Call for Participation: International Conference

[Brita Ericson]

Social Sciences, Humanities and Higher Education in Eastern Europe after 1991 

The European Humanities University (EHU), and the Center for Advanced
Studies and Education, welcome submissions for an international conference –
Social Sciences, Humanities and Higher Education in Eastern Europe after
1991 – to be held in Vilnius, 14-16 June 2011.

The conference will be a consolidated reflection on the development of
social sciences,
humanities and education over twenty years in Eastern Europe. The dramatic
events of 1989 - 1991, coinciding with substantial social changes in the
world as a whole, forced the Eastern European intellectual community to
respond to a number of urgent challenges. The conditions of survival of
fragments of the formerly monolithic and unified system of science and
education were significantly different, which inevitably led to different
strategies of adaptation. The goal of the conference is not merely the
reconstruction of the general picture of this era of change, but rather to
provide a critical analysis of transformation processes and to attempt to
sketch in possible trends in future development.

The crash of the socialist system and Marxist ideology resulted in a
collapse of communist
social theory. What has filled this vacuum that suddenly appeared? To what
extent was the gap bridged between “communist” and “bourgeois” concepts
formed over decades? How has the language of social sciences and humanities
changed? And to what extent is it now sufficient as a means of scholarly
communication beyond the post-socialist space? What theoretical models could
be useful for Eastern European countries, taking into account that Western
social theory is not able to cope with its own challenges of modernity? 

The disintegration of the Soviet Union and other socialist states challenged
intellectual communities to construct adequate modern projects of
nation-building. Social sciences, humanities and education were given a
leading role in the revival of national identity and national languages. How
far have scholars fulfilled this mission? In what way do their practices of
working with post-colonial traumas relate to ideas of democracy and the
principles of civil society? 

The commercialization of higher education has primarily affected the spheres
of social sciences and humanities. The mass training of lawyers, economists,
diplomats, psychologists, etc. has had a strongly negative impact on the
quality of education. In turn, this has resulted in a decline in prestige
and a devaluation not only of the social sciences and humanities, but of
higher education in general. Are there mechanisms to counter these trends?
Are there current examples of the successful management of quality in
education in the fields of social sciences and humanities? What forms of
education development are able to respond to new trends in the area of
knowledge? What is the role of network universities, and the European
Humanities University in particular, in these processes? 

Post-communist reality has led to the erosion of old forms of research
management within Academies of Sciences. A number of parallel and
alternative projects provoked ever increasing fragmentation of intellectual
communities. What is the destiny of research institutions of the soviet era?
Are there successful models of modernization of this sector? What role do
scholarly journals play in transformations of social sciences and
humanities? To what extent do academic periodicals contribute to the
development of intellectual communities? 

In the past twenty years the context of the individual academic career has
substantially changed. In a number of post-socialist states soviet
institutions like the Higher Attestation Committee (or VAK) still play an
enormous role in academic life. Should VAK be transformed or eliminated
altogether? How is the quality of research to be maintained if so?

Suggested panels: 

*The languages of social sciences and humanities: a regional context to the
European outlook 

*Codes of interdisciplinarity: views on cooperation between the social
sciences and humanities 

*Language, identity and education in Eastern Europe after 1991:
(re)constructing of national identity 

*Higher education and the knowledge society: practices of transformation
under conditions of uncertainty 

*Network universities in the context of the new agenda of the knowledge
society: the case of EHU 

*After the Academy (of Science): the destinies of learned institutions in
post-soviet Eastern Europe

Eligibility:
Researchers and educators from Eastern Europe, as well as Western
specialists concerned with current transformations in social sciences and
humanities

Conference language: English

Application submission:
Conference participants should send the application form (below), an
abstract of 250 words and a CV to research.division at ehu.lt

Abstract Submission Deadline: March 30, 2011

Successful applicants will be notified by April 11, 2011

Terms and conditions:
There is no registration fee.

Conference organizers will cover the participants’ expenses for
accommodation and some
meals.

The European Humanities University will assist the participants in obtaining
their visas.
Contact us for further information: research.division at ehu.lt

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