On the 14th and the 15th of May 2019 the Centre of Thracology at the IBCT – BAS organises traditional Thracology Readings "ANCIENT THRACE AND THE THRACIANS: SACRAL AND PROFANE" decidated to Prof. Alexander Fol, Dr. habil. The event is related to the date 15 May, when the Institute of Thracology started to work as an independent scientific unit of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, based on Order No. 185 of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria dated 12.05.1972, headed by the founding director Prof. Alexander Fol, Dr. habil.

The official opening and the plenary session of the scientific conference will be held with courtesy to the Sofia History Museum, at the Retro Cafe on the 2nd floor (1, Banski Square, Sofia) at 9:30 on May 14, 2019 (Tuesday).

PROGRAMME

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FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER IN BULGARIAN IN PDF

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Open letter
from the Academic council
at the Institute of Balkan Studies and Centre of Thracology
at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

*This is not a full translation but a synthesis of the document. There are missing explanatory parts from the text as well as the Introduction of the letter.

The letter addressed to the Minister of Education and Science concerns the recently accepted criteria of evaluation of the scientific outputs in the field of Humanities. The outlined concerns and proposed solutions are based on the following documents:

• Criteria of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for the ‘’factors for evaluation of research activity’’
• The Ministry of Education and Science’s ‘‘Criteria and indicators for evaluation of research activity of the organisations’’ taken from the Handbook for monitoring and evaluation of research activity of the higher education institutions and scientific organisations
• The overall activity of the Fund ‘‘Scientific Research’’

The Institute expresses concern of the omnipresent application of a predominantly Anglo-Saxon based criteria, argued to be more applicable for scientific disciplines rather than for Humanities research on a regional level.

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On April 8, 2019, a team of Italian researchers visited the Institute of Balkan Studies & Centre of Thracology for the first work seminar organised as part of the project named: ‘Economy of Dedication. Comparative aspects of Institutions, Social Practices and Care for the Sick in Italy and Bulgaria from a historical perspective’. The topics of the individual research were presented and discussed, and the future activities of the research teams were set during the seminar.

The project is coordinated on the one side from Italy by the Institute of Studies on Mediterranean Societies - National Reseach Council - Naples, Italy with a project’s lead Prof. Paola Avalone; and from the Bulgarian side, by the projects’ lead from the IBSCT Corresponding Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Prof. Alexandre Kostov, Dr. habil.

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On April 12, 2019, there will be a one day discussion seminar ‘Monasticism in Late Antiquity’ starting at 10h00 at Hall 1 of Ancient Cultural-Information Complex Serdica (Largo), affiliated to the Regional History Museum-Sofia.

COMPLETE PROGRAMME OF THE EVENT

We have the pleasure to invite you to the lecture of the Associate Professor at the University of Athens Vangelis Karamanolakis:

Unwanted past. The Security files on citizens and their destruction in Greece at the end of the Cold War (1989).

In 1989, the first and sole Greek government which houses representatives from both Right-wing and Left-wing parties, burned to ashes 17 500 000 dossier files concerning the political loyalty and reliability of citizens. The police have been keeping those files since the Interwar period. The lecture will focus on the interlink between the dossier files with the past Greek Civil War and the resistance of the academically engaged historical community from 1989 to such maltreatment of this important part of the country’s heritage.

This lecture is part of the events’ cycle ‘Each Second Tuesday’ and will take place on the April 9, 2019 at 16h00 at the Institute of Balkan Studies, located at Moskovska Street No. 45.

We have the pleasure to invite you to the lecture of Assistant Professor Ivaylo Nachev, PhD:

‘Sofia at the Beginning of the 20th Century. A tour around the modernising capital’.

This lecture is part of the events’ cycle ‘Each Second Tuesday’ and will take place on March 12, 2019 at 16h15 at the Institute of Balkan Studies, located at Moskovska Street No. 45.

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On March 5, 2019 IBSCT acknowledged with honours 50-years of academic activity of the pronounced academic of the Balkans Prof. Nadya Danova, Dr. habil., Dr. hc at the University of Athens. Among the various guests of the event was the representative of the ‘Greek-Bulgarian Association Aristotle – Cultural Bridge’ Mr. Ioannis Liolios, and other scientists from a variety of institutions.

The event began with a speech of the Director of the IBSCT Prof. Roumiana Preshlenova who presented the multi-spectral activity and scientific contributions, as well as the overall impact of the figure of Prof. Danova for the achievement of a positive collegial atmosphere at the Institute. Assoc. Prof. Yura Konstantinova, who has successfully completed her doctoral studies years ago under the supervision of Prof. Danova, talked about working with her. Marta Metodieva, a current PhD candidate supervised by Prof. Danova, also shared her feelings. Assoc. Prof. Rositsa Gradeva who has worked with Prof. Danova at the Institute for the longest period of time, also participated in the official part of the event. She gave a short speech about the overall contributions of Prof. Danova for the regional studies of the Balkans.

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On February 26, 2019 Prof. Roumiana Preshlenova gave a lecture: ‘Vienna as an educational centre for Bulgarians’.

The lecture is part of the application of the National Scholarly Program ‘Cultural historical heritage, national memory and social development’ funded by the Ministry of Education and Science. It opened the Seminar of the Centre for Regional Research and Analyses of the Faculty of History at Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Okhridski’.

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On February 14, 2019, IBSCT organised the first Balkan Book Fair. We gave away old printed editions published by the Institute and offered new publications for a symbolic price. The event was met with great interest and wishes for a recent new edition.

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Dear colleagues and friends,

We have the pleasure to invite you to the lecture of Assist. Prof. Slavcho Kirov, PhD ‘Administrative organisation of the Balkan provinces, 1st-3rd centuries’. It will take place on February 27, 2019 at 17h00 at the Institute of Balkan studies, located on Moskovska Street No. 45. The lecture is part of the project ‘Creation of the Late Antique World on the Balkans’.

The state of the 21st century. The authority and the state at the age of democracy: a crisis?

February 22, 2019 / 18h00 French Institute in Bulgaria

Free admission. The event will be available in French/Bulgarian

'At the age of democracy, are we, as society, faced at ‘a crisis of authority’ or more so, at ‘the end of authority’?' This is an open debate, but for more clarity, we need to differentiate authority from power, from obligations, and even from the reasonable argument. We also need to acknowledge that authority is a strange phenomenon who enhances (augere) power and the conviction in a reasonable argument. Finally, if we take a look at the origin of the forms of authority, we will understand that at the age of democracy, authority may be exactly at its dawn rather at its downfall.

INVITATION

Today a special guest of ours was Prof. Ivo Banac, the distinguished expert on nationalism in the Balkans. He was accompanied by his wife Prof. Andrea Feldman.

The visit of Prof. Banac in Sofia is at the invitation of the Society of Yale University graduates in Bulgaria.

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