Contours of Change A Decade of Transformative Inquiry at CAS SEE

We invite you to join us in conversation and celebration of publishing „Contours of Change A Decade of Transformative Inquiry at CAS SEE“, ten year anniversary publication of CAS SEE UNIRI on the 13th of May, 2024 at 17:30 (CET) online on Zoom.

2023 was marked by the celebration of the University of Rijeka 50th anniversary alongside the Center for Advanced Studies of Southeastern Europe’s decade of valuable work. It takes time and work to become knowledgeable, increase expertise and share the enormous responsibility for the future – 138 postdoctoral CAS SEE fellow positions and over 600 months of supported research speak for that.

Through the publishing of research projects from the last two generations of fellows, the Center celebrates its effort to support science, research, and the encouragement of young researchers at the beginning of their academic careers.

Those who have followed our work will recognize the values we stand for reflected in the topics outlined across over twenty open calls for applications, which invited contributions on issues such as migration, the possibility of the end of violence; European identity in all its forms; forms of solidarity in times of war and crises; ecology, justice in cities and beyond; cultures of rejection; illiberalism, authoritarianism, and possibilities for peace; the resilience of democracy; and legal frameworks that harmonize relations between humans, non-humans, and inanimate objects. These calls have also addressed imagined and real frontiers and borders of Europe, the Global South, and the Western Balkans. Each call has addressed a facet of reality, thereby envisioning the future. Through them, we have consistently strived to comprehend where we are, where we have come from, and where we are heading.

In times when we are unable to stop wars, restrain injustice, and diminish suffering, we cling to the right—and the responsibility—to strive to provide resources for creativity, research, and imagination. Through critical analyses of values and considering research practices necessary to cultivate those that are lacking, our aim is to remain sincere and steadfast in supporting the potential for knowledge creation in Southeast Europe. This includes both countries within the European Union and those on its symbolic or actual borders. Only through these actions can we lay the foundations of understanding, peace, and a unified Europe, or in our part of the world heal the ravages of disputes, misunderstandings, wars, atrocities, and, above all, the ignorance of others’ vulnerability and grief. What will the future bring if we are not Pythias, if we speak not from resentment but from experience and the residue of past battles and articulated commitments? We hope to continue evolving with new allies, respecting the memory of the past and the journey we have undertaken. Why should the future have the contours of certainty? Isn’t it sufficient that with our example, with the legacy we leave, we are fulfilling the mission we outlined ten years ago: to devote time to research work, to appreciate the inventive power of thought, and, above all, to pursue the intentions that reduce miseries and nurture affective equalities.