Baltic Heritage Network Conference “New Beginnings of Baltic Diaspora” 26.-29.06.2018 Tartu, Estonia
The Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are celebrating their 100th birthdays in 2018. For this occasion the Baltic countries, as well as Baltic diaspora communities, are looking back in time and summing up the experience of a century. Such important anniversaries give us the opportunity to draw conclusions from what has occurred, but also to look at what has yet to come and set goals for the future.
The Baltic Heritage Network is celebrating the 100th birthdays of the Baltic countries with a conference: “New Beginnings of Baltic Diaspora.” The historical and present circumstances of the Baltic diaspora are like a garden of forking paths for both individuals and communities. New beginnings are taking place whether we are paying attention or not. This conference is an effort to look at the endings and new beginnings of communities and their archives both at the present time and in retrospect. From oral history and family stories to the ever fluctuating flow of migration, from creating new collections to developing existing archives – how can we recognize change and convert endings into beginnings? Are we able to and how will we preserve these changes in archives and other collections? How will diaspora memory institutions survive these changes in society?
The conference is open to presentations by academic researchers, memory institution specialists, representatives of diaspora communities, and anyone to whom the preservation of Baltic diaspora communities, capturing and understanding both the past and present is important.
The conference welcomes papers that discuss changes and shifting dynamics in the following areas of interest:
– memory institutions of Baltic diaspora communities
– collaborative efforts of diaspora communities and homeland in preserving, digitizing and researching the history of the Baltic diaspora
– integrating the history of the Baltic diaspora into the discourse of Baltic history
– discourse of life writing
– representation of diaspora topics through film and other media
– diaspora publications
– community life and belonging
– psychology of diaspora
– intellectuals of the Baltic diaspora
– transnationalism and multinationalism
Please send abstracts (max. 500 words) by January 21, 2018 to [email protected].
The conference programming committee will notify you about your paper proposal by February 28, 2018.
