously developing field.”
One new scholar is Eva Hruska, Slavic department graduate student. Hruska said that she anticipated the line-up at the conference.
“I cannot believe what big scholars have come to our University,” Hruska said. “I’ve learned a lot about certain aspects of the region I am studying that I didn’t even know I should be looking into.”
Hruska translated the play “RUR: Rossum’s Universal Robots” by Czech playwright Karel Capek. The play is the origin of the word robot. Members of the department of theatre staged a reading of the translation at the conference. The play will also be read at CREES’ Velvet Revolution Party on Nov. 7. The party celebrates the non-violent revolution that overturned the communist government in former Czechoslovakia— another transformative event in Central Europe. Anyone can register to attend.
— Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph
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