“YOU SHARE – Youth Sharing Memories of Stalinism and its Victims”

General background of the project

You Share is a project funded by the European Commission-DG EAC under the Europe for Citizens Program- Action 4 “Active European Remembrance”. The project You Share brings together young people from local communities, research institutions, universities and civil and human rights organizations throughout Europe to share remembrance, foster reflection, and learn from the common history by raising the awareness of the young European citizens on the commemoration of the victims of mass extermination and mass deportatiton associated with Stalinism.

While fundamental freedoms, like physical security and the right to a due process are guaranteed in the European Union, there seems to be a relevant problem related to youngsters’ consciousness of the past combined with difficulties of inter-generational communication. Moreover, with the passing of the years there are less living testimonies of Stalinist atrocities. In this prospect, while trying to face these problems, the fundamental aim of this project is to keep alive the memory of victims of Stalinism in the young generations by involving young people with different national, religious, cultural, academic and professional backgrounds in a tolerant and constructive reflection.

Therefore, the project has two specific objectives. The first one is to enhance academic studies on the domestic and international role played either by Stalinism, or by the resistance to it, through the encouragement of new methodologies in joint comparative case-study research on the policies of Stalinism in Central-East Europe and their effects on victims, in order to foster intellectual public debate among young Ph.D students and researchers throughout Europe. The second objective is to create a sustainable link, under the supervision of eminent scholars, between young promising PhD and human rights activists by promoting multi-ethnic interdisciplinary relationships of young Europeans as well as their awareness of the inteconnection between domestic and international dynamics of stalinism and the resistance to it.

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The steps of the project

1. Launch of a Call for PhD papers on historical topics related to Stalinism
2. International Seminar
3. Preparatory meeting for the final International Forum
4. Final International Forum

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Call for Papers

This Call for Paper proposals, thus is Phase 1 of the You Share project. In this phase, international qualified Ph.D students/candidates are requested to submit a paper proposal related to the topic of Stalinism and the resistance to it. Particularly, the following case-studies are encouraged: Stalinisms and the resistance to it in both a local and an international dimension as it has been the case of the ex Soviet Union, Yugoslavia between 1946 and 1953, Hungary in 1947-1957, Czechoslovakia in the 50s and 60s, Western Europe, although in a less dramatic forms, such as in the case of Italy.

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International Seminar (March 21-24, 2010 Faenza, Italy)

The international seminar is a crucial phase of the project. Here all tutors and PhDs will meet in order to share experiences, methodologies, research difficulties, historical material and evidence in a multi-national, cooperative, highly specialized atmosphere.

The aim of this seminar is the comparison of the case-studies in order to highlight the scientific explanation of the transnationality of the issue of Stalinism and its victims, to evidence how it was shaped in different local/national realities. Another crucial aspect will be the discussion on the ways these atrocities are remembered in the States taken into analyses.

Program of the International Seminar (21-24 March 2010, Faenza, Italy)

• 1 day: presentation, communication of the academic supervisors, instructions on how to proceed
• 2 day: draft proposals discussed and reviewed
• 3 day: PhD organisation with regard to the
  1. research publication
  2. virtual network
  3. contribution to the DVD
  4. elaboration of questionnaires to submit to NGO project partners

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Preparatory meeting for the Final Forum (May 21-23, 2010 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

This meeting will gather all participants in order to prepare the main event of the project: the Final Forum. Its main objectives are: to evaluate the state-of-the-art of the research, to set up the necessary organisation for the realisation of the DVD, to involve the Ngo partners in the organisation and research process.

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International Forum (September 27-30, 2010, Faenza, Italy)

The final event is the most important one and it is planned to be organised in the form of an open and public forum to be held in Forlì. The aim of the Forum is to share academic research, empirical surveys and young people perceptions and comments on the issue of Stalinism and its victims, in order to circulate information and memory among European citizens in a bottom-up approach. In this Forum will participate: mentors, other eminent scholars, PhDs, partner representatives, youth associations, and victims associations in a total of approximately 40 persons. Also a huge number of students and professors from the University of Bologna will be able to participate; the reputation and the excellent organisational skills showed in similar past experiences of IECOB are a guarantee in this sense. The invitation will be extended to all the citizens of Faenza and Forlì, whose sensibility and active remembrance of the past constitute a fundamental part of the local social cohesion.

Get the program!

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The project partners

• IECOB, Istituto degli Studi sull’Europa Centro-Orientale e Balcanica, Forlì
• Vytatutas Magnus University at Kaunas
• University of Ljubljana
• University of Zagreb
• University of Rijeka
• Cineteca di Bologna
• AEGEE Forlì
• AEGEE Vilnius

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Academic Board

• Prof. Stefano Bianchini, University of Bologna
• Prof. Ineta Dabasinskene, Vytautas Magnus University at Kaunas
• Prof. Rudolf Rizman, University of Ljubljana
• Prof. Tvrtko Jakovina, University of Zagreb
• Prof. Vjeran Pavlakovic, University of Rijeka
• Project Coordinator: Endri Xhaferaj

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Admission procedures

The project is designed to meet the needs of a limited number of PhD students/candidates who must come from Humanities and Social Science faculties. They will be selected by an international jury on the basis of the submitted applications. The project will cover the accommodation and travel expenses of the selected candidates, according to modalities to be announced after the selection process. Candidates must be fluent both in spoken and written English, since it is the project’s sole working language. Participation in the You Share project involves:

• The presentation of a paper abstract based on current research and in synergy with the project’s objectives, to be developed under the supervision of an Academic Coordinator
• Participation in the International Seminar to be held on 21-24 March 2010 in Faenza, Italy
• Participation in the Preparatory meeting of the Final Forum (only for two PhD representatives to be chosen during the International Seminar) to be held on 21-23 May 2010 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Participation and final paper presentation during the Final Forum, to be held in Faenza, Italy on 27-30 September 2010

Applications must be submitted by February 25th , 2010 and contain:

• Application Form duly filled in
• A document verifying the status of PhD student/candidate,
• Curriculum Vitae ac studiorum comprising qualifications and current professional or academic position,
• Motivation Letter,
• An 1000 words paper proposal related to the topic and overall objectives of You Share project
• 1 or 2 Letters of presentation from an academic professor

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Assessment

The Academic Board will select PhD students/candidates on an anonymous and collaborative review process wherein Scientific Quality and Thematic Relevance of the submitted application will serve as the main evaluation criteria. The Academic Board will also take into account geographic and gender balance within the group of attending students.

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Notification of acceptance

The Academic Board will select the participants by March 4th 2010. The selected candidates will be asked to confirm their participation within 5 days, after which those places will be offered to other applicants.

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Deadlines

Deadline for receipt of applications: February 25th 2010

Notification of acceptance: March 4th 2010

Queries and applications to be sent electronically to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Virtual Network

Once you are admitted to participate in the activities of You Share project, you will be logged in to our virtual network. You are expected to present yourself with a picture and a text including some personal information as well as your research interests. Then you will be linked to those students who have a similar research focus as yourself. You will have the opportunity of deepening both your research knowledge as well as your data collection skills, as well as getting to know with the eminent scholars involved in the implementation of You Share.

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