Participants

Olena Palko⁴; George Gilbert¹; Francis King²; Andy Willimott³;  ¹ University of Southampton, UK;  ² UEA East Centre, UK;  ³ The Centre for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CEREES) at Queen Mary University of London, UK;  ⁴ The RUTA Association for Central, South-Eastern, Eastern European, Baltic, Caucasus, Central and Northern Asian Studies, UK

Discussion

In this round table, the directors of four recently-established research centres consider the challenges of studying and engaging with a region riven by war

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2024 presented a challenge to area studies more generally and scholars in multiple disciplines (including history, languages, political and social sciences and cultural studies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union) on how to rethink and restructure the conventional way to research, write and teach about the region and its diverse experiences. Following a number of successful discussions at BASEES on the need to “decolonize” and “decenter” our filed, the proposed roundtable will examine concrete steps taken by the UK universities and international learned societies and associations to introduce those overdue changes into our research agenda and teaching curriculum, and initiate knowledge exchange across borders and disciplines. The roundtable participants will present the objectives and scholarly initiatives initiated by three interdisciplinary centers (Centre for East European and Eurasian Studies (CEEES), Southampton; The Centre for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CEREES) at Queen Mary University of London, and UEA’s East Centre), and one nascent professional association (The RUTA Association for Central, South-Eastern, Eastern European, Baltic, Caucasus, Central and Northern Asian Studies).