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TCD Public Lecture Series: Understanding Europe’s East – an introduction to the History and Culture of Europe’s Underexplored Eastern Regions (Spring 2024)

The series was organised by the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies, Trinity College, Dublin in partnership with the DU Eastern European Society and the DU History Society. It was part-funded by the TCD Faculty Events Fund (FAHSS).

The goal of the series was to provide a general introduction to some of the histories and cultures from the eastern part of our continent.

The recorded lectures are available to watch on YouTube.

    • Bulgaria: Pride, Shame and Guile in the Blank Spot of the Balkans (Dimitar Kambourov, Trinity College Dublin) - Thursday, 22 February 2024.
    • Kosovo: Conflict, Peace, and its Ambiguous Future (Gëzim Visoka, Dublin City University) - Thursday, 29 February 2024.
    • Estonia: Identity Narratives in the post-Soviet Era (the 1990s) (Heiko Pääbo, University of Tartu, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, Estonia) - Thursday, 14 March 2024.
    • Romania: Humanitarian aid and care to child refugees during the Cold War (Beatrice Scutaru, Dublin City University) – Thursday 21 March 2024.
    • Transnistria: Re-examining its Origins and Prospects for the Future - (Keith Harrington, Trinity College Dublin) – Thursday 28 March 2024.
    • Moldova: Jews and the Politics of Citizenship, 1960-1990 (Irina Nicorici, independent scholar, Chisinau, Moldova) – Thursday 4 April 2024.
    • Hungary: Political Leadership Cults from Emperor Franz Joseph to the present day (Balázs Apor, Trinity College Dublin) – Thursday 11 April 2024

    Countries in the east of our continent may seem from our point of view to be ‘on the periphery’ - an eastern periphery, admittedly, rather than our own western one… In another sense, however, the countries discussed in this lecture series lie at the very epicentre of today’s global events, located as they are on a fault line of heightened geopolitical seismic activity. A recurring theme in the series is the constant tension between nation states and empire, as well as the fragility of the ‘nation-state’ itself – buffeted as it is by competing claims of ethnicity and religious affiliation, or indeed of revanchist empire building.

    We find ourselves once again at a juncture when the map of Europe threatens to be redrawn. It is a familiar feeling because we have been here before: after Versailles in 1918, again after Potsdam in 1945 and once again after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. And with border changes come population displacement and mass migration – meaning that issues of citizenship and national identity must be confronted at the individual level.

    In the first lecture Dimitar Kambourov (#1) explained how Bulgarian identity has been formed by a complex mixture of pride (Simeon the Great and the Golden Century) and shame (Ottoman rule, World War II), resulting – he hoped – in a kind of dignity and self-acceptance. Gëzim Visoka (#2) celebrated the 16th anniversary of Kosovo’s existence as an independent state and described how his country had pushed the boundaries of state recognition. He outlined four potential future scenarios for Kosovo, the optimal being peace with Serbia and mutual recognition – with Kosovo exiting its limbo of semi-statehood and becoming a model case of post-conflict recovery.

    Heiko Pääbo (#3) spoke of Estonia’s experiences of occupation and independence in the 20th century and how two distinct ethnic communities – Estonian and Russian – are co-participants in a nation-building process in which nostalgia plays a major role. Beatrice Scutaru (#4) spoke about Romania during the Communist period as a provider rather than a recipient of international aid, through its programmes to help children displaced by conflict from Greece, North Korea and Chile. Keith Harrington (#5) spoke about his own personal experiences as a researcher in Transnistria, the ubiquity of Soviet-era monuments, the strong links between politics and oligarchs and the region’s relatively neutral approach to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

    Irina Nicorici (#6) looked at the question of citizenship in Moldova from a non-nationalist perspective, focusing on Moldova’s Jews and her research into patterns of re-immigration from Israel to Soviet Moldova during the Communist period. Balázs Apor (#7) spoke about the symbolic practices around the figure of the leader in Hungary from the period of Austro-Hungary through the interwar and Communist periods and right up to the present day. He focused on how the leadership cult is presented and marketed in different periods, the importance of the ‘father’ image to Hungarians and how historical legacy provides a part explanation for the cyclical reemergence of leader cults.