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.
