Call for Papers - Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, vol 3:

 Call for Papers - Journal of the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists, vol 3: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/journal-of-the-history-of-women-philosophers-and-scientists-brill/call-for-papers-volume-3-journal-of-the-history-of-women-philosophers-and-scientists/ .

Экспэдыцыя Вацлава Ластоўскага 1928 году: захаваная спадчына [Vaclav Lastowski's 1928 expedition: a preserved legacy].

Экспэдыцыя Вацлава Ластоўскага 1928 году: захаваная спадчына [Vaclav Lastowski's 1928 expedition: a preserved legacy]. Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum 2024.

Чытаць падрабязьней на сайце Скарынаўскай бібліятэкі: https://skaryna.org/lastouski/ .

Архіў забытай экспэдыцыі — уступны артыкул Вольгі Лабачэўскай: https://skaryna.org/lastou/ .

Дыхтоўны альбом адкрывае чытацтву ўнікальную калекцыю фотаматэрыялаў, сабраных этнаграфічнай экспэдыцыяй пад кіраўніцтвам Вацлава Ластоўскага на Случчыне і Мазыршчыне. У ёй прадстаўленыя выявы з арыгінальнага альбома экспэдыцыі 1928 г., які захоўваецца ў Бібліятэцы і музэі імя Францішка Скарыны ў Лёндане.

Вечарам меў мажлівасць пазнаёміцца з масіўным альбомам, пераплеценым у чырвоны аксаміт. У ім знаходзіцца каля трохсот фатаграфій, зробленых удзельнікамі этнаграфічнай экспедыцыі на Случчыну ў канцы 20-х гадоў. Дзякуючы гэтым здымкам захаваліся ўзоры народнага адзення, дойлідства. Зафіксаваны творы мастацтва, рэчы хатняга ўжытку. Бясцэнны скарб для гісторыкаў культуры! (Адам Мальдзіс "З літаратуразнаўчых вандраванняў")

Online event: Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Andrej Svorenčík: Between the East and the West: The Life and Work of Alfred Zauberman

 Online event: Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, Andrej Svorenčík: Between the East and the West: The Life and Work of Alfred Zauberman - April 11 2024, 16:00 CET, zoom

On behalf of the organizers, I am pleased to extend an invitation to join us for a seminar exploring the history of Polish Sovietology during the Cold War.

Our upcoming session will be conducted via Zoom on April 11, 2024, at 4 pm Warsaw time.

During this session, Prof. Jesús Fernández-Villaverde and Dr. Andrej Svorenčík from the University of Pennsylvania will present a paper titled "Between the East and the West: The Life and Work of Alfred Zauberman." Dr. Damian Bębnowski from the University of Łódź will offer commentary.

Please note that the seminar will be conducted in English. Should you wish to participate, reach out to Oleksandr Avramchuk at avramchukop@gmail.com. Zoom links will be distributed a few days prior to the event.

This seminar series is organized as part of the NCN project entitled "Diffused Experts’ Networks: The Destiny and Accomplishments of Polish Sovietologists in Exile during the Cold War" (no. 2021/41/B/HS3/01944), in collaboration with the "Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre" Centre in Lublin and the Historia BEZ KITU channel.

Best regards,

Oleksandr Avramchuk

online event: Pampered captives: Elephants in Saint Petersburg Imperial Menageries in the Long 19th Century

online event:  Pampered captives: Elephants in Saint Petersburg Imperial Menageries in the Long 19th Century, April 24, 9:00-11:00 CST; 16:00-18:00 CET. Registration: 

Presenters: Marianna Szczygielska (Institute of Ethnology, CAS, Prague) and Anastasia Fedotova (Institute for the History of Science and Technology, St. Petersburg)

Discussant: Nigel Rothfels (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

Chair: Maria Pirogovskaya (European University in St Petersburg)

Organizer: Anastasia Fedotova 

Between 1796 and 1896 a total of nine elephants arrived in Saint Petersburg. These extraordinary animals were sent to the tsar and his heir as diplomatic gifts by dignitaries from Iran, Bukhara, Siam, and Abyssinia. The first three arrivals were placed in the so-called Hunting Yard (nowadays Saint Petersburg downtown), but later a special elephant enclosure was built in the gardens of the Tsarskoye Selo imperial residence. A host of dedicated caretakers and veterinarians attended to the needs of each animal. As avatars of power (Pirogovskaya 2024), these elephants were pampered rather than just enslaved (Robbins 2002). Our presentation explores the regimes of keeping and caring for elephants in the capital of the Russian Empire in the long nineteenth century. We start with discussing the logistics of moving the huge inhabitants of the tropics to North-Eastern Europe. Based on archival documents, we follow the lives of these nine elephants, as well as the people who served as their keepers to reconstruct the conditions of caring for these precious animal gifts. By focusing on the elephants’ diets, their veterinary care, and welfare, we analyze the expertise that laid the foundation for keeping elephants in the imperial menagerie. We do so in order to compare this ‘pampered’ elephant captivity with the conditions available for these animals in public zoological gardens and menageries in Russia and abroad. This comparison will highlight the role of political patronage and resources in captive elephant management beyond Western colonialism.  

Konrad Morawski, Toward a Universal Science. Sculpted and Painted Decorations in the Library of King Jan III at the Wilanów Palace

 Konrad Morawski, Toward a Universal Science. Sculpted and Painted Decorations in the Library of King Jan III at the Wilanów Palace, Warszawa 2023, ISBN 978-83-66104-98-3. URL: https://sklep.wilanow-palac.pl/pl/p/Toward-a-Universal-Science.-Sculpted-and-Painted-Decorations-in-the-Library-of-King-Jan-III-at-the-Wilanow-Palace/566 .

This book attempts to decipher the contents of the decorations inside Jan III’s library while partially reconstructing the history of its creation. The analysis of particular works of art and contextual studies enabled the formulation of certain conclusions concerning the original arrangement of the decorations and their ideological significance. One substantial contribution of this study is the identification of graphical sources used by those who furnished the room.

Call for papers: XI World Congress (International Council for Central and East European Studies)

-

International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES) (British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies / UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies), WC1H 0AL London (United Kingdom), 21-25 July 2025, Deadline: 31.10.2024. URL: https://www.iccees2025.org/ .

‘Disruption’

The International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES) is proud to announce that its upcoming XI World Congress will be hosted by University College London around the theme of “disruption”. The regions covered by ICCEES are currently navigating a period of profound change and rupture, particularly in the aftermath of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Recent events have shown the need to disrupt conventional approaches to thinking about, studying, and researching these regions – their histories, cultures, languages, politics, economics, infrastructures, and societies.  Place-specific knowledge is as vital as ever in understanding how local and regional processes interact with transregional and global dynamics. At the same time, the need to reassess our methodologies, assumptions, and perspectives has never been more urgent. It is against this backdrop of transformation that we invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners to engage in conversations that push the boundaries of conventional understandings of past events and contemporary developments.

Hosted by University College London (UCL), an institution synonymous with disruptive thinking since its establishment in 1826, and the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), whose mission is to promote multidisciplinary, critical area studies, the ICCEES 2025 World Congress will provide an ideal setting for a conference centring on the idea of disruption. SSEES is the UK's largest institution for research and teaching on Central, Eastern, and South-East Europe, the Baltics, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. The School is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of academic staff devoted to the study of this broad cluster of regions, with some 80 academics engaging in teaching and research in the fields of politics, sociology, economics, business, history, languages, literature, and culture, all underpinned by a commitment to language-based, critical area studies.

ICCEES welcomes paper, panel, and roundtable proposals with an area-specific focus as well as positioned within disciplinary and interdisciplinary frameworks. These disciplines and areas include, but are not limited to: Politics; History; Sociology; Geography; Film and Media; Languages and Linguistics; Literatures and Cultures; Anthropology; Economics; Baltic Studies; Black Sea Studies; Caucasus Studies; Central Asian Studies; Central and East European Studies; Habsburg Studies; Polish Studies; Russian Studies; Siberian Studies; South-East European Studies; Ukrainian Studies. We particularly encourage proposals that help push forward efforts to decentre and decolonise the study of the region.

The conference especially welcomes the participation of postgraduate research students and early career scholars.

The conference organisers also look forward to proposals for thematic colloquiums that can be held as part of the conference. If you would like to propose a colloquium, please email the conference organisers at academic.organisers@basees.org

Remote attendance:

We are welcoming remote paper presentations. If you wish to attend remotely, please indicate so when submitting your proposal. However, we cannot accept fully remote panels. The Chair of a panel, who can also be one of the presenters, must attend the conference in-person to lead the session and facilitate the discussion. We are operating a limited hybrid model. Delegates registering for remote attendance will be able to present their paper via Zoom and listen into all paper/panels. Full hybrid, i.e. using special 360° camera, mic and speaker equipment, will only be available in a small number of rooms.

The submission platform will open on June 1, 2024. The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2024. Information regarding registration fees and available travel grants/scholarships will be published in June 2024.

Venue:

UCL Institute of Education

20 Bedford Way,

London WC1H 0AL

Pavlíček Tomáš, W., Hyklová Petra, Šolc Martin: Astronomers behind the Iron Curtain. Open access

 Pavlíček Tomáš, W., Hyklová Petra, Šolc Martin: Astronomers behind the Iron Curtain: The First Postwar Generation in Czechoslovakia. Prague: Matfyzpress 2024. ISBN: 978-80-7378-507-9

Open access: https://matfyzpress.cz/data/web/astronomers-behind-iron-curtain2.pdf

The inauguration of the two-metre telescope at Ondřejov observatory and the 13th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Prague in 1967 was an important turning point in astronomy. After the discovery of quasars, new methods of observation were discussed, and the Space Race between two Cold War rivals was culminating. Luboš Perek, father of the mirror reflector and mastermind of the congress, became a leader of the generation of scholars and the Director of the Astronomical Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

The formation of the generation was specific with regard to the war experience. This book shows how students of astronomy became experts and brought their knowledge into society using public observatories as places for the promotion of modern science.