POLIN/YIVO Webinar Series: Visions of the Jewish Future in Eastern Europe: Education, Language, and Identity

 POLIN/YIVO Webinar Series: Visions of the Jewish Future in Eastern Europe: Education, Language, and Identity

This is a live, online course held weekly on Zoom. Students will receive a Zoom link after registering for the course here on the YIVO website. This course will be conducted in English.

How did Jewish communities in Eastern Europe imagine their future? One of the most important arenas for these debates was education. This mini-course invites participants to explore the rich and sometimes competing educational worlds available to Jews in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

We will look at a wide range of schools, from Zionist Hebrew schools and secular Yiddish schools in interwar Poland to state schools attended by Jewish children from the nineteenth century to 1939. Through these examples, the course shows how schooling shaped everyday life, cultural belonging, and ideas of Jewish identity. Who founded these schools? What values did they promote? And how did students experience them?

Special attention will be given to questions of language and gender. The course explores why Jewish boys and girls often attended different kinds of schools, and how Orthodox education, Hebrew education, and professional training opened (or limited) possibilities for Jewish women. Together, these stories reveal how education became a key tool for imagining different Jewish futures.

The mini-course is organized by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The course accompanies the new temporary exhibition at the POLIN Museum “The Power of Words. On Jewish Languages,” which explores how Jewish languages developed across centuries and regions and shaped the cultural, religious, and social identity of Jewish communities living in diaspora.

Register: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (https://polin.pl/en/event/visions-jewish-future-eastern-europe-education-language-and-identity)

Schedule

SESSION 1:

May 17, 2026 | 11:00am – 12:00pm ET

Can one reconcile Poland with the Land of Israel/Palestine? Hebrew education and Jewish visions of the future in Interwar Poland

Instructor: Kamil Kijek

SESSION 2:

May 24, 2026 | 11:00am – 12:00pm ET

Gender and Jewish Education in Modern Eastern Europe

Instructor: Aleksandra Jakubczak

SESSION 3:

May 31, 2026 | 11:00am – 12:00pm ET

For Yiddish to the barricades – TSYSHO schools in the interwar period

Instructor: Anna Szyba

SESSION 4:

June 7, 2026 | 11:00am – 12:00pm ET

Jewish children in public schools in Habsburg Galicia

Instructor: Alicja Maślak-Maciejewska

This course is organized within the Global Education Outreach program, supported by Taube Philanthropies, the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, and the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland.

Contact Email

ajakubczak@polin.pl

Hans Christian Hönes: Aby Warburg. Der Mann hinter dem Mythos. Berlin: Verlag Klaus Wagenbach 2026. ISBN 978-3-8031-3765-4

 Hans Christian Hönes: Aby Warburg. Der Mann hinter dem Mythos. Berlin: Verlag Klaus Wagenbach 2026. ISBN 978-3-8031-3765-4

In seiner akribisch recherchierten, elegant geschriebenen Biografie zeigt Hans Christian Hönes Aby Warburg mit all seinen persönlichen und intellektuellen Verstrickungen und widerstreitenden Identitäten: die Geschichte eines der einflussreichsten Kunst- und Kulturhistorikers des 20. Jahrhunderts.

Im Alter von 13 Jahren verzichtete Aby auf seine Rolle als Erbe des Warburg-Bankhauses unter der Bedingung, dass sein jüngerer Bruder ihm zeitlebens alle Bücher kauft, die er haben möchte. Wider Erwarten sollte dieser jüdische Außenseiter, feingeistig und körperlich fragil, zu widerspenstig, um die akademische Disziplin zu akzeptieren, den Grundstein für die moderne Kunstgeschichte legen.

Hönes folgt dem Lebensweg von frühen studentischen Arbeiten, die bereits Ansätze kompromissloser Originalität im Denken zeigen, über die erste Florentiner Zeit, die Reisen in Amerika, die Ehe mit der Künstlerin Mary Hertz, sein fortgesetztes Interesse an der Renaissance, den Aufenthalt im Kreuzlinger Sanatorium Binswanger bis hin zur Arbeit am Vortrag »Schlangenritual« mit Fritz Saxl und am Bilderatlas »Mnemosyne« mit Gertrud Bing.

Mit vielen Abbildungen, etwa Auszügen aus den Notizbüchern und Arbeitsentwürfen.

Hans Christian Hönes

Hans Christian Hönes, geboren 1986, hat an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in München promoviert, am Warburg Institute London geforscht und lehrt seit 2020 Kunstgeschichte an der Universität von Aberdeen. Er arbeitet zu Kunstgeschichtsschreibung und Kunsttheorie seit dem 18. Jahrhundert und hat u.a. ein Buch über Heinrich Wölfflin veröffentlicht.

online lectures: Soviet Biology in Changing Environments: Nature, Knowledge, and Life under Transformation

 Lecture Series:

Soviet Biology in Changing Environments: Nature, Knowledge, and Life under Transformation

This lecture series addresses environmental change in three interconnected senses: transformations of natural environments, shifts in academic and institutional settings, and changes in biological objects and methods themselves. It examines how Soviet biology conceptualized variation, adaptation, and biological specificity under conditions of large-scale environmental intervention. Rather than focusing on a single figure, the series highlights diverse research programs and projects – such as plant introduction, acclimatization, and landscape transformation – to reconsider Soviet biology as a science of life changing together with its milieu.

Talks will be online via Zoom. Please register here: https://rotorub.wordpress.com/roto-lecture-series/lecture-series-soviet-biology-in-changing-environments-nature-knowledge-and-life-under-transformation/.

Programme

12.05.2026 4:00 PM CET (register here)

Dmitriy Myelnikov (University of Cambridge) – Body as Environment in Soviet Medicine

19.05.2026 5:00 PM CET (register here)

Stephen Brain (Mississippi State University) – The Last Reform Before Collectivization: Biocentric Agriculture in the Soviet Union

09.06.2026 5:00 PM CET (register here)

Alexandra Noi (University of California, Santa Barbara) – Biology as Ideology: The Ideas of Human Plasticity and Soviet Carceral Practices

16.06.2026 4:00 PM CET (register here)

Anna Mazanik (Max Weber Network Eastern Europe) – Viruses, Vectors and Soviet Medicine in the Pacific Borderlands

This lecture series is organized by Sergei Shevchenko as part of the Gerda Henkel Foundation project Biological Instability and Its Management: A Soviet History, 1920s–1950s.

CfP: Online Talk Series “The Human–Animal Bond in Eastern and East-Central Europe” (19th ct.)

Animals have long occupied an ambivalent place in human societies, serving as sources of food, labor, and material resources while also becoming central objects of scientific experimentation and cultural inspiration. At the same time, they have increasingly become subjects of ethical consideration, raising questions about agency, suffering, and dignity. As inhabitants of a shared world, animals have been shaped by humans and have, in turn, played a crucial role in defining the human itself. By positing a sharp distinction between mind and matter, Cartesian dualism grounded the identification of the human in opposition to the non-human—a process that, as Giorgio Agamben argues with his concept of the anthropological machine, continues to this day. Consequently, to speak about animals in the broadest sense is also to speak about humans.

Scientific research on animals, as well as the origins of zoology, can in part be traced back to Aristotle. The long nineteenth century, from the late eighteenth century to the outbreak of the First World War, witnessed profound transformations in the understanding of animals. Developments in physiology, medicine, and the natural sciences made animals indispensable to experimental research and contributed to advances in zoology. At the same time, literary, philosophical, and public debates increasingly addressed the moral implications of their treatment. Animals thus emerged as crucial figures in discussions of life, consciousness, morality, and the place of human beings within the natural world.

Within the culturally diverse contexts of Eastern and Eastern-Central Europe, including the territories of the Romanov (Russian) Empire, the Habsburg Monarchy, and the Ottoman Empire, these developments intersected with broader intellectual transformations. Religious traditions encountered emerging scientific and philosophical perspectives that redefined the relationship between humans and animals. Influenced by evolutionary thought and modern science, humans were increasingly understood not as separate from nature, but as its most highly developed animals.

Aims of the Lecture Series

This lecture series explores discourses and knowledge about animals and the human–animal relationship throughout the long nineteenth century in Eastern- and Eastern-Central Europe. Key questions include: What ideas and concepts regarding animals and the human–animal relationship were prevalent in the natural and social sciences, the humanities, and religion? How were scientific findings adapted and reinterpreted in literature and culture? What imaginative or counter-concepts of animals emerged in literary and cultural contexts? Finally, the series examines how practices of dealing with animals shaped ethical reflections on their treatment.

We invite contributions that explore how animals and the human-animal relationship were represented, conceptualized, and contested within the intellectual, literary, and scientific cultures of the period. By bringing together perspectives from literary studies, philosophy, the history of science, and cultural history, the seminar aims to illuminate the role of animals in shaping modern debates about nature, knowledge, and humanity in Eastern- and Eastern-Central Europe.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

·    Animals in scientific experimentation, particularly in physiology, medicine, and psychology

·    Historical case studies of experimental practices involving animals, including ethical and epistemological implications

·    Literary representations of animals and their role in moral, philosophical, or social debates

·    Animals in public culture: zoos, exhibitions, popular science, and visual representation

·    Early vegetarian movements and other refusals to consume animal products, including their theoretical foundations and motivations

·    Discourses on animal suffering, compassion, and early animal protection movements

·    Religious perspectives on animals in interaction with scientific and modernist discourses

·    Changing conceptions of the human–animal relationship in the context of evolutionary thought and modern science

The online talk series forms part of a broader initiative to establish a research network and prepare a series of publications.

Submission Guidelines

·    Abstract: 250–300 words

·    Short Bio: 100 words

·    Deadline for Submission: 15.06.2026

·    Notification of Acceptance: July 2026

·    Submission Email: humanimalbond@gmail.com

Seminar Details

·    Format: Online

·    Duration: 1h30

·    Presentation Length: 30 minutes, followed by discussion

·    Monthly October 2026 – February 2027 every third Friday

Organizers

Dr. Nadine Menzel (Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, nadine.menzel@uni-bamberg.de)

Dr. Maxim Demin (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Maksim.Demin@ruhr-uni-bochum.de) 

Contact Information

Dr. Nadine Menzel (Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Germany)

 

Contact Email

nadine.menzel@uni-bamberg.de

URL

https://www.uni-bamberg.de/slavart/personen/dr-nadine-menzel/

Central European History Convention (CEH-C)

 In July 2027 the University of Vienna, the Institute of Austrian Historical Research, and the Wirth Institute of Austrian and Central European Studies will host a second Central European History Convention (CEH-C). This event is, again, dedicated to providing a platform for dynamic and convivial exchange on Central European History across specialties, national/language traditions, generations of scholarship, and periods — from the Middle Ages until World War II.

The focus of our discussions will be on the lands of the former Habsburg Empire and its neighbors (including the territories of the former Ottoman empire). Our goal is to facilitate international dialogue about the history of this region, with a special focus on building networks and frameworks for comparative research.

We invite scholars from all historically oriented fields at any point in their academic career to submit a paper proposal. Priority will be given to learning about the fascinating new research coming from early career scholars (including PhD students). Submissions should be done on an individual basis only. The Program Committee will organize the panels with an eye toward fostering new networks and conversations.

The three-day convention will, again, feature a highly attractive set of panels based on your submissions and, in addition, two stimulating keynotes one for the early modern, a second for the modern period by inspiring intellectuals. Another highlight of the convention will be a workshop with invited speakers (2 panels and 1 roundtable) reflecting on common intellectual problems, i.e. the temporal, spatial, and political features of Central European History making.

We count on our mid-career and senior colleagues to share their analytical skills and their experience in the field by providing panel commentaries and chairships. This will foster broader discussions and networking opportunities, as last year’s convention has shown. If you want to support us in this manner, please sign up here to indicate your availability.

The program will be complemented by research labs with a focus on new media, gaming and their uses of Central European history. New to the CEHC 2027 will be a mentoring program, aimed at providing emerging scholars with feedback on their research challenges by senior scholars with a well-established record in the field. If you are interested to become a CEH-C mentor, click here.

This convention requires no participation fees and offers extremely economically viable housing costs, with financial support for travel and housing available for those in need. 

English will be the spoken language of conference presentations, but scholars from all linguistic backgrounds are welcome to participate.

The conference format will be in person (not hybrid).

Proposals should be no more than 300 words + the name of the participant, affiliation, contact information, projected paper title plus a short cv of one page. They should be uploaded here not later than September 13, 2026. (Please type in your name and affiliation as you would like it to appear on the final program). You will be notified about acceptance by December 4, 2026.

Abstracts will be published online ahead of the conference, and participants will be asked to provide panel discussants with a draft of their talk to serve as a basis for comments.

Contact Information

Professor Peter Becker, Institute of Austrian Historical Research, University of Vienna

Professor Dominique Reill, Wirth Institute, University of Alberta 

CFP: Global Connections – Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Modern World (ca. 1500–1800)

Global Connections – Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Modern World (ca. 1500–1800)

The conference explores Central and Eastern Europe as an integral part of the early modern world, focusing on its global connections, circulations, and entanglements from the 16th to the 18th century.

📍 Warsaw

🔜 We accept proposals by 15 June

📅 28–30 September

Global Connections – Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Modern World (ca. 1500-1800)

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

We invite scholars to submit paper proposals for the international conference Global Connections – Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Modern World, to be held in Warsaw on 28-30.09.2026. The conference explores Central and Eastern Europe as an integral part of the early modern world, foregrounding its global connections, circulations, and entanglements from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Challenging the persistent marginalisation of the region in global history scholarship, it brings together researchers working across national and disciplinary boundaries to examine how Central and Eastern European states and communities participated in (and were shaped by) processes of exchange spanning continents.

The keynote lecture will be delivered by Tomasz Grusiecki, Associate Professor, Bader Chair in Northern Baroque Art, at Queen’s University. A post-conference publication is planned.

ELIGIBILITY

The conference welcomes proposals from early-career researchers (PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers) and senior scholars working in early modern history and related disciplines. Participation is particularly encouraged from researchers based at universities and research institutions in WEP countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine).

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

We welcome proposals engaging with – but not limited to – the following themes and research areas:

- Material culture: means of transport and modes of travel; sites and spaces of encounter; exchange of objects and commodities;

- Economic interconnectedness: the role of trans-regional commerce, mercantile communities and long-distance trade, the entanglements of Central and Eastern European economies with African, American and Asian markets;

- Labor regimes: gendered divisions of labor, serfdom, and slavery;

- Decentering the Atlantic: the role of the Baltic, Black, and Mediterranean Seas, and the lands between them, in early modern connections;

- Religious networks across borders: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim connections;

- People in motion: merchants, artisans, diplomats, refugees, and captives;

- Marginalized groups: gender, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, and non-elite actors;

- Cultural and intellectual exchanges: the transfer of ideas, inventions, art inspirations, and forms of knowledge, the early modern conceptualizations of the "global" world;

- The role of formal and informal networks in establishing transregional contacts;

- Writing Central and Eastern Europe into global history: sources, archives, translations, and other methodological challenges.

Proposals should be submitted as a single PDF document and include the following:

- Title of the paper;

- An abstract of no more than 300 words, outlining the research question, main sources, methodology, and argument;

- A short biographical note of no more than 150 words, including current institutional affiliation and field of specialization;

- An indication of whether you would like to participate in the post-conference publication.

Paper presentations will be 20 minutes in length. All proposals must be submitted in English. The working language of the conference is English.

Please send your proposal to globalconnections.waw26@gmail.com with the subject line "CfP Submission – Global Connections Warsaw 2026" by 15 June 2026.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE AND ORGANISERS

Prof. Giancarlo Casale, Department of History, European University Institute

Prof. Igor Chabrowski, Faculty of History, University of Warsaw

Dr Jan Błoński, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences

Dr Klaudia Kuchno, Faculty of Culture and Arts, University of Warsaw

Natalia Woszczyk, Department of History, European University Institute

There is no conference fee, and lunches and coffee breaks will be covered by the organizers. Funding may also be available to support accommodation costs, particularly for early-career researchers. Please indicate in your application whether you would require assistance with accommodation.

Call for Papers: Historické vědy v čase přelomu (1914–1924). Osudy badatelů, disciplín a institucí za první světové války a při vzniku Československa

 Call for Papers: Historické vědy v čase přelomu (1914–1924). Osudy badatelů, disciplín a institucí za první světové války a při vzniku Československa - Historical Sciences at a Turning Point (1914–1924): The Fates of Scholars, Disciplines, and Institutions During World War I and the Founding of Czechoslovakia

Datum konání: 26.–28. května 2026

Místo: Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Brno, v. v. i.  (Čechyňská 363, 602 00 Brno-střed)

 

Konference si klade za cíl přispět k hlubšímu porozumění tomu, jak historické vědy – historie, archeologie, pomocné vědy historické, dějiny umění – reagovaly na zásadní politické a společenské proměny spojené s první světovou válkou, rozpadem habsburské monarchie a vznikem samostatné Československé republiky.

 

Vítány jsou zejména příspěvky, které se věnují otázce, jak tyto převratné děje ovlivňovaly praktickou práci badatelů a badatelek, jejich profesní identitu i vnímání smyslu vlastního oboru. Současně konference nabízí prostor pro širší reflexi otázky, zda a případně jakou roli sehráli představitelé historických věd v procesu zániku Rakouska-Uherska a při zakládání a legitimizaci Československé republiky. Pozornost může být věnována i tomu, jak soudobé politické a společenské okolnosti ovlivňovaly témata, metodologii, teoretická východiska a paradigmata historickovědních disciplín, a jaké měly vliv na institucionální zázemí jednotlivých oborů.

 

Výzva k zasílání příspěvků:

 

Návrhy příspěvků zasílejte do 30. dubna 2026 na adresu: masa@mua.cas.cz Přihláška by měla obsahovat: jméno autora/autorů, titul a institucionální afiliaci, název příspěvku, krátký abstrakt v rozsahu max. 600 znaků.

 

Autoři budou o přijetí příspěvků informováni počátkem května. Délka konferenčního vystoupení by neměla přesáhnout 20 minut.

Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR a Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Brno pořádají konferenci v rámci Strategie AV21: Výzkumný program Identity ve světě válek a krizí.