Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
Pula, Croatia, May 28-30, 2015

CALL FOR PAPERS, October 29, 2014

In the occasion of its 20th anniversary the Subdepartment of History is launching a series of conferences Past, Present, Future to tackle issues that are considered important or controversial in  contemporary Europe by providing a historical context for their emergence and explaining the patterns of behaviour that are common to different historical periods and are still relevant today.

Identity is a complex phenomenon that has always had far-reaching implications on everyday life. Whether personal or relating to a group it can be immutable or very fluid, changing within a lifetime or over generation and can have different layers. To define it one can use a wide variety of factors: age, race, sex, ethnicity, religion, geography, education, political inclinations and so on. It is, however, undeniable that humans use identity to make sense of their own place in the world and as a guideline for their behaviour. Greeks, Romans and barbaroi, Christians and pagans, crusaders and heathens, Catholicism and Reformation, nation states and composite empires, ideologies and pan-European identities are just samples of the numerous identities that have shaped our history and still contribute to the debate of what identity means in the European Union and the globalized world.

The aim of this conference is to look at identity in those periods in history when significant changes occurred. How did the Romans see themselves when Rome disappeared in all but name? How did different tribes and ethnic groups deal with their ancient traditions after their conversion to Christianity? Did family cohesion survive the conversion of some of their members to another faith like Islam? How did nobility deal with double vassalage – owing fealty to two feudal pyramids? And what of minorities like the Jews? Did their religion and ethnicity overshadow their political identity? Where lay the loyalty of the subjects of multinational monarchies like the Austro-Hungarian, British or Ottoman Empires in modern times? Could one be a nationalist and patriot and yet remain loyal to such a crown? What was the relation between national and class identities in the industrial societies of the 19th and 20th centuries? Which social and cultural changes followed in the aftermath of the transition from agrarian to industrial society? What was the influence of the collapse of political systems, beliefs and states in the past hundred years? How are identities articulated in postmodern and post-industrial societies?

These are just a few of the myriad questions that illustrate the immense complexity of the study of identity and their answers not only expand our understanding of European history, but they also help to identify the problems Europe faces today as the economic crisis threatens to unravel the joint European project. Can lessons from our past serve as tools for the understanding of our current crises?

Keynote speakers
1. Prof. Dr. Patrick Geary (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
2. Prof. Dr. Massimo Montanari (University of Bologna)
3. Prof. Dr. Florian Bieber (Centre for Southeast European Studies, Graz)

Participants
Around 70 participants from Croatia, ten other European countries and the USA.

Conference programme
Download PDF - last update: May 26

Book of abstracts
Past, Present, Future 2015: Identity in Flux
Book of Abstracts
ISBN 978-953-7320-07-2
Download PDF

Edited volume
Robert Kurelić and Igor Duda, eds.
Past, Present, Future I: Identity in Flux
Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Pula, 2016
ISBN 978-953-7320-32-4
ISSN 1331-7830
Full text Tabula 14, 2016

Organizer
Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli / Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
Odjel za humanističke znanosti / Department of Humanities
Odsjek za povijest / Subdepartment of History

Organization Committee
Dr. Robert Kurelić, Senior Assist., Head of the Organizing Committee
Dr. Igor Duda, Assist. Prof., Head of the Subdepartment of History
Dr. Danijela Doblanović, Senior Assist.
Dr. Iva Milovan Delić, Senior Assist.
Prof. Dr. Robert Matijašić
Prof. Dr. Nevio Šetić

Contact
povijest[at]unipu.hr

Conference venue
Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli / Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
Odjel za humanističke znanosti / Department of Humanities
Ivana Matetića Ronjgova 1, Pula

Prikaz veće karte

We thank for the support
Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Department of Humanities
Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia

Announcing next conference
Past, Present, Future 2017
Victory or Defeat? Societies between Warfare and Post-War Turmoil
May 2017