Conferences and summer schools

Congress from 24 to 25 June 2025

The Viadrina Compliance & Integrity Congress is an annual exchange platform for representatives from science, business, justice and administration. In several panels, current topics relating to governance, compliance and integrity will be debated from an interdisciplinary perspective over two intensive days.

Participation in the 12th Viadrina Compliance & Integrity Congress is free of charge, places are limited. Please register.

Location: European University Viadrina, Logensaal, Logenhaus, Logenstraße 11, 15230 Frankfurt (Oder)

International Conference, 30 June & 1 July 2025

The transformations that followed 1989/91 in Central and Eastern Europe have given rise to new politico-social constellations - marked by evolving patterns of solidarity and trust, societal cleavages, and ambivalent, non-linear dynamics of democratisation and de-democratisation. These developments differ significantly in their origins and forms from those observed in Western democracies and other global regions. How have these civic and social dynamics been shaped by the legacies of socialism and communism, as well as by the transition and post-transition processes? How are they reflected in the current political and societal realities of the region? And what implications do they hold for Europe and the broader geopolitical landscape?

The transformations that followed 1989/91 in Central and Eastern Europe have given rise to new politico-social constellations - marked by evolving patterns of solidarity and trust, societal cleavages, and ambivalent, non-linear dynamics of democratisation and de-democratisation. These developments differ significantly in their origins and forms from those observed in Western democracies and other global regions.

How have these civic and social dynamics been shaped by the legacies of socialism and communism, as well as by the transition and post-transition processes? How are they reflected in the current political and societal realities of the region? And what implications do they hold for Europe and the broader geopolitical landscape?

Conference panels present case studies from Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, and from the transitioning regions of post-socialist East Germany (further details in the programme).

A highlight of the event is the public keynote lecture by leading civil sphere sociologist Jeffrey C. Alexander (Yale University), titled "Can Civil Peace Extend beyond the Nation State? Europe, NATO, and the U.S. in the Shadow of the Russia-Ukraine War."

The conference is organised in preparation for the edited volume "Civil Sphere Theory and Central and Eastern Europe" (eds. Jeffrey C. Alexander, Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky, Susann Worschech) and draws upon research contributions by scholars of the civil sphere in Central and Eastern Europe from both Europe and the United States.

Venue: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Language: English

Summer School, 7 - 18 July 2025

This Summer Course will deal in detail specifically and exclusively with the European system for the protection of human rights. Although there are numerous summer courses and other special study programmes within Europe on human rights protection, this course concentrates on an integrated treatment of the various European systems and of specifically European issues of human rights protection, that is, with important matters relevant to over forty European countries with diverse political, economic, and social systems. The subject matter, therefore, includes human rights protection under the regimes of the Council of Europe (the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter), the European Community, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (Helsinki Accords), as well as that on the universal level of public international law to the extent it is relevant. The treatment of the substantive regimes and their specific rights catalogues will be set against the background of a consideration of the philosophical, historical, political, economic, and sociological aspects of human rights, and include practical institutional matters such as complaint procedures as well as developments such as in the area of 'New Rights'.

Practical and contemporary issues, such as the protection of human rights in situations of war or civil disorder, will also be addressed.

This comprehensive course has been organised by and will be presented by a dedicated group of experienced experts and teachers from universities in eleven European countries, co-ordinated by the Viadrina European University Frankfurt (Oder) (Germany). The other participants are the Universities of Poznań (Poland), Barcelona (Spain), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), Aberystwyth, Milton Keynes, Lancaster (United Kingdom), Bochum (Germany), Maribor, Kranj (Slovenia), Szeged (Hungary), Vienna, and Salzburg (Austria).

Venue: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Language: English

Summer School Viadrinicum, 16 – 31 August 2025

Viadrinicum is an annual summer school at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), devoted to the countries of the Eastern Partnership and the larger context of Central and Eastern Europe. Building on the discussions around the notion of learning city during the previous editions, in 2025 the school will focus on the ruptures in the urban fabric, both as the effects of (historical) negligence and abandonment, and as the traces of emancipatory disruptions in the established order of things.

It invites students, young researchers, civil society activists, artists and cultural workers to critically interrogate the (institutional) foundations of the city as a contested entity in-the-making, shaped by regimes of urban planning and governance, property relations and dwelling practices. Guided by the spirit of tactical urbanism and participatory pedagogics, the school will look into the ways how alternative futures (re-)emerge through the (invisible) cracks of the city, aided by contingent spatial imaginations and the acts of collective un-/inter-weaving.

Following the idea of experiential learning, a combination of academic and nonacademic formats will allow the participants of the school to actively explore the possibilities for a dialogue between different kinds of knowledge from academia, civil society and the arts.

In a more practical sense, the school offers opportunities for applied experimentation in the setting of a participatory urban intervention engaging local communities in the heart of the German-Polish twin city Frankfurt (Oder)-Słubice. This happens in the frame of three lab.workshops (Doc.Lab, Makers.Lab, Planners.Lab), where the participants will be able to develop their own small (team) projects with the assistance of facilitators from the respective fields.

Besides that, the school‘s programme features round tables with researchers from the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS, Berlin), film screenings, public events, and Open Space sessions, where participants will have a chance to discuss their own academic, civic, artistic or cultural work.

Successful applicants will be able to receive a travel scholarship. Accommodation costs will be covered by the organisers.

You can apply if you meet the following requirements:

• You are a student, a PhD candidate, an (NGO) activist or an artist up to 35 y/o;
• You have a genuine interest in transsectoral and transdisciplinary approaches to the topics of the school;
• Your knowledge of English is sufficient to take an active part in discussions.

You can apply online here.

Location: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Language: English

International conference, 15 - 17 October 2025

Henryk Bereska is a still underestimated East German translator and poet, critical thinker and creator of the foundations of the intellectual debate on Polish literature in Germany. Despite his extensive oeuvre, which has been honoured with the Transatlantyk Prize of the Polish Book Institute, among others, his translational and literary work remains little known and has not yet been systematically researched.

The year 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the translator and poet's death, and one year later will be the centenary of his birth: a fitting occasion to examine his wide-ranging oeuvre at an academic conference, to discuss the topicality of his work as a "silent mediator in the dialogue between Eastern and Western Europe", his role in German-Polish knowledge exchange and his significance for current academic research.

The conference will open with a lecture by the German author, dramaturge and radio director Matthias Thalheim, who worked as head of the artistic word at MDR Kultur from 1992 to 2020 in the areas of radio plays, features, readings, cabaret and children's radio.

After the conference, the publication of a conference volume (edited by Prof Anna Małgorzewicz, Dr Małgorzata Szajbel-Keck and Dr Ilona Czechowska) is planned in the series "Studies on Multiculturalism" of the University of Wrocław by Harrassowitz Verlag (in print and OA). The selection of contributions (in Polish or German) will be based on a double-blind peer review process.

Deadline for the submission of conference contributions: 30 April 2025

Location: European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder) and Collegium Polonicum, Słubice

Languages: German, Polish, English (without simultaneous interpreting)

Conference, 13 - 14 November 2025

The doctoral students of the Professorship of Economic Sociology are organising a conference at the European University Viadrina in November.

The conference will deal with the topic "Transformations of Capitalism - Perspectives of Economic Sociology in Times of Polycrisis". It will focus on the challenges and contributions of economic sociology in the current global crisis, including topics such as the fragility of socio-economic systems, sustainable economic models and the dynamics of social inequalities. The conference is particularly aimed at doctoral students in economic sociology in German-speaking countries; English contributions are also welcome.

Keynote speaker Dr Marcin Serafin (IFiS PAN, Warsaw) will open the discussion.

The call for papers is online. Abstracts (max. 500 words) can be submitted until 15 July 2025.

Location: European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)