Events / Program: Eurasia in Global Dialogue

	Title	Date	Type	Speakers
	Putin’s Memory War. Russia’s Battles over the History of World War II	Tue, 26.01.2021	Lecture	Clemena Antonova Sergei Medvedev Timothy Snyder	Putin’s Memory War. Russia’s Battles over the History of World War II Tue, 26.01.2021 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Sergei Medvedev Timothy Snyder Series: Lecture In the past decade, memory politics has become greatly contested. Russia under Putin launched a major propaganda offensive ahead of the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II (8 May in the rest of the world, 9 May in Russia), aiming to fight the “falsifications” of war history by the West, and to deny the crimes of Stalinism during the War. This presentation explored the implications of this memory war on Russia’s relations with Europe, and its role in legitimizing the ruling regime. Read more
Putin’s Memory War. Russia’s Battles over the History of World War II Tue, 26.01.2021 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Sergei Medvedev Timothy Snyder Series: Lecture In the past decade, memory politics has become greatly contested. Russia under Putin launched a major propaganda offensive ahead of the 75th anniversary of victory in World War II (8 May in the rest of the world, 9 May in Russia), aiming to fight the “falsifications” of war history by the West, and to deny the crimes of Stalinism during the War. This presentation explored the implications of this memory war on Russia’s relations with Europe, and its role in legitimizing the ruling regime. Read more
	Junior Visiting Fellows' Conference Winter 2020	Thu, 17.12.2020	Conferences and Workshops		Junior Visiting Fellows' Conference Winter 2020 Thu, 17.12.2020 Speakers: Series: Conferences and Workshops Morning Session Moderator: Iryna Sklokina Read more

	Belarusian Protests: In Search of Democracy, or the Restructuring of State Institutions	Mon, 07.12.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Ludger Hagedorn Marci Shore Pavel Barkouski	Belarusian Protests: In Search of Democracy, or the Restructuring of State Institutions Mon, 07.12.2020 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Marci Shore Pavel Barkouski Series: Seminars and Colloquia For more than 100 days in Minsk, citizens’ protests against the authorities, which falsified the results of the last presidential elections, have not subsided. Forms of suppression unprecedented in Europe – violence and brutality against protesters – have forced many citizens to reconsider their attitude to what is happening. If initially the protest was inspired by the desire to establish democratic mechanisms for the change of power, we are now talking about a more basic level of relations within the framework of the social contract. Citizens insist on a return to the meaning of constitutional rights. Read more
Belarusian Protests: In Search of Democracy, or the Restructuring of State Institutions Mon, 07.12.2020 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Marci Shore Pavel Barkouski Series: Seminars and Colloquia For more than 100 days in Minsk, citizens’ protests against the authorities, which falsified the results of the last presidential elections, have not subsided. Forms of suppression unprecedented in Europe – violence and brutality against protesters – have forced many citizens to reconsider their attitude to what is happening. If initially the protest was inspired by the desire to establish democratic mechanisms for the change of power, we are now talking about a more basic level of relations within the framework of the social contract. Citizens insist on a return to the meaning of constitutional rights. Read more
	Czernowitz as a Cultural Palimpsest	Mon, 09.11.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Clemena Antonova Igor Pomerantsev	Czernowitz as a Cultural Palimpsest Mon, 09.11.2020 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Igor Pomerantsev Series: Seminars and Colloquia Dissidents can be not only people, but towns. The architecture of Czernowitz in the Soviet empire was dissident. Walking past these buildings, living in them, you could not help but be infected by their spirit. It was a dissident town which gave us, its inhabitants, lessons in beauty, liberty, duty. Czernowitz was a quotation, from another epoch. Read more
Czernowitz as a Cultural Palimpsest Mon, 09.11.2020 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Igor Pomerantsev Series: Seminars and Colloquia Dissidents can be not only people, but towns. The architecture of Czernowitz in the Soviet empire was dissident. Walking past these buildings, living in them, you could not help but be infected by their spirit. It was a dissident town which gave us, its inhabitants, lessons in beauty, liberty, duty. Czernowitz was a quotation, from another epoch. Read more
	The Problem of Religious Art in Modernity	Wed, 14.10.2020 - Fri, 16.10.2020	Conferences and Workshops	Oleg Tarasov Tatiana LevinaMaria Taroutina, petra carlsson, George Pattison, Lilia Sokolova, Nikita Balagurov, Viktoria Lavriniuk, Thomas Nemeth	The Problem of Religious Art in Modernity Wed, 14.10.2020 - Fri, 16.10.2020 Speakers: Oleg Tarasov Tatiana LevinaMaria Taroutina, petra carlsson, George Pattison, Lilia Sokolova, Nikita Balagurov, Viktoria Lavriniuk, Thomas Nemeth Series: Conferences and Workshops The eighth graduate workshop of the Russian Art and Culture Group considered the deep implications posed by the problem of religious art by examining the various ways in which the icon was adapted in modern Russia to serve different artistic, philosophical, and political agendas. Read more
The Problem of Religious Art in Modernity Wed, 14.10.2020 - Fri, 16.10.2020 Speakers: Oleg Tarasov Tatiana LevinaMaria Taroutina, petra carlsson, George Pattison, Lilia Sokolova, Nikita Balagurov, Viktoria Lavriniuk, Thomas Nemeth Series: Conferences and Workshops The eighth graduate workshop of the Russian Art and Culture Group considered the deep implications posed by the problem of religious art by examining the various ways in which the icon was adapted in modern Russia to serve different artistic, philosophical, and political agendas. Read more
	Hagia Sophia as Symbol and Hostage of Actual Politics	Mon, 12.10.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Alexey Lidov Ayşe Çağlar Clemena Antonova	Hagia Sophia as Symbol and Hostage of Actual Politics Mon, 12.10.2020 Speakers: Alexey Lidov Ayşe Çağlar Clemena Antonova Series: Seminars and Colloquia On 10 July 2020, by a decree of the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the basilica of Hagia Sophia – the central monument of the Byzantine Empire and the entire Orthodox world – was turned from a museum into a mosque. The conversion attracted worldwide attention and the leaders of the US, the EU and Russia, as well as most international institutions, appealed to Erdoğan not to go ahead with the plan. However, all the warnings were ignored and the first festive Muslim service was held on 24 July, with the country’s leadership in attendance. In this talk, various aspects of the conversion of Hagia Sophia, including political, religious, cultural and art-historical issues of this most significant event, were discussed. Read more
Hagia Sophia as Symbol and Hostage of Actual Politics Mon, 12.10.2020 Speakers: Alexey Lidov Ayşe Çağlar Clemena Antonova Series: Seminars and Colloquia On 10 July 2020, by a decree of the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the basilica of Hagia Sophia – the central monument of the Byzantine Empire and the entire Orthodox world – was turned from a museum into a mosque. The conversion attracted worldwide attention and the leaders of the US, the EU and Russia, as well as most international institutions, appealed to Erdoğan not to go ahead with the plan. However, all the warnings were ignored and the first festive Muslim service was held on 24 July, with the country’s leadership in attendance. In this talk, various aspects of the conversion of Hagia Sophia, including political, religious, cultural and art-historical issues of this most significant event, were discussed. Read more
	The Compatriots	Mon, 28.09.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Andrei Soldatov Clemena Antonova Irina Borogan	The Compatriots Mon, 28.09.2020 Speakers: Andrei Soldatov Clemena Antonova Irina Borogan Series: Seminars and Colloquia The Russian diaspora is the third-largest in the world. The Russians fled the country in troves for more than one hundred years. First the Tsar’s crazy politics towards Jews, then the Revolution and Civil War, the Second World War and anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union forced millions to emigrate.In the 90-s, emigration was in the spotlight of society because the borders got opened for the first time in many decades. People started moving in both directions – many of them were leaving the country, but some of the emigrants came back to Russia to capture the new opportunities. Read more
The Compatriots Mon, 28.09.2020 Speakers: Andrei Soldatov Clemena Antonova Irina Borogan Series: Seminars and Colloquia The Russian diaspora is the third-largest in the world. The Russians fled the country in troves for more than one hundred years. First the Tsar’s crazy politics towards Jews, then the Revolution and Civil War, the Second World War and anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union forced millions to emigrate.In the 90-s, emigration was in the spotlight of society because the borders got opened for the first time in many decades. People started moving in both directions – many of them were leaving the country, but some of the emigrants came back to Russia to capture the new opportunities. Read more
	Religious Perspectives on Global Solidarity in the Era of Global Crises	Mon, 29.06.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Clemena Antonova Ludger Hagedorn	Religious Perspectives on Global Solidarity in the Era of Global Crises Mon, 29.06.2020 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia All three global crises of recent times – the financial crisis of 2008, the refugee crisis, and now the coronavirus crisis – have been, among other things, tests of solidarity. But what is it that decides in a concrete situation, whether solidarity is extended to those in need or not? Especially interesting are those cases, when people feel forced to make difficult choices between solidarity to one group versus solidarity to another. The talk tried to distinguish between two concepts of solidarity, one that could be called civic solidarity (to one’s family, friends, compatriots, etc.) and another one offering a broader sense of global solidarity (to all human beings as such). Read more
Religious Perspectives on Global Solidarity in the Era of Global Crises Mon, 29.06.2020 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia All three global crises of recent times – the financial crisis of 2008, the refugee crisis, and now the coronavirus crisis – have been, among other things, tests of solidarity. But what is it that decides in a concrete situation, whether solidarity is extended to those in need or not? Especially interesting are those cases, when people feel forced to make difficult choices between solidarity to one group versus solidarity to another. The talk tried to distinguish between two concepts of solidarity, one that could be called civic solidarity (to one’s family, friends, compatriots, etc.) and another one offering a broader sense of global solidarity (to all human beings as such). Read more
	Facing Post-Truth in Central-Eastern Europe	Mon, 27.01.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Arvydas Grišinas Ludger Hagedorn	Facing Post-Truth in Central-Eastern Europe Mon, 27.01.2020 Speakers: Arvydas Grišinas Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia The main challenge that post-truth poses, as the concept itself suggests, is the alleged end of centrality of the idea of truth in politics. Central and Eastern Europe finds itself in a political culture where claims, ideas and utterances must no longer necessarily be grounded in proven empirical facts, in order to be held true by the broader public. This situation, however, is by no means new or unheard of. In this regard, it resembles Soviet social reality, where officially held narratives also had scant empirical grounding. Furthermore, while it were Central-Eastern European dissidents who problematized these issues and set out to successfully counter them, resulting in the events of 1989, the same dissident heritage is also used nowadays to promote agendas of populist illiberal regimes in the region. The talk explored the prospects and challenges to utilizing the dissident heritage to tackling these contemporary issues. Read more
Facing Post-Truth in Central-Eastern Europe Mon, 27.01.2020 Speakers: Arvydas Grišinas Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia The main challenge that post-truth poses, as the concept itself suggests, is the alleged end of centrality of the idea of truth in politics. Central and Eastern Europe finds itself in a political culture where claims, ideas and utterances must no longer necessarily be grounded in proven empirical facts, in order to be held true by the broader public. This situation, however, is by no means new or unheard of. In this regard, it resembles Soviet social reality, where officially held narratives also had scant empirical grounding. Furthermore, while it were Central-Eastern European dissidents who problematized these issues and set out to successfully counter them, resulting in the events of 1989, the same dissident heritage is also used nowadays to promote agendas of populist illiberal regimes in the region. The talk explored the prospects and challenges to utilizing the dissident heritage to tackling these contemporary issues. Read more
	Religion and Revolution	Thu, 23.01.2020	Lecture	Clemena AntonovaGayle Lonergan	Religion and Revolution Thu, 23.01.2020 Speakers: Clemena AntonovaGayle Lonergan Series: Lecture While the “Russian religious renaissance” at the beginning of the 20th century and the political fervour, which culminated in the October Revolution of 1917, took place at the same period, these two developments are rarely studied alongside each other. In their joint book presentations, the two speakers considered a tradition of religious philosophy, on the one hand and the political history of the early years of the Bolshevik Party, on the other as two responses to the crisis of modernity. Interestingly, with all their differences, the religious and the Marxist-Leninist projects – both of which displayed utopian and illiberal features – shared common concerns and themes. It is, thus, not surprising that some of the most prominent religious thinkers had started as Marxists. It is exactly these common themes that can be relevant to contemporary debates on the critical issues of the early 21st century. Read more
Religion and Revolution Thu, 23.01.2020 Speakers: Clemena AntonovaGayle Lonergan Series: Lecture While the “Russian religious renaissance” at the beginning of the 20th century and the political fervour, which culminated in the October Revolution of 1917, took place at the same period, these two developments are rarely studied alongside each other. In their joint book presentations, the two speakers considered a tradition of religious philosophy, on the one hand and the political history of the early years of the Bolshevik Party, on the other as two responses to the crisis of modernity. Interestingly, with all their differences, the religious and the Marxist-Leninist projects – both of which displayed utopian and illiberal features – shared common concerns and themes. It is, thus, not surprising that some of the most prominent religious thinkers had started as Marxists. It is exactly these common themes that can be relevant to contemporary debates on the critical issues of the early 21st century. Read more