During the five-day trip (7–11 September), seminar participants will visit Silesia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Tatra Mountains and Spiš. The programme offers an opportunity to move beyond stereotypical views of the region and experience the interplay of languages, traditions, religions and history. The sessions are led by experts from the International Cultural Centre and the Institute of Slavonic Studies at the Jagiellonian University: Dr Dorota Bielec, Prof. Maciej Czerwiński, Dr Rafał Majerek, Marek Świdrak and Dr Michał Wiśniewski.
The five-day programme begins with a trip to Tychy, a tour of the castles in Pszczyna and Wisła, and a visit to the most important historical sites in Cieszyn. Over the following days, participants will explore Czech Socialist Realism, including in Ostrava. During the seminar, they will also visit Pribor, Hodslavice, Žilina, Martin and Levoča – the wealthiest town in the Carpathians in the 16th century. They will also explore the history of the Spiš Chapter and Stará Ľubovňa. On the final day of the seminar, workshops will be held in Kraków to summarise the five-day programme and provide an opportunity to discuss places that are ethnically and culturally close, as well as their borders – which are sometimes artificially imposed. We will discuss culture, art, literature and history.
The “Central Europe from the Inside” seminar explores the region’s unique character and highlights tools to facilitate independent exploration of the area. This is not merely a tour of the places most significant to the culture and history of Central Europe, but also an opportunity for scholarly discussion about cultural and social changes in the areas visited, to trace the history of border regions and to examine what social ideas and concepts emerged within them, as well as how the national identity of the inhabitants of these regions took shape.
“Central Europe from the Inside” draws on the ICC’s many years of experience in studying the region beyond national borders and national narratives. The format of the travelling seminar allows academic knowledge to be combined with fieldwork: to see how history is inscribed in architecture and the landscape, how the meanings of places change, and how past divisions and neighbourhoods influence contemporary Central Europe. The seminar is also the latest initiative through which the ICC creates a space for the exchange of knowledge between the academic community, heritage experts and those interested in the region. We aim not only to talk about Central Europe, but also to suggest ways in which it can be interpreted independently.
Detailed seminar programme and information about the speakers
