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The main academic event of 2011 – International Congress of Belarusian Studies
(September 23-25, 2011, Kaunas, Lithuania)
Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the establishment of the International Congress of Belarusian Studies. The congress was founded by Belarusian and Lithuanian academic community representatives as annual public event oriented on intellectual community as well as on wide civil society circles of Belarus and other countries: experts, journalists, civil activists, students etc.
The Congress was initiated to integrate researchers and experts in social sciences and humanities as well as to promote deeper understanding of Belarus in academic and social centers of the region and all over the world.
The Congress will be a place of presentation of scholarly and research work during the year. Moreover, the Congress will discuss important research and civil projects, facilitate exchange of opinions and ideas, and establishment of informal contacts.
The Congress will help to think over and systemise the outcomes of research and expert activities and encourage the practice of mutual cooperation and communication.
Disciplinary priority of the congress: political science, sociology, history, intellectual history and history of ideas.
The Congress combines traditional academic activities with expert panels and public discussions on important issues of Belarusian politics, culture, society, regional and international cooperation.
The preliminary issues of interdisciplinary and public discussions: Belarus and politics in the region (Central and Eastern Europe), Soviet past in Belarus and the region, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a factor of contemporary politics and culture, “Belarusian model of development”: the experience of independence period.
More than 100 scholars and researchers and specialists from Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and other countries are expected to take part in the event.
The Congress will work 3 days on September 23-25, 2011.
A number of additional activities will be held during the congress (concerts, exhibitions, public debates, presentations), to attract the attention of media and increase the potential audience.
The main working languages of the Congress are Belarusian, English and Lithuanian (there will be simultaneous translation on these languages during plenary and joint sessions). Additional languages of communication are Russian and Polish. Spokespersons can present abstracts and make presentations in Belarusian, English, Lithuanian, Polish and Russian.
The Congress participants will have an opportunity to publish their abstracts.
Programme of the First International Congress of Belarusian Studies:
Section 1. Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Fact and Idea
Section 2. The Belarusian Model – Summing Up Two Decades
Section 3. Belarus: Foreign Policy and Regional Cooperation
Section 4. Nation in Central-Eastern Europe: Society and Identity
Section 5. Memory and the Relevance of the Past: Belarus and Central-Eastern Europe
Section 6. Belarusian Culture – Strategy in Contemporary Society
Section 7. Social Strategies and Strategies in Media
Section 8. Diversity Policies and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe