Blondrit Demiri, M.A. Southeast European Studies, Jena; Aris Dougas, M.A. Southeast European Studies, Graz; Rebekah Manlove, B.A. Southeast European Studies Jena; Gresa Morina, M.A. East European Studies, Regensburg; Johannes Nüßer, M.A. East European Studies, Regensburg; Anna Richter, M.A. East European Studies, Regensburg, Vanja Tadić, M.A. Southeast European Studies, Graz
Organiser: Southeast European Studies Student Symposium and Southeast Europe Association
Date and location: 31 March – 1 April 2023, online via Zoom
The Southeast European Studies (SEES) Student Symposium originated as an initiative by students from the universities of Graz, Jena and Regensburg. It aimed at providing an opportunity for networking among SEES students and researchers who have a subject-related connection to Southeast Europe. Furthermore, it was conceptualised as a platform for exchange and feedback on current research papers and projects, thus resulting in a wide range of topics. The first edition of the SEES Student Symposium was held online on Friday, 31 March and Saturday, 1 April 2023. In total, 76 people registered for both days of the Symposium, including 16 presenters that were previously selected through an application process. Of the registrations, approximately 90 % of participants are currently enrolled at a university, with 49 % enrolled in a master’s degree. While the majority of registered participants came from Germany and Greece, the Symposium was attended by participants coming from 19 different countries.
Ημερομηνία και τόπος διεξαγωγής: Παρασκευή 31 Μαρτίου - Σάββατο 1 Απριλίου 2023, διαδικτυακά μέσω Zoom
Το Φοιτητικό Συμπόσιο Σπουδών Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης (SEES Student Symposium) προέκυψε ως πρωτοβουλία σπουδαστών από τα πανεπιστήμια του Γκρατς, της Ιένας και του Ρέγκενσμπουργκ. Στόχος του ήταν να αποτελέσει βήμα δικτύωσης μεταξύ φοιτητών και ερευνητών οι οποίοι σχετίζονται ερευνητικά με την Νοτιοανατολική Ευρώπη. Επίσης, το συνέδριο λειτούργησε ως πλατφόρμα ανταλλαγής ιδεών και ανατροφοδότησης σχετικά με τα τρέχοντα ερευνητικά ενδιαφέροντα και μελέτες των συμμετεχόντων και κατέληξε σε ένα ευρύ φάσμα θεμάτων. Η πρώτη συνάντηση του Φοιτητικού Συμπόσιου Σπουδών Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης πραγματοποιήθηκε διαδικτυακά την Παρασκευή 31 Μαρτίου και το Σάββατο 1 Απριλίου 2023. Συνολικά, 76 άτομα εγγράφηκαν και για τις δύο ημέρες του Συμποσίου, μεταξύ των οποίων 16 ομιλητές που είχαν προηγουμένως επιλεχθεί στο πλαίσιο της διαδικασίας αίτησης. Γνωρίζουμε πως το 90 % των συμμετεχόντων είναι επί του παρόντος φοιτητές σε πανεπιστήμιο, με το 49 % να είναι εγγεγραμμένοι σε μεταπτυχιακό πανεπιστημιακό πρόγραμμα. Ενώ η πλειονότητα των εγγεγραμμένων συμμετεχόντων προέρχεται από τη Γερμανία και την Ελλάδα, παρόντος στο συνέδριο ήταν συμμετέχοντες από 19 διαφορετικές χώρες.
Day 1, Room 1
The Symposium kicked off on Friday morning with a presentation by Pauline Haak (Jena) titled “The Optimists. Family, Violence and Marginality in Migration Narratives of Romanian Women”. Pauline’s bachelor’s thesis research focuses on the perspectives of Romanian migrant women from marginalized socio-economic backgrounds in Halle, Germany. Through interviews, she was able to examine these women’s experiences of intersectional discrimination in Germany.
The second panel started with Julia Leimeister (Fulda) presenting her current Bachelor thesis project on “The Not-Diaspora”, or the Romanian diaspora in Germany. Focusing on the research question “what are the social mechanisms behind Romanians’ disappointment in their diasporic community?”, Julia provided an in-depth analysis of the self-construction of the Romanian diaspora in Germany and its “In- and Out Groups”, thereby observing that there is no perception of a closely-knitted, collaborating Romanian diaspora in Germany. The second panellist was Erza Plava (Jena). During the presentation of her master’s project “The Kosovo Albanian Diasporas Impact on the Kosovo Conflict”, the role of the diaspora as peacemaker vs. peacewrecker was discussed in the theoretical framework of international relations. The main focus was therefore on the Kosovo Albanian diaspora in the three main centres of that time: Germany, Switzerland, and the USA.
Day 1, Room 2
In Room 2, the first panel opened with a presentation by Laura Schatz (Graz) named “Gender and Ethnicity in EU Enlargement Policy. An Intersectional Analysis of IPA II Funding in North Macedonia”. This is the result of ongoing research for her master’s thesis. By analysing policy documents and complementing the analysis with 18 semi-structured interviews, Laura identified a lack of transparency in IPA funding structures and an overall lack of intersectionality. Furthermore, Sonja Stojadinović (Graz) discussed her research on “Chinese and EU conditionalities in investments in the Western Balkans: Similarities and Differences“. To analyse the description of Chinese presence’s rise in infrastructure investments in Croatia, Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia, she examines academic sources regarding Chinese and EU infrastructure investments in the Western Balkans, mainly in the form of loans and grants.
The second panel started with a presentation by Grégoire Soria-Metais (Brussels), on “Business and State Capture in Serbia’s Media Environment: A Strategy for Capturing the Fourth Power“. Grégoire introduced the phenomenon of ‘state capture’ as the reason for politicised media in Serbia. He then focused on conceptualising a new variant of state capture in Serbia, in which actors are less focused on enriching themselves. The second presentation, held by Sophia Freidhoff (Regensburg), focused on “The Political Instrumentalization of the Romanian Revolution in 1989 in the Media”. Working on the influence of “telerevolution”, Sophia analyses up to 500 video resources in Romanian from the archive of the state broadcaster TVR from December 22 to December 31, 1989. Further analysis is set to focus on newspaper articles.
Workshop 1: “Working with Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopaedia and the Humanities” (Zurich). The workshop began asking what the participants’ experiences with Wikipedia are and for what do they use the platform. Afterwards, the participants were presented with facts about Wikipedia. In the further course of the workshop, two strands of criticism on Wikipedia (conservatives and progressives) were discussed, including as factual errors and political bias/tendency. Afterwards, the participants were introduced to the central principles of Wikipedia and finally indicated how to edit articles in Wikipedia.
Workshop 2: “Reading Methods for Academic Texts on Roma in Southeast Europe” (Jena). Startingly, the participants were shown pictures to raise awareness of the participant’s biases. Ben Orendt then introduced the terms of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ and explained how they should be considered as a category when writing about the Roma minority as the term helps unveiling processes of racism and discrimination. The final part of the workshop consisted in analysing and discussing text excerpts by different authors to determine how the concepts ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ were applied.
Workshop 3: “Writing about Southeast Europe. Cliches, Creativity and Responsibility” (Lea Horvat and Ana Sekulić, Women* Write the Balkans (WWTB)). After a short introduction on the topic, participants analysed and reflected on possible biases, positionality, and characteristics of writing about the Balkans by focusing on four excerpts. The workshop’s participants then discussed their impressions in groups. In a second task, the participants were given 10 minutes to write about their relation to and perception of the Balkans freely and individually. These texts were not disclosed but the participants were asked to express the feelings they experienced while writing them with the group.
Day 2, Room 1
The second day of the Symposium started with a presentation by Johannes Nüßer (Regensburg) on his current master thesis project “The Environmental Consequences of Building the Hydro Power Plant Iron Gates/ Djerdap/ Porţile de Fier from Romanian and Yugoslav Perspectives”. In his research, the newspaper Politika and România Libera are analysed for similarities and differences in reporting on the Hydro Power Plant. Furthermore, Eleftheria Tanka (Nicosia) talked about “The content of the Set of Ideas of Boutros-Boutros Ghali and of the Annan Plan and the internal political circumstances that influenced the attitudes of the Greek Cypriots” and presented the two plans for Cyprus and their reception on the island. The main focus of the presentation was the development of the hypothesis that the internal political circumstances led the Greek Cypriot community to reject both plans.
The second panel was opened by Simon Campbell (Belgrade/Graz) presenting his current research on “How railway infrastructure at Serbia’s northern borders enfolds affective relationships of mobility and racialisation for people-on-the-move”. Describing the current situation at the EU’s external borders (border violence and pushbacks), Simon linked the current railway routes to deportation trains from the past during WWII (camps, prisoners etc.) and to slavery and imperialism. Afterwards, Elpida Vlaidiki (Piraeus), presented her research on “Management of the Education for Syrian Refugee Children in Turkey since 2011: the Role of the EU and the UN”. Through a multilevel governance approach and by using databases of the Ministry of National Education Turkey, the World Bank, the EU, and UNHCR, Elpida identifies three phases of education policies in Turkey for Syrian refugee children. By analysing qualitative and quantitative data through a comparative approach, she builds on the hypothesis that the contribution of major international organisations is crucial in managing education for refugees.
Day 2, Room 2
In his presentation on the soon-to-be-published monograph “Censorship of Translated Literature in Totalitarian Albania. Case: “Robinson Crusoe””, Ledio Hala (Munich) examines several Albanian-language versions of Robinson Crusoe as an example for censorship in totalitarian states. The presentation included an introduction to the concepts of ‘ideological atheism’ vs ‘western atheism’ and the Soviet publication criteria system, Glawlit.
Workshop: “Science blogging Opportunities and Challenges of Open Science for Young Researchers in the Humanities” (Thomas Schad, Berlin). After discussing the definition of open science and the field’s history, Schad shared his experiences in science blogging. Furthermore, the guest trainer Vincent Vaessen exhibited the structuring and publishing of a blog entry.
In the networking meeting, we managed to connect with other participants by answering questions about our studies and the region in breakout rooms. We first opened the session with some warm-up games and then discussed topics related to Southeast Europe in breakout sessions, which helped participants connect with others in a more informal way.
Keynote: “From Popular Uprisings to Electoral Campaigns: Affective Politics of Anti-Government Alliances and Protests under Turkey’s Authoritarian Transformation” (Derya Özkaya, Graz). Building on multi-sited ethnography, Derya Özkaya elaborated on the transformative potential and the challenges posed by the affective constellation conjured up in different protest events against Turkey’s authoritarian regime. Despite this quite gloomy topic, the focus on ‘hope’ as an emotion with a potential for positive change brought the Symposium to a wholesome end.
Overall, the first edition of the SEES Student Symposium successfully fulfilled its promise of connecting students interested in Southeast Europe. The presentations and the productive discussions that ensued, as well as the input from workshops and keynotes led to new thought-provoking insights and new connections with lovely people all over Europe.
Bercken, William van den: Ideology and Atheism in the Soviet Union, Berlin, Boston 1988
Charim, Isolde and Auer Borea, Gertraud: Lebensmodell Diaspora: Über moderne Nomaden, Bielefeld 2012
Menga Filippo: Building a nation through a dam: the case of Rogun in Tajikistan, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2014.924489
Yıldız, Can and Genova, Nicholas De: Un/Free mobility: Roma migrants in the European Union, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2017.1335819
Srebrenica mahnt – doch manche deutsche Politiker vergessen. Markus Söder schüttelt die Hand von Vučić, der den Genozid leugnet, während Bayern selbst Kritiker mundtot macht und Studierende exmatrikulieren will. Was ist „Nie wieder“ noch wert, wenn es nur eine politische Waffe ist?
read articleIn den letzten Jahren hat sich die europäische Migrationspolitik zu einem hochumstrittenen Thema entwickelt, das nicht nur die Mitgliedsstaaten der Europäischen Union (EU), sondern auch Drittstaaten in den politischen und moralischen Fokus rückt. Die italienische Regierung unter Ministerpräsidentin Giorgia Meloni verfolgt dabei einen besonders provokanten Ansatz: Asylverfahren sollen erstmals außerhalb der EU abgewickelt werden – in Lagern in Albanien.
read articleAlbania is currently undergoing a dynamic development and is high on Germany's foreign policy agenda. The international symposium aimed to discuss new perspectives on Albanian Studies at the University of Regensburg (UR) and beyond. We wanted to explore new perspectives for Albanian studies. In the field of linguistics, current issues of multilingualism, language policy and public discourse were discussed. Albanian is an important language of origin in Germany. In the area of literature and culture, we talked about Albanian literature under totalitarianism and transnational literature, based on Albanian authors in migration who write in foreign languages
read articleNicht nur auf der Baustelle arbeiteten die rumänischen Arbeiter Hand in Hand mit ihren deutschen Kollegen. Auch abseits des Arbeitsalltags suchten sie nach Möglichkeiten, sich in die Regensburger Gemeinschaft zu integrieren. Eine Leidenschaft verband sie dabei besonders: der Fußball.
read articleAt the beginning of June, Croatian and German flags flew over Imotski, a town in southern Croatia, as citizens gathered for a two-day celebration. They celebrated the unveiling of the “Mercedes” monument, a life-size replica of the Mercedes 115, popularly known as “Minika”.
read articlePolitics can be regarded as the art of words. Words not only express views and values but also reveal potential and planned activities and incite specific actions. Discourses about EUrope are particularly revealing in that regard, not only at election time.
read articleDaniel Stoyanov, aka Bulgarian Cartrader, is a rising star on the indiepop scene in Germany. Born in Bulgaria in 1986, he grew up in Germany since he was four. The text provides insights into his two key passions, music and cars. Following in his father's footsteps, he developed a liking for cars when he was young. As for his music, Bulgarian Cartrader has an exceptional talent for combining contemporary genres. His texts are autobiographical, reflecting, amongst other things, on his Bulgarian roots. Ger Duijzings has been intrigued by his alter-ego, exploring Daniel's life and music.
read articleThe Southeast European Studies (SEES) Student Symposium originated as an initiative by students from the universities of Graz, Jena and Regensburg. The overarching aim of the Symposium is to provide an opportunity for networking among undergraduate and graduate students who have a subject-related connection to Southeast Europe.
read articleAls Fellow kann man seinen Dienstort eine Zeit lang gegen einen Ort im Ausland eintauschen. Im Idealfall dient dies nicht allein der Materialsuche, sondern auch der besseren Vernetzung mit Kolleginnen und Kollegen aus der Region und allemal der Erweiterung des persönlichen Horizonts. In meinem Fall standen Prishtina und Skopje auf dem Reiseplan, zwei Hauptstädte Südosteuropas, die ich aufgrund von Archivrecherchen aufsuchte.
read articleDie Brücke „Stari Most“, ein Wahrzeichen der Stadt Mostar aus der osmanischen Zeit, die sich über dem Neretva-Fluss in Bosnien und Herzegowina befindet, verbindet die zwei Stadtteile miteinander. Die Brücke wurde im Laufe des Kroatisch-Bosniakischen Kriegs zerstört. Seit dem Wiederaufbau im Jahre 2004 wird sie gerne als Symbol für die Versöhnung der Gesellschaft präsentiert.
read articleSoziale Medien sind als Quelle für Nachrichten, Unterhaltung und Kommunikation allgegenwärtig. Mittlerweile gehören sie auch in der Wissenschaft zum Alltag dazu. Während sie in erster Linie als Plattform zur Verbreitung von Forschungsergebnissen betrachtet werden, bieten sie sich zugleich als vielseitige Datenquellen und interessanten Forschungsgegenstand an.
read articleSprache beziehungsweise Kommunikation ist ein entscheidendes Mittel der Politik. So ist sie selbstverständlich geprägt durch Wettbewerb und die Konfrontation verschiedener Meinungen. In der Öffentlichkeit ist diese Konkurrenz stets zu erkennen, wie etwa in Talkshows, aber auch in Form von Vandalismus im Stadtbild. Über 10 Tage habe ich eigenhändig nationalistische Zeichen in Form von Graffitis, Stickern, Flaggen und Werbeplakaten beobachtet und in Verbindung mit ähnlichem Forschungsstand gebracht.
read articleWenn man sich mit dem Begriff des „Hässlichen“ auseinandersetzt, bietet es sich an, zunächst das Konzept des „Schönen“ und die Ästhetik zu betrachten. Immanuel Kant, einer der Urväter...
read articleHaving claimed more than 22,000 casualties, the memory of the Homeland War still looms large in the social and political landscape almost 25 years later. One issue of particular concern has to do with the branitelji, or ‘defenders’ – those citizens who are officially recognised as having fought for the Croatian armed forces in that conflict.
read articleAs the upcoming general elections in Serbia takes center in the political stage, approximately 6.5 million voters are poised to make their voices heard on the 17th of December, marking yet another chapter in the nation's electoral history.
read articleGlobale Verständigung ist ein Kunststück – vor allem dann, wenn Wörter zwar gleich aussehen, aber in jeder Region ihre eigene Bedeutung haben. So meinen die politischen Begriffe Rechts und Links in Lateinamerika nicht dasselbe wie in Südosteuropa. Die Missverständnisse, die sich daraus ergeben, haben historische Ursachen, die bis in die Kolonialzeit zurückgehen...
read articleIn contrast to the persecution of Jews during the Second World War, that of Roma was not as well-organised and prepared, nor as systematic. Rather, while Roma faced constant discrimination, their erasure...
read articleWhile in recent years, Southeast European Studies has become more sophisticated due to conceptual restructuring, it is important to acknowledge that many significant challenges lay ahead of us. Some of these were discussed during the first Southeast European Studies Forum...
read articleIn Romania, plastic waste is highly visible and engenders various reactions, from indifference to debate and action. In April 2021, Mara (woman, cultural journalist, mid-thirties), posted on Facebook a photo ...
read articleEin Schrottauto fährt los auf einer holprigen Straße in den Bergen und gleich läuft dem Fahrer auch noch ein Esel entgegen. Dazu Musik von Blechbläsern und feurige Rhythmen...
read articleHistorians of corruption claim that, although direct lessons cannot be derived from the past, the phenomenon of corruption can be better understood if we study it historically. On the one hand, today's activities regarded as corrupt were not specific to countries seen as corrupt. On the other hand, successful anticorruption is a historical, protracted process determined by a multitude of factors in a particular historical configuration.
read articleOrganizacije poput Francuske alijanse Osijek i Cercle francais d'Osijek doprinijele su promicanju francuskog jezika i kulture, te su postale važna mjesta za okupljanje francuskih državljana i lokalnog stanovništva zainteresiranog za francuski jezik i kulturu.
read articleSince the Kosovo War ended on June 10th, 1999, the international community has allocated an extensive amount of official development assistance (ODA) to transform Kosovo from a territory with minimal critical infrastructure into...
read articleKasëm Trebeshina war ein albanischer Autor, Dissident und politischer Gegner von Enver Hoxha. Trotz seines eigenen kommunistischen Hintergrundes hatte er ein Problem mit der nationalen Zensurpolitik unter dem kommunistischen Regime und schrieb ein Memorandum an Hoxha, für das er verhaftet...
read articleRomania. The country, which has been a member of the European Union since 2007, usually receives little attention in the western media. However, since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine...
read articleMemory wars in Croatia are often triggered by the presence of the World War Two „Ready for the Homeland“ (Za dom spremni) Ustaša salute, from its use by right-wing politicians and war veterans...
read articleKy punim është pjesë e monografisë sime “Censura e letërsisë së përkthyer në Shqipërinë totalitare: rasti Robinson Kruzo”,...
read articleAls Ehefrau des albanischen Diktators Enver Hoxha bleibt Nexhmije Hoxha in der Forschung häufig unbeachtet. Dennoch verfügte sie über eine einflussreiche Stellung...
read articleRat u Ukrajini probudio je sjećanja na ratove u bivšoj Jugoslaviji; i u meni, jer sam bio u Jugoslaviji kad su počeli ratovi. U ožujku 2022., samo dvanaest dana nakon početka ruske invazije, primio sam telefonski poziv od Pavla, starog prijatelja iz davnih dana, kao da se duh iz prošlosti vratio da mi kaže: “Bok, rat se opet vratio!"...
read articleIn November 2002, the city of Belgrade announced a sculptural design competition for a memorial dedicated to the ‘fallen fighters and victims’ of the Yugoslav wars during the 1990s. In response to this, a group of artists...
read articleSanja Iveković ist eine Künstlerin die seit den 70ern für ihre - damals wie heute - neuartige und provokante Kunst bekannt ist: Neuartig im Einsatz verschiedenster Medien und provokant vor allem durch ihre Themen. Sie polarisierte weltweit mit Werken zu...
read articleThe fight against corruption ‘adorns’, as we know, the project of European integration. But in the current context of multiple crises, it may lose some of its urgency, especially when corruption helps to ‘save the day’...
read articleZwischen 2018 und 2020 wurde eine Gruppe von sechs rumänischen Bauarbeitern aus der Region Botoșani, sowie ihre Angehörigen, im Rahmen einer Masterarbeit über mehrere Monate bei ihrem Versuch...
read articleWestliche Musik und Kultur, soziale Medien und amerikanische Filme – die serbische Jugend scheint der kyrillischen Schrift den Rücken gekehrt zu haben. Möchte man den Schlagzeilen der serbischen Boulevardpresse...
read articleDuring the summer term 2022, students of the University of Regensburg had the opportunity to take part in a week- long excursion to Serbia. They visited the capital...
read articlePressefreiheit gilt als einer der zentralen Indikatoren für eine demokratische Gesellschaft. Aus gutem Grund, unabhängige Berichterstattung über...
read articleDie Stadt Belgrad ist bunt. Es liegt der Geruch von Farbe in der Luft und selbst dem ungeschulten Auge wird schnell deutlich, dass es kaum eine Hauswand gibt, die in ihrem Originalzustand belassen wurde...
read article
