Call for Papers

Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center
Annual Conference

BUILDING THE BALKANS ANEW: FROM METAPHOR TO MARKET

Keynote Speaker: Robert Hayden, Professor of Anthropology, Law and Public & International Affairs, University Center for International Studies Research Professor, & Director, Center for Russian & East European Studies, University of Pittsburgh

On Friday and Saturday, 21­22 September 2007, the University of Illinois Ruussian, East European, and Eurasian Center (REEEC) will host a conference focusing on the implications of post-1989 political, economic, demographic, and historiographic trends for understanding the ongoing development of the Balkan region—as individual states and an iinterconnected geopolity constructed in metaphor and increasingly, through market relations—within and vis á vis the New Europe. Recent events such as the 2007 accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, the establishment of an independent Montenegro, the continued shared governance of Bosnia and its capital, Sarajevo, and the debates surrounding the changing status of Kosovo are impacting not just the region's cartography, but how its states and populations relate to each other. Although not an exclusive list, we are particularly interested in topics exploring identity politics, religion, popular culture, and the new mobilization of history; energy and the environment; people and goods on the move; and media, business, and tourism, including the local effects of foreign investment in and ownership of property. Importantly, we do not wish to revisit the Yugoslav wars of secession here, but will consider topics that concern their contemporary consequences.

Paper proposals (maximum 250 words) treating these or related issues in Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and/or Slovenia should be submitted for consideration to Lynda Park, Associate Director, REEEC, University of Illinois, 104 ISB, 910 South Fifth St., Champaign, IL 61820 by 15 June 2007. Proposals concerning Turkey as that country relates to other Balkan states will also be considered. If selected, you will be notified by 30 June 2007. Both advanced graduate students and established scholars are encouraged to apply.

Conference Organizers: Donna Buchanan (Director, REEEC; Associate Professor, School of Music) and Maria Todorova (Professor, History)

Graduate Organizers: Stefania Costache (History), Larisa Puslenghea (Advertising), Kate Pedrotty (History), Terrell Starr (REEES), Robert Whiting (Geography)