Conference Report 2024

The three-day conference was held in a hybrid format and was live streamed via the Zoom platform. At the opening ceremony speeches were given by representatives of Masaryk University: the Vice-Rector Jiří Hanuš, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts Irena Radová, the Head of the Department of History Tomáš Malý, and by the Director of the Moravian Museum Jiří Mitáček. In his speech, Associate Professor Pavel Boček recalled the scientific and human legacy of the Czechoslovak historian and professor of Masaryk University Josef Macůrek. All together, the event featured 29 conference papers. The main theme of the conference was introduced by two keynote speeches. The participants were PhD students and scholars from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Germany, Serbia and Armenia.

The individual contributions were linked by focus on intercultural relations in Central and Eastern Europe. Attention was paid to the coexistence of foreigners with the local population. Their mutual relations ranged from social integration to conflicts. The examples of German colonists in the lands of the Czech Crown and in Poland, Croatian officials in Upper Hungary, foreign clergy and nomads in Rus', Orthodox Ruthenians and Cossacks in Poland-Lithuania, and Dominicans in Armenia were analysed. The lives of specific individuals - diplomats, missionaries, nobles and rulers - have not escaped attention. A specific category included papers on negative ethnic stereotypes, the formation of social identity and the role of foreigners in historiographical narratives. During the discussions, the most frequently repeated question was – how were foreigners perceived by the local population? The undeniable benefit of the international format of the conference was the comparison of findings from research on the social role of foreigners across territories from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans and from the Bohemia to the Caucasus. The discussion provided valuable suggestions for further research.

The event was organised by the Department of History of Masaryk University in close cooperation with the Institute of History of Jagiellonian University. The conference was supported by the Moravian Museum and the National Reserve “Davniy Halych” of Ukraine. Thanks to their willingness, the cultural programme of the event was enriched by an sightseeing tour of the permanent exhibition of the Museum "Central European Crossroad: Moravia in the 20th Century". Also interesting was the presentation on the socio-cultural influence of foreigners on medieval Galicia with a promotional film on the contemporary material culture and the activities of the National Reserve, which was prepared for the present students.

Eight other Central European universities participated in the Visegrad Fund project as partner organisations, helping to organise and promote the event. Specifically, they were the University of Ostrava, Comenius University in Bratislava, St. Cyril and Methodius University in Trnava, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, University of Szeged, Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, John Paul II Pontifical University in Krakow and the University of Bialystok.

The organisers thanks all participants for presenting their scientific research. We would like to thank all those who participated in the organization of the event, especially to Lenka Janošová, Head Librarian at our Department of History Library.