9-11 November 2006, Budapest
An International Conference Sponsored the CEU-HESP Comparative History Project,
Central European University
Budapest
11 Nádor str., Room 006 (István György Tóth)
‘Mapping’ comparative history research in and on Europe – from its various regions to its diverse ‘holistic’ variable geometries –, and examining the methodological-theoretical underpinnings of this empirical work was the focus of the conference. Some of the most important comparative projects, recently finished or ongoing, were featured during the conference, while a final panel examined follow-up strategies and action plans. The purpose of the mapping of the field was twofold: first, to provide a comprehensive understanding of what has been already achieved in historiographies the project would like to profit from as promising patterns and, second, to understand what Central and Eastern European historical scholarship can offer for improving the present state of research. Therefore, leading scholars from Western and Northern Europe arrived to participate in the conference and discuss the most crucial matters related to the topic. In addition, many of the most promising Central and Eastern European historians working towards a comparative perspective were invited to deliver papers or participate in the strategic planning.
Thursday, November 9, 2006
17:30-20:00 Panel One: Comparative History: Theories and Practices
Chair: László Kontler
Yehuda Elkana: Opening Remarks
Miroslav Hroch: Doing Comparative History in Real Socialism: A Personal Account
Chris Lorenz: Beyond Comparison? Some Remarks on the Present Debate
Jürgen Kocka: Comparative History and its Enemies
Antonis Liakos: The Implied Canon of European History: Framework of Comparative Activities
20:00 Reception Dinner
Friday, November 10, 2006
9:00-11:00 Panel Two: Towards a Comparative History of Europe
Chair: Constantin Iordachi
Patrick Joyce: Comparing What? Thoughts on the Limits of Comparison
Jan Ifversen: Writing European Post-War History
Diana Mishkova: Modernities and National Identities in East-Central, Southeastern and Northern Europe: Methodological Issues of Comparative Research
Matthias Middell: Debates on Transnational History
11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-13:30 Panel Three: Comparative History on/in/between European Regions I
Chair: Péter Apor
Stefan Troebst: Historical Meso-Regions: A Framework for Comparative Research
Alexey Miller: Nationalism as a Resource of Regional Integration in Empires
Wendy Bracewell: East Looks West: East European Travel Writing on Europe as a Problem in Comparison
Sverre Hakon Bagge: Medieval Europe in a Comparative Perspective: the Case of Scandinavia
13:30-15:00 Lunch Break
15:00-15:30 Book Launch: Discourses of Collective Identity in Central and Southeast Europe (1770-1945), Volume One, Late Enlightenment – Emergence of the Modern ‘National Idea’. Edited by Balazs Trencsenyi and Michal Kopecek. Budapest-New York: CEU Press, 2006.
15:30-17:30 Panel Four: Comparative History in/on/between European Regions II
Chair: Balázs Trencsényi
Oto Luthar: Reinterpretation or Revision? Some Crucial Dilemmas of "Yugoslav" Historiographies after 1991
Konstantin Glomozda: Recent Ukrainian Historiography: A Need for Comparison
Maria Craciun: Reformation: a Pan European Phenomenon and the Making of a Trans European Topic
Orjan Appelqvist: The Birth of Two Social Models: France and Sweden, 1944-1948
19:30 Dinner – Room 004
Saturday, November 11, 2006
9:00-11:00 Panel Five: Expanding the Limits of Comparison
Chair: Alfred Rieber
Axel Korner: The American Way of Life: Images of the United States in Nineteenth-Century Europe and Latin America
György E. Szőnyi: “Extraterrestrial" Aspects of Comparative History: Genres and Media of Cultural Representations with a Special Emphasis on the Early Modern Period
Arnd Bauerkamper: Europe as Social Practice. An Interactive Approach to Modern European History
11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-13:30 Panel Six: Empires in Comparison
Chair: Alexey Miller
Alfred Rieber: Imperial Armies as Factor of Integration and Disintegration in Empires
Marsha Siefert: Communications as a Factor in Imperial Integration
Andrea Komlosy: Habsburg Monarchy: Imbalances in Economic Development as a Condition of State Unity
Xosé Manoel Núñez Seixas: Regional Integration as a Function of Empire: The Spanish Case
13:30-14:30 Lunch Break
14:45-15:30 Journal Launch: East Central Europe/L’Europe du Centre-Est. Eine wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift (est. 1974). The news series is hosted by CEU’s Pasts, Inc. Institute of Historical Studies
15:30-17:30 Panel Seven: Building the European Comparative History Network
Chair: Péter Apor, Constantin Iordachi and Balázs Trencsényi
18:00-19:15 CHP Executive Meeting – Senate Room
19:30 Dinner – Duna Palota
Participants:
- Orjan Appelqvist, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economic History, University of Stockholm
- Péter Apor, Research Fellow, Pasts Inc., Institute of Historical Studies, CEU, Budapest
- Sverre Håkon Bagge, Professor, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bergen
- Arnd Bauerkamper, Professor, Berliner Kolleg für Vergleichende Geschichte
- Wendy Bracewell, Senior Lecturer in History, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London
- Zoltán Cora, PhD Candidate, University of Szeged
- Camelia Craciun, PhD Candidate, CEU, Budapest
- Maria Craciun, Associate Professor, Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Visiting Professor, CEU, Budapest
- Andrei Cusco, PhD Candidate, CEU, Budapest
- Yehuda Elkana, University Professor, Rector and President, CEU, Budapest
- Konstantin Glomozda, Associate Professor of History, National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy"
- Gábor Gyáni, Professor, ELTE and CEU, Budapest
- Miroslav Hroch, Professor, Charles University, Prague
- Cristian Bogdan Iacob, PhD Candidate, CEU, Budapest
- Jan Ifversen, Associate Professor, Department of European Studies, University of Aarhus
- Ivan Ilchev, Professor of History, University of Sofia
- Constantin Iordachi, Assistant Professor, History Department, CEU, Budapest
- Maciej Janowski, Visiting Associate Professor, CEU, Budapest
- Patrick Joyce, Professor of Modern History, University of Manchester, Visiting Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics
- Jürgen Kocka, Professor, President, Wissenchaftszentrum Berlin fuer Sozialforschung
- Andrea Komlosy, Professor, University of Vienna
- László Kontler, Acting Head, History Department, CEU, Budapest
- Michal Kopecek, Research Fellow, Institute for Contemporary History, Prague
- Melinda Kovács, PhD Candidate, University of Szeged
- Antonis Liakos, Professor, University of Athens
- Axel Korner, Reader in Modern European History, University College London
- Chris Lorenz, Professor, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
- Oto Luthar, Director, Scientific Research Center, Slovene Academy of Sciences, Ljubljana
- Matthias Middell, Professor and Managing Director, Center for Advanced Studies, University of Leipzig
- Alexey Miller, Recurrent Visiting Associate Professor, CEU, Budapest
- Diana Mishkova, Director and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advanced Study, Sofia
- Xosé Manoel Núñez Seixas, Professor, Department of Contemporary History, University of Santiago de Compostela
- Markyan Prokopovych, Research Fellow, Pasts Inc., CEU, Budapest
- Alfred Rieber, Professor, History Department, CEU, Budapest
- Victor Rizescu, Lecturer, Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest
- Marsha Siefert, Head Tutor, History Department, CEU, Budapest
- Anca Maria Sincan, PhD Candidate, CEU, Budapest
- Ivica Sute, Assistant Professor, University of Zagreb
- Svetlana Suveica, Senior Lecturer, State University of Moldova, Chisinau
- Balázs Trencsényi, Assistant Professor, History Department, CEU, Budapest
- Stefan Troebst, Professor, Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas, Leipzig