CFP: Turning Points in Baltic and Central East European Food History

Apr 28, 2012

CALL FOR PAPERS: Turning Points in Baltic and Central East European Food History – Knowledge, Consumption, and Production in Changing Environments Tallinn, Estonia, 29-31 August 2012 The deadline for applications is April 15, 2012.

Together with global changes (climate change, colonialism, industrialisation etc.), the conference will focus in particular on the specific regional characteristics of the Baltic countries and Central East Europe. This is all the more necessary since, despite the complex inter-ethnic composition, class structures and trade relations in the Baltic area and Poland, there have only been a few comparative studies made of the historical and trans-cultural food culture of the region which draw upon the latest research in this field. The main focus of this international and interdisciplinary conference will be upon the continuities and discontinuities in Baltic food history and in contemporary Baltic food studies.

This conference constitutes the first in a small series of conferences on environmental history which are being organised in cooperation with the Herder Institute in Marburg and the Institute of History, Tallinn University. The aim of this series is, from a comparative perspective, to reach an appraisal of the state of current research on the environmental history of the Baltic region and Central Eastern Europe, and to draw impulses from this for further research. We therefore also welcome topics whose focus lies beyond the actual region itself, but which can still offer an important methodological contribution.

We will invite up to 15 academics to the conference. Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes in length. Young academics are encouraged to present their research projects in poster presentations of around 10 minutes in length.

The language of the conference will be English, but presentations may also be made in German. The organisers will cover the costs of accommodation in Tallinn and if necessary a proportional takeover of the travel costs after (please contact the rganizers before).

Please send your abstracts (max. 500 words) to: Heidi Hein-Kircher ([email protected]) and Ulrike Plath ([email protected]). The deadline for applications is April 15, 2012.