Smolny Beyond Borders conference will examine historical memory and contemporary propaganda in June 2024

The Smolny Beyond Borders Initiative at Bard College Berlin will co-host the international conference "Historical Past and Contemporary Propaganda in the Global Context" on June 7–8, 2024. In collaboration with the Center for Comparative Research on Democracy of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the conference aims to explore various aspects of the contemporary practice of memory and propaganda in the global context, encompassing Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The conference will take place at the Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Two main questions that will be discussed throughout the conference are: What characteristics, if any, distinguish the politics of propaganda from the politics of history? Which factors beyond political regimes determine how propaganda has been implemented in the past?

The keynote talk, titled "Russia's Casus Belli: Memory Politics or Political Propaganda?" will be presented by Alexander Etkind of Central European University. Other panel topics include art and propaganda, propaganda in a coup, education and propaganda, as well as a project presentation on resistance to media censorship in Russia.

Smolny Beyond Borders aims to institutionally recreate Smolny College independent of St. Petersburg State University, and establish not only a structure of support for faculty who left Russia, but provide opportunities to attract, teach, and recruit new students and to sustain the successful practices formerly recognized at Smonly College to build the Russia of the future. The program will provide multi-level educational and research opportunities to equip the next generation of students and faculty with the tools to rebuild and promote a different trajectory for Russia that holds the country responsible as part of the global community.

The Center for Comparative Research on Democracy (CCRD) is a research center at the Department of Social Sciences of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The Center is dedicated to promoting a deeper and more nuanced understanding of democracy by bringing together scholars from a wide range of disciplines, including political science, sociology, philosophy, and law, to study the complex and multifaceted nature of democracy. It provides opportunities and platforms for scholars at risk and facilitates the exchange of ideas on academic freedom.

The Smolny Beyond Borders Initiative is a testament to Bard College Berlin’s commitment to access to education in a global context. For more information about the conference, please visit the SBB webpage here.

By: Bard College Berlin Communications Staff

Post Date: 05-28-2024