Call for Papers: World War II and the (Re)Creation of Historical Memory in Contemporary Ukraine

An international conference examining World War II in historical memory in Ukraine will be held from September 3-6, 2009 in Kyiv. The conference is being organized by

• Fulbright Program in Ukraine
• Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center
• Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• I.F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnonational Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
  Ukrainian Institute of National Memory
• Institute of History of Ukraine, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
• Krytyka, Kyiv
• Goethe Institute, Kyiv
• Jean Monnet Chair, Institute of European Studies and International Relations, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands

The conference "World War II and the (Re)Creation of Historical Memory in Contemporary Ukraine," will address these crucial issues of Ukrainian and European history through the lens of the Ukrainian experience of World War II; the subsequent mythologizing of the war and Ukraine's role in it by Soviet authorities; and the politics of collective memory in contemporary, independent Ukraine. Scholars are invited to advance the broader international dialog of Ukrainian historical memory and national identity. Papers will be welcomed on topics that include (but are not limited to):

• philosophy, theory, and politics of historical memory

• the creation of historical memory in Soviet and contemporary Ukraine-public commemoration of the war; public education about the war and Ukraine's role in it; representation of the war and its memory in art, film, and literature; and contemporary issues surrounding the politics of historical memory of World War II and national identity in Ukraine.

Abstracts of 300-500 words and queries should be sent by e-mail to the organizers at historical_memory@fulbright.com.ua by October 15, 2008.

Speakers will be notified of their acceptance by January 1, 2009.

Final drafts of papers are due for distribution to session chairs, participants, and commentators by June 15, 2009.

Conference proceedings will be published following the conference.