CfP: 14th Biennial European Society for Environmental History (ESEH) Conference

 CfP: 14th Biennial European Society for Environmental History (ESEH) Conference

Environmental History Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries

Salzburg, Austria | 7-10 September 2027

The European Society for Environmental History (ESEH) is pleased to invite proposals for panel sessions, individual papers, book presentations, posters, roundtables, and more experimental presentation formats for its upcoming biennial conference. The conference theme, Environmental History Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries, aims to highlight and reinforce the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary nature and culture of environmental history.

The Conference will be held in Salzburg, Austria, from 7 to 10 September 2027. It is organised by the ESEH and the University of Salzburg.

The deadline for submissions is 15 October 2026, 23:59 CET.

Notifications will be sent out in February 2027.

Submit: https://www.conftool.pro/eseh2027/

Conference website: http://www.eseh2027.at/

Download here (https://eseh.org/sviluppo/wp-content/uploads/CfP-ESEH-2027.pdf) the call in PDF.

Bečvář Jindřich, Bečvářová Martina: Napoleon pražského učení. Josef Ladislav Jandera (1776-1857) [Napoleon of Prague Scholarship—Josef Ladislav Jandera (1776–1857)].

 Bečvář Jindřich, Bečvářová Martina: Napoleon pražského učení. Josef Ladislav Jandera (1776-1857) [Napoleon of Prague Scholarship—Josef Ladislav Jandera (1776–1857)]. ČVUT v Praze 2026. ISBN 978-80-01-07551-7

Monografie Napoleon pražského učení - Josef Ladislav Jandera (1776-1857) pojednává v širších kulturně historických souvoslostech o životních osudech, pedagogickém působení, matematické a historické práci Josefa Ladislava Jandery, profesora Filozofické fakulty pražské univerzity a člena Královské kanonie premonstrátů na Strahově, který na pražské univeruitě vyučoval matematiku více než padesát let a ovlivnilvýchovu a vzdělání řady našich obrizenců, vzdělanců, politiků, duchovních, představitelů vojska i státní správy, neboť u něho musel studovat každý, kdo v 19. století v našich zemích něco znamenal.

Na základě studia rozsáhlé Janderovy pozůstalosti jsou podrobně zmapovány jeho dosud nedoceněné a neprávem přehlížené všestranné aktivity. Přiblíženo je jeho úsilí vyučovat nelehkou a neoblíbenou matematiku v době, kdy ji musel studovat každý posluchač univerzity bez ohledu na své budoucí profesní zaměření. Dále je ukázáno, kolik času, energie a peněz věnoval Jandera svému rodnému městu, Hořicím v podkrkonoší, kolik shromáždil pramenů a informací k regionální historii. 

Monografie podává poměrně podrobné a přehledné informace o rozsáhlé Janderově rukopisné pozůstalosti.

online conference Living the Soviet Utopia: Cultural History of Technologies in Ukraine, 1922–1991

 On 24–25 September 2026, the Faculty of History at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Department of History at the University of Basel bring together researchers for the online conference Living the Soviet Utopia: Cultural History of Technologies in Ukraine, 1922–1991. 

Download: Conference programme (https://uris.ch/assets/images/Events/Conference-Program.pdf)

The conference approaches technology not simply as infrastructure or economic development, but as a cultural force shaping knowledge, social hierarchies and everyday life. It examines the relationship between visions of progress and lived experiences of scarcity, adaptation and unequal access to technological change. 

Four panels explore these questions: 

Cybernetics, Mass Housing & Atomic Utopias

Secret Cities, Elites & Closed Knowledge

Technologies of Everyday Life: Sound, Mobility & Health

Visualizing Progress: Media, Cinema & Photography 

Contributions range from ideas of digital immortality among Kyiv cyberneticists and the monuments of Prypiat to consumer tape recorders, family photography and scientific cinema. Researchers from Basel include Olha Martynyuk, who examines road rallies as a mobility culture in early Soviet Ukraine, and Oleksii Kuchanskyi, whose presentation explores scientific filmmaking and the representation of nuclear contamination. 

The conference is organised by Gennadii Kazakevych, F. Benjamin Schenk and Olha Martynyuk within the joint Ukrainian–Swiss research project Testing the Soviet Utopia: Social History of Technologies in Ukraine, 1922–1991, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. 

Participation 

24 September 2026: 14:00–18:00 

25 September 2026: 10:00–15:00 

All times are in Kyiv time (EEST). 

The conference takes place online via Zoom. No registration is required. More: https://uris.ch/events/living-the-soviet-utopia

(Image: Oleksandr Dubovyk, Svit Tekhniky (The World of Technology), 1980. Detail of the mosaic on the façade of the Young Technicians’ Station, Kyiv. Image from the conference programme.)

Belarusian Historical Scholarship in Exile: Current State and Challenges.

 A new series of analytical papers examining the current state and key challenges of Belarusian scholarship in exile has been published following the completion of the project Belarusian Historical Scholarship in Exile: Current State and Challenges.

Online version: https://www.icelds.org/portfolio/new-analytical-paper-series-examines-belarusian-scholarship-in-exile/

Implemented with the financial support of the EU4Belarus: Support to Advanced Learning and Training (SALT II) programme, funded by the European Union, the project sought to strengthen professional dialogue and expert exchange within the Belarusian academic and intellectual community outside the country.

The publication series responds to the profound changes that have affected Belarusian academia since 2020. For many scholars, exile was not a planned or gradual process but the result of political pressure, repression and the destruction of institutional conditions for independent academic work in Belarus. As a consequence, a substantial part of the academic community has continued its work abroad, becoming integrated into different universities, research institutions and academic systems.

These developments have led to increasing fragmentation. Belarusian researchers today work in different institutional, linguistic and disciplinary environments, often within local or international research agendas that leave limited space for sustained reflection on Belarusian issues. Opportunities for regular professional exchange among Belarusian scholars abroad remain limited and frequently depend on informal networks.

At the same time, interest in Belarusian history and historical memory has grown. However, this interest does not always correspond to the logic of academic research and is not always accompanied by the resources necessary to support it. As a result, many researchers find themselves balancing different audiences and expectations without sufficient opportunities to reconcile them.

Against this background, the project aimed to create a space for professional reflection on the conditions under which Belarusian historical scholarship exists in exile today. Rather than proposing institutional solutions or seeking to formulate common positions, it focused on facilitating informed discussion and the exchange of experience among invited experts in a confidential setting.

The analytical paper series is the principal outcome of this work. Drawing on a series of expert seminars, the publications examine the institutional, linguistic and professional conditions in which Belarusian historical scholarship is developing outside the country. They also address the interaction between Belarusian and foreign historical narratives, the structural challenges facing scholars in exile, the opportunities and limitations of different institutional models, and possible approaches to strengthening the long-term resilience of Belarusian scholarship.

Rather than presenting a single perspective or claiming to represent the entire academic community, the papers document the current state of the field at a particular moment. They bring together the principal observations and reflections emerging from the expert discussions and are intended to contribute to continued professional dialogue on the future of Belarusian scholarship in exile.

The analytical paper series was edited by Dr. Hanna Vasilevich, who coordinated the editorial process and worked closely with the authors in developing and preparing the manuscripts for publication.

Here you can access papers prepared during the project:

Interstate dialogue on historical issues between Belarus and Germany: obstacles and failure factors (by Victor Shadurski)

From emergency to institution-building: Belarusian historical scholarship in exile after 2020 (by Nina Skepyan)

Institutional barriers to academic reintegration: the Irish context and Belarusian historical scholarship in exile (by Vadzim Holubeu)

Reactive by condition: why the exile model of Belarusian academia cannot sustain itself (by Hanna Vasilevich)

Competing interpretations of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in contemporary national narratives (by Viktar Yakubau)

Digital authoritarianism and historians in exile: the disappearance of Belarus’s digital archives? (by Aliaksei Bratachkin)

Francysk Skaryna across national narratives: Belarus, Lithuania, Poland and Czechia (by Aliaksandr Parshankou)

Studying resistance across Eastern Europe: toward a new analytical paradigm (by Tatsiana Astrouskaya)

Producing Belarusian history after 2020: how exile reshapes historical knowledge (by Kiryl Kascian)

Policy paper: Belarusian historical scholarship in exile, its current state and challenges (by Hanna Vasilevich and Maxim Karaliou)

New book in open access: 𝙄𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙣: 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝘿𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖 by Marius Turda

 New book in open access: 𝙄𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙣: 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮, 𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝘿𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙈𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙍𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖 by Marius Turda 

Exploring debates on Romanian national character and race from the 1880s to the 1950s, Turda’s study demonstrates how racism and eugenics shaped policies of ethnic purification under the Antonescu regime. It argues that the Holocaust in Romania targeted both Jews and Roma as part of a broader biopolitical nationalism, and that the eugenic ideal of the “perfect” Romanian remained embedded in communist visions of the “new man” and “perfect” society. 

Read more and preorder your copy here: https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789048573608/in-search-of-the-perfect-romanian

Webinar: Central State Scientific and Technical Archives of Ukraine

  Join us for Webinar next Friday!

Central State Scientific and Technical Archives of Ukraine

Friday 11 September 2026 · 16:00 Kyiv / 15:00 Berlin / 09:00 Bloomington · zoom

In this session, Prof. Dr. Marat Balyshev, Head of the Central State Scientific and Technical Archives of Ukraine (TsDNTA), examines the work of his institution during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. The session is moderated by Dr. Ewa Sułek.

This lecture traces the changes across the archives’ principal areas of activity, driven by the need to safeguard documents, maintain institutional continuity, and widen access to archival information under wartime conditions. Particular attention is given to the development of digital archival resources: the digitisation of scientific and technical documentation, the creation of electronic catalogues and a collection of digital use copies, and the implementation of the TOPAZ information retrieval system. The lecture also outlines the international dimension of the archives’ work — cooperation with foreign archival, academic, and cultural institutions, participation in international projects and professional events, and the role of international charitable assistance in strengthening the institution’s material and technical capacity, acquiring modern digitisation equipment, and sustaining stable operations throughout the war.

A second focus falls on the archives’ cultural and educational projects. Drawing on two case studies — “Site of Resistance: Infrastructure Projects of the Azovstal Metallurgical Plant” and “Industrial Utopia: The Unrealised Project of the Kharkiv Nuclear Power Plant” — the lecture considers new approaches to using archival documents in exhibition, research, and public-facing work, including thematic web resources, documentary films, 3D models, and works of art created on the basis of archival holdings. It assesses how archival documentation can generate new forms of representing archival heritage: forms that invite a rethinking of Ukraine’s scientific and technical legacy, extend its presence in the public sphere, draw new audiences to the history of science, technology, and industry, and open fresh possibilities for communication between archives and society.

The lecture will be of interest to historians, archivists, researchers in the history of science and technology, students, and all those interested in Ukraine’s scientific, technical, and industrial heritage.

Every session runs with simultaneous Ukrainian–English interpretation — ask questions in either language — and ends with an open Q&A.

 Free · registration required

 Register for Webinar 2: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/C3XqTlTHQ3mV2fu-qdqRpw

The project is a part of the Lysiak-Rudnytsky Ukrainian Studies Programme held by the Ukrainian Institute in cooperation with the Cultural Diplomacy Foundation, with financial support from the International Renaissance Foundation and Mnozhyna Foundation.

See you next Friday, September 11!

Milan Hanyš: Mezi Prahou a Siónem Intelektuální portrét Felixe Weltsche. Centrum pro studium demokracie 2026 [Between Prague and Sion: An Intellectual Portrait of Felix Weltsch].

 Milan Hanyš: Mezi Prahou a Siónem Intelektuální portrét Felixe Weltsche. Centrum pro studium demokracie 2026 [Between Prague and Sion: An Intellectual Portrait of Felix Weltsch]. ISBN 978-80-7325-616-6

Felix Weltsch (1884-1964), filosof, publicista a šéfredaktor pražského sionistického týdeníku Selbstwehr, byl jednou z ústředních postav německo-židovského intelektuálního života v meziválečné Praze a blízkým přítelem Franze Kafky a Maxe Broda. Přes svůj kulturní a myšlenkový dosah zůstal v české recepci dosud stranou pozornosti.

Kniha rekonstruuje Weltschovo myšlení v celé jeho tematické šíři: od filosofických základů pražského sionismu a teorie národního humanismu přes politickou teorii obranyschopné demokracie a analýzu antisemitismu jako symptomu krize liberální společnosti až po reflexi holocaustu. Weltsch si kladl otázky, které neztratily nic ze své naléhavosti: Jak bránit demokracii před jejími nepřáteli? Jak smířit národní identitu s humanistickými hodnotami? Co antisemitismus vypovídá o většinové společnosti? Kniha vychází z rozsáhlého pramenného výzkumu a metod intelektuálních dějin. Součástí svazku je i antologie pěti Weltschových textů, které vycházejí v češtině poprvé.

GLOHRA workshop Mind the gap: engaging Europe’s East in global health debates

GLOHRA workshop Mind the gap: engaging Europe’s East in global health debates

Dates: October 29–30, 2026
Location: Charité, Berlin, Germany
Format: Hybrid (in-person or online participation)
Registration deadline: October 9, 2026

Capacity: Limited to 30 in-person participants; places allocated based on responses below  

Details: https://tinyurl.com/bdzjuf88

Confirmed speakers: Valentyna Mazhbits, Botakoz Kassymbekova, Daniel James, Dora Vargha, Bogdan Cristian Iacob, Petra Ezzeddine, Joanna Talewicz, Lois Orton, Olga Fuseini, and Dominika Pszczółkowska-Mościcka. The full programme will be published closer to the workshop date.

Participation, including catering during the event, is free of charge. Participants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation.

The workshop is organised by Dr Tereza Hendl (University of Augsburg, the RUTA Association), Dr Joanna Karolina Malinowska (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, the RUTA Association), Professor Kerem Böge and Dr Solveig Kemna from the Charité, Berlin. The workshop is funded by the awarded grant from the German Alliance for Global Health research (GLOHRA).

CFP:Fish out of place: how animals shape infrastructure

 

ESEH 2027 Panel Proposal

We invite proposals for a panel to be submitted to the ESEH conference at Salzburg, 7 — 10 September 2027

Deadline for Proposals: 20 September 2026

 Fish out of place: how animals shape infrastructure

Hydraulic infrastructure, fishing vessels, hatcheries and fish ponds are usually studied as expressions of human ambition: to engineer environments and to manage fish populations. Less attention has been paid to the ways fish failed to behave as expected. They did not swim up fishways, did not spawn, avoided fishing gear, or simply failed to appear. As highly mobile animals, fish kept eluding the technical logic of engineers and fishers, of fisheries scientists, aquaculturists and water managers. Their movements limited what infrastructure could do, and prompted new efforts to adapt or redesign it. This panel explores the role of animals in infrastructural change through the lens of fish and other aquatic life. It brings together environmental history and the history of science and technology, and is open to European and non-European cases from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Please send a communication of interest along with a short abstract (200 words) to christian.zumbraegel@uni-bielefeld.de and anna.safronova@zmo.de  by 20 September 2026, so that we can build a coherent panel together.

 

Ruben Zeeman (ed.) Censorship and Self-Censorship in History Education: A Comparative Approach to Backsliding Democracies

Ruben Zeeman (ed.) Censorship and Self-Censorship in History Education: A Comparative Approach to Backsliding Democracies. CEU Press 2026. ISBN: 9789048577118

Censorship of history education takes place around the world. A striking feature of recent examples is that they often coincide with challenges to democratic governance. This book examines this interplay between censorship and self-censorship in history education and so-called democratic backsliding. It does so in two parts. The first brings together an interdisciplinary group of academics, high school teachers and human rights advocates to assess the characteristics of censorship and self-censorship in Brazil, India, Hungary and the United States. Their analyses move between local, national and transnational developments to capture the overlaps and differences between state and non-state censorial practices and strategies of resistance. The second, thematic part explores some of the formal characteristics of contemporary censorship of history education, including the impact of social media, continuities of colonialism and the challenges against gender and sexuality education.

Introduction - Ruben Zeeman - Transnational History Education and Backsliding Democracy

Regional Essays

1. Brazil

a. Paolo Otero dos Santos - The Diffuse Vigilance of History Teaching in Contemporary Brazil

b. Luanna Jales - Historical Visibility for Women, Black and Indigenous Peoples in Brazil and Latin America

c. Juliana Cesario Alvim Gomes - History, Sexuality and Gender Education: Intersections and Interactions in Brazil

2. Hungary

a. Andrea Petö and Flore Higuet - Illiberal History Education: The Case of Hungary

b. Péter Bihari - History Teaching in Hungary

c. Andreas Holtberget - History Teaching under Threat? Recent Cases from East-Central and Southeastern Europe

3. India

a. Aditya Mukherjee and Mridula Mukherjee - Weaponizing History: Threat to Democracy in India

b. Shraddha Kumbhojkar - History Textbooks in Maharashtra: Vernacular Realities

c. Adnaan Farooq - ‘Saffronization’ of the History Curriculum in India under the BJP

4. United States

a. Jeremy Young and Jacqueline Allain - State-Level Educational Censorship Legislation Affecting Colleges and Universities

b. Nelva Williamson - Teaching in the Age of Anti-History: A Teacher's Reflection

c. Mathias Möschel - European Critiques and Actions Against Critical Race Theory

Thematic Essays

1. Robbert-Jan Adriaansen - Teaching on Thin Ice: Social Media, Epistemic Conflict, and the Targeting of History Educators

2. Mariana Prandini Assis - Reimagining Gender and Sex Education as a Political Right

3. Eugenia Ama Breba Anderson and Samuel Adu-Gyamfi - The Hidden History Curriculum: Negotiated Gender History Education in Ghana

4. Antoon de Baets - History Education Moratoria during Transitions to Democracy

Conclusion

Eckhardt Fuchs and Wibke Westermeyer

Censorship in School Education

Index.

“Zero Growth, Socialist Modernity, and the Anti-Environmental Turn in Eastern Europe”

 A new article in the Journal of Modern European History:

“Zero Growth, Socialist Modernity, and the Anti-Environmental Turn in Eastern Europe”

The article examines how socialist Eastern Europe confronted the tension between a vision of modernity based on economic growth and emerging debates about the environmental limits to growth - and why anti-environmental positions ultimately prevailed.

The article was co-authored by Elena Kochetkova, Doubravka Olšáková, Vedran Duančić, Gleb Kazakov, Julia Lajus, Stephen Milder, Vedran Muić, and Olga Trufanova.

Read it here:

https://doi.org/10.1177/16118944261465602

CFP: Utopia(s) in the Arts and Art Spaces from the 1960s to the Present Day. Paris 02/2027, deadline: 20.10.2026

 CFP: Utopia(s) in the Arts and Art Spaces from the 1960s to the Present Day. Paris 02/2027, deadline: 20.10.2026

In his encyclopaedia of hopes, Bloch presents certain arts (painting, opera, literature and music) as “outlines of a better world” (Bloch, 1959). Art thus contributes to the emergence of utopia by preparing consciousness for it. At the heart of the notion of utopia – from manifestations predating the coining of the term to contemporary realizations – lies a constant questioning of the social status quo and a proposal for alternative societies. Utopia has developed around an evocative poetics that cuts across artistic disciplines. The symbolism constructed by utopia, shaped through artistic manifestations, tends to materialize in its realized counterpart. In this regard, the philosopher Roland Schaer points to the porosity between the literary – or more broadly fictional – counterpart and realized utopian projects. Thus, “utopia is, on the one hand, an imaginary projection into the fictional space created by the text of the narrative; on the other hand, the project it sets forth assumes implementation and as such it veers toward the side of history while simultaneously drawing its sustenance from fiction.” (Schaer, 2000).

The aim of this symposium is to examine the extension of the practice of utopia, both as a fictional genre and as a project, within various artistic manifestations and within art spaces themselves. It will also involve examining discourses on the subject. Indeed, utopia is considered in its transdisciplinary dimension, both from a methodological standpoint and in terms of the arts concerned (visual arts, literature, music, performing arts). The idea of contemporaneity is constitutive of this study, since the goal is to understand the evolution and current relevance of the notion. Proposals must focus on works or projects dating from after the 1960s, a decade that marked a significant renewal of utopia in light of its penetration into institutional critique and its echoes in the formation of counterculture. Across various artistic forms, utopia has been reconceptualized to push the limits of bourgeois institutions, reinvent the relationship between art and the public, and contribute to the upheaval of society.

The symposium invites contributions along the following lines of inquiry:

Axis 1 – Naming Utopia: Vocabulary and Interdisciplinary Typology

- epistemology of utopian terminology

- language shared across fields

- disciplinary differences and nuances

- common core underlying recourse to utopia

Axis 2 – Utopia as an Artistic Apparatus Presenting an Alternative to the World of Reference

- forms of the utopian work: literal apparatus / conceptual apparatus

- evolution and persistence of topoi, particularly uses of space

- “war of imaginaries”

- updating of utopian motifs (communities, emotions, identities, individualities, the living world…)

Axis 3 – Utopian Materializations: Spaces and Practices of Art

- art spaces: planned, transitory or realized; spaces of representation/display, dissemination, experimentation, pedagogy, resistance

- spatial practices and “utopian” discourses in the art and architecture of art places

- experimental practices and modes of artistic organization

Submission Guidelines

Proposals from researchers at all career stages (including Ph.D. students) are welcome, as are those from artists and practitioners of utopia.

Paper proposals, written in French or English, should not exceed 400 words (excluding bibliography) and must be accompanied by a short biographical note. They should be sent by 20 October 2026 to the following address: JEUtopieArts@protonmail.com

Applicants will be notified of the outcome, following review of the proposals, by the end of November.

Organizing Committee

Clara Cazaubiel (PhD candidate in Museum Studies, CERLIS, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)

Camille Lucot (PhD candidate in Comparative Literature, LISAA, Université Gustave Eiffel)

Adrian Wetter (PhD candidate in Film Studies, THALIM, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, and Universität Kassel, Germany)

Scientific Committee

Antoine de Baecque (Professor of Film Studies, ARTS, Ecole Normale Superieure)

Irène Langlet (Professor of Comparative Literature, LISAA, Université Gustave Eiffel)

François Mairesse (Professor of Museum Studies, CERLIS, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)

Call for Abstracts | 2026 Graduate Conference "Cusanus Contra Bohemos. Revisiting Nicholas of Cusa,"

  Call for Abstracts | 2026 Graduate Conference

We are pleased to invite submissions for the 2026 Graduate Conference "Cusanus Contra Bohemos. Revisiting Nicholas of Cusa," hosted by students from the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Charles University, Prague, on 19–20 November 2026.

The conference is one of the results of GA UK 334126 and will explore Nicholas of Cusa’s work in its broader historical and intellectual context, with particular emphasis on his political and legal thought and the interconnections between jurisprudence, political authority, ecclesiology, and sovereignty.

Topics of particular interest include:

• Cusanus and his contemporaries

• Law, theology, and political legitimacy

• Cusanus’ contribution to legal philosophy and jurisprudence

• Sovereignty and political authority in De Concordantia Catholica, De Auctoritate Praesidendi, and Epistola ad Bohemos

• Secular and ecclesiastical power in Cusanus’ political thought

• New approaches to his political and legal writings

• Cusanian mereology and the notion of Unity

All Cusanus-related contributions are welcome. We particularly encourage submissions from graduate students, doctoral candidates, and early-career researchers, while scholars at all career stages are warmly invited to apply.

🎓 Confirmed Keynote Speakers

Paul Richard Blum (Loyola University Maryland)

Lenka Karfíková (Charles University)

Andrea Fiamma (Academy of Sciences)

Witalij Morosow (Kues Academy)

📄 Submission Guidelines

Please submit an anonymous abstract of no more than 300 words, together with a short personal bio, to:

📧 cusanus.contra.bohemos@gmail.com

Submission deadline: 1 September 2026

Notification of acceptance: 10 September 2026

The conference will be held in person in Prague, Czech Republic. Please note that the conference is self-funded; travel and accommodation expenses cannot be reimbursed.

For further questions, please contact the organisitators at cusanus.contra.bohemos@gmail.com.

We look forward to receiving your submissions! 

Mateusz Binek: Uniwersalność mesjanizmu. Filozofia polityczna Augusta Cieszkowskiego [The Universality of Messianism: The Political Philosophy of August Cieszkowski].

 Mateusz Binek: Uniwersalność mesjanizmu. Filozofia polityczna Augusta Cieszkowskiego [The Universality of Messianism: The Political Philosophy of August Cieszkowski]. Wydawnictwo UMK 2025. ISBN: 978-83-231-6235-3

Książka stanowi krytyczną analizę filozoficzno-politycznych aspektów myśli jednego z najwybitniejszych przedstawicieli polskiego mesjanizmu – Augusta Cieszkowskiego. W pierwszej części prezentowanej monografii zastosowano metodę rekonstrukcji poglądów filozofa wraz ze wskazaniem na ich ideowe źródła. Badania te obejmują swym zasięgiem związki myśli Cieszkowskiego z filozofią Georga Wilhelma Friedricha Hegla, koncepcjami społecznymi Claude'a Henriego de Saint-Simona i Charles'a Fouriera oraz różnymi nurtami teologii i filozofii chrześcijańskiej.

W drugiej części pracy do analizy filozofii politycznej Cieszkowskiego wykorzystano siatkę pojęciową i metody wypracowane przez Carla Schmitta. Ich zastosowanie pomogło lepiej zrozumieć specyfikę badanych teorii przez ich interpretację w świetle takich ujęć teoretycznych, jak: uwzględnienie opozycji przyjaciel – wróg, pytanie o warunki możliwości ustanowienia globalnej wspólnoty politycznej, podkreślanie antropologicznego zakorzenienia koncepcji filozoficzno-politycznych. Zabieg ten pozwolił na ujawnienie, znajdujących się na marginesie omawianej twórczości, fundamentalnych twierdzeń i milcząco przyjętych przez Cieszkowskiego założeń, mających jednakże doniosłe konsekwencje teoretyczne. Rozprawę można odczytywać jako studium historycznofilozoficzne oraz próbę przeprowadzenia swego rodzaju testu hermeneutycznej mocy kategorii zawartych w dziełach Schmitta.

Tomasz Siewierski, Artur Wójcik: Karol Estreicher

 Tomasz Siewierski, Artur Wójcik: Karol Estreicher. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy 2026. ISBN 978-83-8196-924-6

Karola Estreichera darzono uwielbieniem bądź szczerze nienawidzono i mimo że od jego śmierci minęło 40 lat, emocje wokół niego wciąż są żywe. Historia człowieka wyjątkowego, wielobarwnego, podejmującego trudne decyzje życiowe, które do dziś wywołują kontrowersje. Nie da się jednak zaprzeczyć jego wielkim zasługom dla polskiej kultury. Estreicher był połączeniem Indiany Jonesa z Franzem Maurerem. Był jedynym w swoim rodzaju obrońcą skarbów i detektywem od sztuki. Nie uznawał półśrodków, brał życie takim, jakim było, a w tych trudnych czasach, w jakich przyszło mu żyć, podejmował decyzje, które przyczyniały się do ratowania naszej historii. Z drugiej jednak strony, przyzwyczajony do pozycji swojej rodziny, uważał, że może więcej od innych. Jest to postać trudna do jednoznacznej oceny. Zupełnie inaczej był i jest postrzegany w swoim macierzystym środowisku krakowskim, a inaczej np. na salonach warszawskich. Opowieść o Estreicherze oparta jest na zróżnicowanym i obfitym materiale źródłowym: zebranych przez autorów relacjach, dokumentach z archiwów i bibliotek krakowskich, wrocławskich, warszawskich, londyńskich i paryskich.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: SUMMER ACADEMY ON "SCIENCE IMAGINES ITS FUTURE

 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: SUMMER ACADEMY ON "SCIENCE IMAGINES ITS FUTURE <https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/research/projects/science-imagines-its-future>"

Organizers: Lorraine Daston (MPIWG/University of Chicago), David Kaiser (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Erika Milam (Princeton University)

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) seeks ten Early Career Fellows (graduate students, postdocs, assistant professors or the equivalent) to participate in two summer academies to be held in Berlin on June 14–18, 2027 and June 26–30, 2028, with the support of the Balzan Foundation.

The topic of the summer academies will be how disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities have deliberated about how to invest their always scarce resources of time, talent, and money in projects that will shape research in an always uncertain future, especially the middle- and long-term future, from the next five years to the next century.

(See full description here. <https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/research/projects/science-imagines-its-future>)

The topic has been broadly construed, and research projects may focus on any discipline, epoch, or locale. Candidates may come from any country or discipline but should be able to present their work and discuss that of others in English.

Early Career Fellows will be given the opportunity to present their own work at the Summer Academies as well as to interview senior scholars and scientists on the topic. They will also play a central role in planning the second Summer Academy in 2028. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered.

Please read the full CALL and the application requirements here. <https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/news/call-applications-summer-academy-science-imagines-its-futures>

Applications should be submitted by November 1, 2026.

Pavel Hájek, Jiří Žahour: Věda a technika ve schwarzenberských knižních sbírkách [Science and Technology in the Schwarzenberg Book Collections]

Pavel Hájek, Jiří Žahour: Věda a technika ve schwarzenberských knižních sbírkách [Science and Technology in the Schwarzenberg Book Collections]. České Budějovice: NPÚ, ÚOP v Českých Budějovicích 2026. ISBN: 978-80-88446-14-9

Hradní a zámecké knihovny představují klenotnice uchovávající skutečné skvosty knižní a grafické produkce, šlechtou mnohdy shromažďované od středověku až do moderní doby. Zatímco rozsah knihovních fondů a výzdoba knihovních sálů reprezentovaly společenské postavení původních majitelů, vlastní skladba knižních sbírek zrcadlila kulturní rozhled, jazykové znalosti a individuální zájmy jednotlivých příslušníků šlechtických rodů. Podstatnou část šlechtických biblioték přitom tvoří odborná vědecká literatura, mnohdy zastoupená díly předních odborníků a vědců, jejichž spisy představují nejen klíčový pramen pro poznání vědeckého a technologického pokroku, ale umožňují nám také sledovat měnící se vnímání a chápání okolního světa a jeho zákonitostí.

Publikace Věda a technika ve schwarzenberských knižních sbírkách nabízí jedinečnou příležitost nahlédnout do rozsáhlých encyklopedických fondů schwarzenberských knihoven na zámcích Český Krumlov, Hluboká a Orlík. První část knihy přináší nejen nové poznatky o vývoji a postupném budování biblioték schwarzenberské primogenitury, ale vůbec poprvé představuje knižní sbírky všech generací starší krumlovsko-hlubocké větve rodu. Druhá část knihy, věnující se vývoji knihovních fondů orlické sekundogenitury, přináší detailní rozbor knižní sbírky maršála Karla I. Filipa jakožto zakladatele a hlavního budovatele orlické bibliotéky. Výzkum J. Žahoura a P. Hájka se přitom zaměřil primárně na identifikaci a poznání motivací vedoucích k akvizicím určitého spektra odborné literatury, ale i na poznání zájmu příslušníků rodu Schwarzenbergů o konkrétní vědní disciplíny v širších souvislostech s jejich životními osudy, zvolenými kariérami, podnikatelskými aktivitami, praktickými potřebami či ryze osobními zálibami.

Odborná kniha Věda a technika ve schwarzenberských knižních sbírkách vznikla v rámci výzkumného projektu Kořeny a plody evropské vědy v českých, moravských a slezských historických knihovních fondech (DH23P03OVV058), financovaného z prostředků Ministerstva kultury – Program NAKI III –program na podporu aplikovaného výzkumu v oblasti národní a kulturní identity na léta 2023 až 2030.

 

Obsah:

Úvodem

Schwarzenberské knihovny v literatuře a pramenech (Jiří Žahour – Pavel Hájek)

Schwarzenberský rod v proměnách času (Jiří Žahour)

Bibliotéky schwarzenberské primogenitury (Jiří Žahour)

Historie a vývoj schwarzenberské (primogeniturní) knihovny

Knižní sbírky krumlovsko-hlubockých Schwarzenbergů

Knižní sbírky Jana Adolfa I. & Marie Justiny ze Starhembergu

Knižní sbírky Ferdinanda Viléma & Marie Anny ze Sulzu

Knižní sbírka Marie Ernestiny z Eggenbergu

Knižní sbírky Adama Františka & Eleonory Amálie z Lobkowicz

Knižní sbírky Josefa I. Adama & Marie Terezie z Liechtensteinu

Knižní sbírky Jana Nepomuka I. & Marie Eleonory z Oettingen-Wallersteinu

Knižní sbírky Josefa II. & Pauliny z Arenbergu

Knižní sbírky biskupa Arnošta & kardinála Bedřicha

Knižní sbírky Jana Adolfa II. & Eleonory z Liechtensteinu

Knižní sbírky Adolfa Josefa & Idy Marie z Liechtensteinu

Knižní sbírka Karla Vavřince ze Schwarzenbergu

Knižní sbírky Jana Nepomuka II. & Terezie z Trauttmansdorff-Weinsbergu

Knižní sbírky Adolfa & Hildy z Luxemburgu a Nassau

Vědecká literatura krumlovsko-hlubockých Schwarzenbergů

Bibliotéky schwarzenberské sekundogenitury (Pavel Hájek)

Vývoj orlických zámeckých knihoven

Osobnost a život Karla I. Filipa ze Schwarzenbergu

Mládí a počátky kariéry

Válka s revoluční Francií

Diplomatická služba v Rusku a Francii

Povahové rysy Karla I. Filipa

Knihovna Karla I. Filipa ze Schwarzenbergu

Dějiny válek a vojenství

Vojenská teorie, taktika a výcvik

Dějiny států

Přírodní vědy

Filozofie

Encyklopedie

Závěrem

Seznam pramenů a literatury

Seznam zkratek

Rejstříky

Resumé

Call for chapter proposals: Polish Science Fiction: Literature, Film, and Cultural Legacy

 Call for chapter proposals: Polish Science Fiction: Literature, Film, and Cultural Legacy

deadline for submissions: 

October 15, 2026

full name / name of organization:

Agnieszka Gutthy

contact email: 

agutthy@selu.edu

Despite the international prominence of Stanisław Lem and, more recently, Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher, Polish science fiction and speculative literature remain strikingly underrepresented in English-language scholarship. Existing criticism tends to orbit a small number of canonical figures and a handful of frequently revisited texts, leaving a rich, historically complex tradition, spanning censorship-era political allegory, post-1989 transformation, contemporary literary crossover, and a distinct national cinema largely unexamined outside of Polish-language scholarship.

This edited collection seeks to address that gap. We invite chapter proposals that expand the scope of English-language engagement with Polish speculative fiction and film: introducing under-translated authors, revisiting canonical figures through new critical lenses, and treating Polish science-fiction cinema as a subject rather than solely through the lens of a single adaptation.

We welcome contributions from literary scholars, film scholars, translation studies specialists, and researchers in Slavic and Central European studies. We are especially interested in proposals that

move beyond Lem and Sapkowski as the sole representatives of the tradition.

Bring new theoretical frameworks (postcolonial theory, translation studies, media studies, gender studies, posthumanism) to bear on Polish speculative texts

Address film and other media as legitimate objects of study, not only as adaptations of literary source material

Situate Polish SF within broader Central/Eastern European or global speculative fiction discourse

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Historical Foundations

Science fiction under the Polish People's Republic

Censorship, allegory, and political subtext in Cold War-era SF

Fandom, zines, and early SF publishing culture in Poland

Lem Beyond Solaris

Underexamined works (e.g. The Cyberiad, His Master's Voice, Fiasco, Return from the Stars)

Lem's philosophy of science, epistemology, and technology

Lem as critic and theorist of the genre (Fantastyka i futurologia)

Post-1989 and Contemporary Voices

Jacek Dukaj, Jarosław Grzędowicz, Marek Huberath, and other contemporary authors

Speculative elements in literary/crossover fiction (e.g. Olga Tokarczuk)

Polish fantasy and its relationship to the SF tradition (including Sapkowski)

Translation, Circulation, and Reception

The politics and practice of translating Polish SF into English

Publishing history: which authors and works reach Anglophone readers, and why

Comparative reception of Polish SF in the West versus domestically

Polish Science Fiction on Screen

Polish-made dystopian and speculative cinema (e.g. Piotr Szulkin's tetralogy, Andrzej Żuławski)

Adaptation studies: Lem's Solaris and its cinematic afterlives, approached through fresh angles (production politics, reception history, or contemporary resonance) rather than as a straightforward novel-versus-film comparison

Polish SF's influence on or intersection with games and other media (e.g. CD Projekt Red)

 

Send an abstract of 300-500 words and a short (150-word max) academic biography by October 15, 2026, to Dr. Agnieszka Gutthy at agutthy@selu.edu

When accepted, full chapter (5000-8000 words including notes and bibliography) will be due May 15, 2027.

Lech Maligranda: Juliusz Schauder (1899–1943). Wydawnictwo UMK 2026.

 Lech Maligranda: Juliusz Schauder (1899–1943). Wydawnictwo UMK 2026. ISBN: 978-83-231-6343-5

Monografia jest pierwszą pełną i obszerną biografią jednego z najwybitniejszych polskich matematyków XX wieku – Juliusza Schaudera, wybitnego członka słynnej Lwowskiej Szkoły Matematycznej. Jego nazwisko na trwałe zapisało się w kanonie światowej matematyki. Książka odsłania nie tylko genialną twórczość naukową Schaudera w dziedzinie analizy funkcjonalnej i równań różniczkowych cząstkowych – w tym słynne twierdzenie Schaudera o punkcie stałym, bazy Schaudera, oszacowania Schaudera oraz jego wkład w teorię stopnia Leray–Schaudera – ale przede wszystkim dramatyczny życiorys matematyka.

Autor, prof. Lech Maligranda, przez wiele lat gromadził materiały archiwalne, listy, wspomnienia współpracowników oraz niepublikowane dotąd dokumenty. Monografia w sposób szczególnie dokładny przedstawia losy Schaudera w trakcie II wojny światowej, jego tragiczną śmierć w 1943 roku oraz historię jego córki – Ewy Schauder (1938–1991), która ocalała z Holokaustu.

Ta książka to nie tylko naukowa biografia wybitnego matematyka, lecz także głęboko poruszająca opowieść o geniuszu, pasji badawczej i ludzkim dramacie wpisanych w tragiczną historię Zagłady.

Petr Kadlec and Ivan Puš: Modernisation of Commercial Education in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918. Patterns, Trends, Processes.

Petr Kadlec and Ivan Puš: Modernisation of Commercial Education in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918. Patterns, Trends, Processes. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112242698

About this book

This publication has been peer reviewed. 

Were commercial schools a natural product of the modernising society or rather a precondition for its successful development and the state's well-being? In this monograph, the authors trace the trends, processes and circumstances of the creation of modern vocational schools, specifically of various types of commercial schools.

Lying at the edge of social and business history and history of education, the book leads the reader through Imperial Austria in the years 1848–1918, providing numerous examples of school practice. It explains the social, economic and political circumstances in which the commercial schools were created, and how far this was the initiative of merchants, municipalities, provincial authorities or the state administration. It also describes the opportunities that commercial schools offered to women. The final chapter discusses the impact of the Great War on schools, their pupils and their teachers.

This book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of education and social or business history of the 19th and 20th centuries. Where possible, it draws comparisons with other European countries, opening up reflections on the modernisation of Europe at that time, especially in Germany, Hungary and France.

Author / Editor information

Petr Kadlec, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic; Ivan Puš, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic.