FIRST ANNUAL TARTU CONFERENCE ON RUSSIAN AND EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES Europe under Stress: The End of a Common Dream? 12-14 June, Tartu, Estonia

Scholars working in all subfields of area studies, including comparative politics, international relations, economics, history, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies and related disciplines, are invited to submit proposals for panels, roundtables and papers for the First Tartu Conference on Russian and East European Studies.

The Tartu Conference will provide a venue for presenting and discussing results of academic research focusing on politics and societies of Russia and Eastern Europe.The organizers hope to institute the Tartu Conference as a major annual event in Russian and East European Studies, bringing together scholars across multiple disciplines, from the region and beyond. Participants of the 2016 conference are encouraged to share their reflections on the multiple crises that challenge the very idea of Europe as a value-based political and security community: the events in and around Ukraine, political transformation in Russia and the country’s newly assertive foreign policy, the Greek debt crisis and the emerging North-South division, the ascent of populist, nationalist and xenophobic political forces, the refugee crisis and the recent events in Syria and the Greater Middle East. All of these developments have implications for the region and globally, making the erstwhile dream of a Common European Home appear ever more remote. With these tensions as a background, the conference will explore the changing representations of the European legacy in politics, economics, arts, popular culture and public discourse.

The conference will begin with the evening session on Sunday, 12 June, and end in late afternoon on Tuesday, 14 June. The programme will include academic panels, roundtables focused on current issues and plenary sessions featuring, among others, the following speakers: Archie Brown, University of Oxford Philip Hanson, Chatham House Judith Pallot, University of Oxford Zsuzsa Csergö, Association for the Study of Nationalities Hans-Henning Schröder, Russian Analytical Digest

The organizers welcome individual paper submissions as well as proposals for full panels and roundtables. Each paper proposal must include an abstract of no more than 250 words. Panel and roundtable proposals should list all speakers (as a general rule, 4 per panel/roundtable), along with abstracts and, if available, information about the chair and the discussant (alternatively, these can be assigned by the Programme Committee).

Please see the conference website for additional information and use this link to submit your proposal by 20 February 2016. All proposals will undergo rigorous selection by the Programme Committee. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by email by 20 March. The deadline for registration is 20 April. There is no registration fee. All papergivers will be required to submit full papers by 23 May 2016 (see Rules of Participation and Important Dates for other deadlines). Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements, but the organizers will issue visa invitations, if applicable.

Practical information regarding travel and accommodation is available on the conference website. At any stage throughout the process, you are welcome to contact the organizers at info@tartuconference.ut.ee.