Call for Contributions: “Narratives on Totalitarianisms: Histories and Memories of Central and Eastern European Totalitarian Regimes”, 4th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Totalitarianism for PhD Students, June 11-12, 2015, Bucharest, Romania

The Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Totalitarianism for PhD Students is a project implemented by The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMRE), in collaboration with different academic institutions. The aim of this project is to establish and develop a forum for the presentation and the debate of the PhD students’ research results in the fields of history, political sciences, sociology, arts, literature, etc. The project encourages an international and cross-disciplinary exchange between PhD students engaged in research on Central and East-European totalitarianisms, the history of communism and post-communism, and Holocaust studies. The goal of the annual conferences is to support networking and collaboration between PhD students who work on specific topics related to the aforementioned research themes.

The 4^th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Totalitarianism for PhD Students – “Narratives on Totalitarianisms: Histories and Memories of Central and Eastern European Totalitarian Regimes” addresses several questions regarding the narratives, the histories and the memories of the Central and Eastern European totalitarian regimes. On the one hand, the conference intends to discuss the controversial memories of the totalitarian regimes – perceived both as repressive and criminal, and in a nostalgic manner, as a form of ”modernization”. On the other hand, it challenges these main post-totalitarian narratives, by bringing into discussion distinct aspects and experiences of the totalitarian past – such as the daily life, the social control, the cultural and intellectual limitations, the economic penury, etc.

We welcome papers for a two-day conference from PhD students conducting research on various areas dealing with different aspects of Central and East-European totalitarianisms. The papers selected by a jury will be presented and discussed in several panels under the supervision of distinguished Senior Academics.

Target group: PhD students specialized in Anthropology, Cultural studies, Ethnology, History, Media studies, Philosophy, Political science, Social geography and Sociology.

 Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:

· Social memory of communist regimes of Central and Eastern Europe

· Intellectuals, culture, and arts in a totalitarian state

· Ideology and propaganda

· Individual or collective biographies (prosopography) under totalitarianism

· Repression and social control

· Resistance and dissidence in a totalitarian society

· Daily life under communism

 Abstract submission:

Interested participants should send abstracts of 300 words and short CVs to phdconference@iiccmer.ro, by Sunday, April 5, 2015.

All submitted abstracts should refer to original, previously unpublished research results.

Abstracts should be in Word (.doc, .docx) format with the following information and in this order:

a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) e-mail address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract, f) up to 10 keywords.

The authors of accepted proposals will be informed by April 12, 2015.

Paper submission:

Full papers should be submitted by June 5, 2015 to be circulated among conference participants, the chairs and the discussants. The papers that will be presented during the Conference should meet international academic standards.

There will be no registration fee. Lunches and coffee will be provided. The organizers will cover accommodation costs. Funding for travel is available on an individual basis based on request.

Organizers of the event: The Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile and Faculty of History, University of Bucharest.