On our 𝐰𝐞𝐛 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 we will publish 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 in 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐂𝐳𝐞𝐜𝐡 and 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐤 with summaries in 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡. We invite you to read the first one in Czech now.
Do you know why some Czechs avoid the term “𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐲” and why this term carries negative connotations in Czech language? You can find an answer in blog post that prepared Karina Hoření.
Post you can read here.
What stone houses are for Handlova, villas from the turn of the last century are typical for Liberec.
They were built mostly by the German-speaking bourgeoisie at a time when Liberec became an important centre of the textile industry. After the war, however, all Czech new settlers could aspire to such housing, and it is this social change that our researcher Karina Hoření focuses on in her fieldwork.
If you want to see mentioned buildings visit our Gallery named Liberec.
Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska has been nominated to the AcademiaNet database presenting the scientific profiles of outstanding women researchers. The main goal of this initiative is to create an expert database in which data of the most outstanding women scientists from around the world will be available. The main selection criterion is scientific excellence and outstanding achievements in the field of science represented by the researchers. The database is also intended to facilitate the search for collaborators and experts.
Outstanding female researchers are nominated according to rigorous selection criteria which include, among others, significant scientific qualifications and organizational achievements. It is not possible to apply to AcademiaNet directly, a nomination is necessary.
You can find the profile of Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska HERE.
We were invited as scholars who deal with etnographies of post-displacement regions to help with the academic side of a local project in Goleniów.
Some time ago several hundred glass negatives have been found in the attic of a former photo atelier. The photographs show the post-WWII inhabitants of the town and region of Goleniów and commemorate important events of their families. A group of local enthusiasts and researchers is trying to find as much information about the people on the photographs and their stories as possible. Doing this they are contributing to the local post-war history through the prism of photography and family histories.
Michal Korhel and Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska are already a part of this project helping with methodologies needed to acquire the aimed results. In the future, they will also organize a workshop and lecture in Goleniów. More information about our involvement in this project will follow soon. Until then you can get to know it via the project’s website (Goleniowskie Fotohistorie) and Facebook page: Goleniowskie Fotohistorie .
Michal Korhel has visited many places in Międzyzdroje, Maszewo, Goleniów or Kiełpnica looking for “German ghosts”. You can see photos from his fieldwork in Gallery or read some interesting stories on our fanpage on Facebook.
We had a great seminar on April 4th as part of our project. Our guest speaker was Ewa Kopczyńska (Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University), who shared her research on wine-making in Lubusz Land.
She explored how Lubusz wine is a cultural, social and material object that reflects the history and identity of this region. We enjoyed her fascinating talk and the lively discussion that followed!
At the beginning of February our researchers, Karina Hoření and Michal Korhel, participated in the 8th International Conference “Divided, Yet Together: Borders in Oral History Perspective” in Bratislava organised by Czech Oral History Asocciation. They gave the presentation “Rozhovory s novousadlíkmi ako spôsob hľadania nemeckých „duchov“ v povojnovom Československu a Poľsku”.
IMPORTANT STATEMENT
As a research team, we find disturbing the circumstances, in which the conference took place. Therefore, we issued a separate statement, which reads as follows.
The main organizer of the conference was the Czech Oral History Association (COHA). The atmosphere of the event has been influenced by the ongoing investigation of the two former directors of the association, Miroslav Vaněk and Pavel Mücke, who are accused of numerous cases of sexual abuse and long-standing misuse of power at the institutions they led.
The serious allegations, which are outlined in the statements by the Faculty of Humanities of Charles University and were addressed in the Czech press as well, point to a long term inappropriate behavior of both university lecturers and structural problems of Czech academia.
These issues were raised by our team at the conference. We appreciate that, despite the initial hesitation, the situation was debated during the event and that consequently it resulted in the decision of COHA to amend its code of ethics. Hopefully, it will clear the path for how the association proceeds in such cases from now on.
The question of ethical standards of research is particularly important in such a vulnerable field as oral history. There is no solid line dividing us as scholars from us as humans. Therefore, in academia as well as outside of academic context, it is unacceptable to work with people who violate all these standards by their everyday behavior.
We hope that the case will be investigated properly and the appropriate consequences will be drawn. It is to be hoped that it will mark the beginning of change in Czech and Slovak academic institutions.
You can support Call for Action to End Gender Based Violence in Academia with your signature here
or you can support legislative change of definition of rape in Czech legal system here.
The theme of the first issue of the journal “Academia” (Polish Academy of Sciences) in 2023 is groundbraking scientific discoveries and their application for the benefit of humanity. Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska had the opportunity to talk about ERC StG and say in which way this project is innovative and special.
Speaking of cemeteries and hidden monuments, in Nová Lehota (originally a separate village, nowadays a district of Handlová) there is one too! When in 2015 a group of local activists renovated a historical „mortuary“ from the 19th century, inside they added memorial plaques with the names of all 1.450 Germans forcibly resettled from Nová Lehota after WWII.
Karolina Ćwiek-Rogalska, claims they do! She addressed that matter on December 7, 2022, invited by Professor Justyna Olko, chief director of the Center for Research and Practice in Cultural Continuity at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales” (University of Warsaw). At the seminar “Decolonizing approaches to studying linguistic-cultural heritage”, Karolina asked “how to decolonize ghosts?” and explained what layers of formerly German landscapes in Poland, Czechia and Slovakia can be investigated using hauntology.