Events / Program: Milena Jesenská Fellowship for Journalists

	Title	Date	Type	Speakers
	On the Quest for Legal Unicorns Against Authoritarians	Tue, 22.04.2025	Lecture	Misha Glenny Solmaz Khorsand	On the Quest for Legal Unicorns Against Authoritarians Tue, 22.04.2025 Speakers: Misha Glenny Solmaz Khorsand Series: Lecture Antidemocrats all over the world have learned to consolidate their power through the law: smoothly, gradually, and, above all, legally. In this Monthly Lecture, journalist Solmaz Khorsand went on a quest to find legal warriors (and in some cases more legal unicorns) who are prepared to defend the rule of law by anticipating the worst and showing the places of legal resistance – even the most humble. Read more
On the Quest for Legal Unicorns Against Authoritarians Tue, 22.04.2025 Speakers: Misha Glenny Solmaz Khorsand Series: Lecture Antidemocrats all over the world have learned to consolidate their power through the law: smoothly, gradually, and, above all, legally. In this Monthly Lecture, journalist Solmaz Khorsand went on a quest to find legal warriors (and in some cases more legal unicorns) who are prepared to defend the rule of law by anticipating the worst and showing the places of legal resistance – even the most humble. Read more
	The Great Russian Art Heist	Mon, 07.04.2025	Seminars and Colloquia	Misha Glenny Yegor Mostovshikov	The Great Russian Art Heist Mon, 07.04.2025 Speakers: Misha Glenny Yegor Mostovshikov Series: Seminars and Colloquia For more than three centuries, the Russian Empire, USSR, and Russia have been routinely exploiting and appropriating Ukrainian culture. Currently, Russia is in the process of committing one of the biggest art heists since the Nazis looted museums and private collections across Europe. Up to 480,000 pieces have been either stolen or destroyed. In this Fellows' Colloquium, journalist Yegor Mostovshikov discussed Russia's looting practices and crimes against art. Read more
The Great Russian Art Heist Mon, 07.04.2025 Speakers: Misha Glenny Yegor Mostovshikov Series: Seminars and Colloquia For more than three centuries, the Russian Empire, USSR, and Russia have been routinely exploiting and appropriating Ukrainian culture. Currently, Russia is in the process of committing one of the biggest art heists since the Nazis looted museums and private collections across Europe. Up to 480,000 pieces have been either stolen or destroyed. In this Fellows' Colloquium, journalist Yegor Mostovshikov discussed Russia's looting practices and crimes against art. Read more
	What Makes a City Grow Again: The Cases of Gdańsk, Cluj-Napoca, and Plovdiv	Mon, 24.03.2025	Seminars and Colloquia	Misha Glenny Ognyan Georgiev	What Makes a City Grow Again: The Cases of Gdańsk, Cluj-Napoca, and Plovdiv Mon, 24.03.2025 Speakers: Misha Glenny Ognyan Georgiev Series: Seminars and Colloquia If you could move and start anew, where would you go? For decades, people in Eastern Europe felt they had no choice but to move to the West in the hopes of a better life. This presentation focussed on three cities in Central and Eastern Europe—Gdańsk in Poland, Cluj-Napoca in Romania, and Plovdiv in Bulgaria—and analyzed how they have managed to escape depopulation. Read more
What Makes a City Grow Again: The Cases of Gdańsk, Cluj-Napoca, and Plovdiv Mon, 24.03.2025 Speakers: Misha Glenny Ognyan Georgiev Series: Seminars and Colloquia If you could move and start anew, where would you go? For decades, people in Eastern Europe felt they had no choice but to move to the West in the hopes of a better life. This presentation focussed on three cities in Central and Eastern Europe—Gdańsk in Poland, Cluj-Napoca in Romania, and Plovdiv in Bulgaria—and analyzed how they have managed to escape depopulation. Read more
	Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orbán: An Asymmetric Interdependence	Mon, 14.10.2024	Seminars and Colloquia	Francesca De Benedetti Ivan Krastev	Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orbán: An Asymmetric Interdependence Mon, 14.10.2024 Speakers: Francesca De Benedetti Ivan Krastev Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this Fellows' Colloquium, Francesca De Benedetti discussed the “Orbanization” of Italy and how Giorgia Meloni is using Viktor Orbán’s illiberal playbook. Meloni at first downplayed her relations with Hungary to gain credibility, but the strategies of Fidesz and Brothers of Italy belie a set of close connections. Read more
Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orbán: An Asymmetric Interdependence Mon, 14.10.2024 Speakers: Francesca De Benedetti Ivan Krastev Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this Fellows' Colloquium, Francesca De Benedetti discussed the “Orbanization” of Italy and how Giorgia Meloni is using Viktor Orbán’s illiberal playbook. Meloni at first downplayed her relations with Hungary to gain credibility, but the strategies of Fidesz and Brothers of Italy belie a set of close connections. Read more
	The Invention of Ukraine: How War Is Remaking Ukrainian Media	Mon, 05.02.2024	Seminars and Colloquia	Aleksander Palikot Mariia Shynkarenko	The Invention of Ukraine: How War Is Remaking Ukrainian Media Mon, 05.02.2024 Speakers: Aleksander Palikot Mariia Shynkarenko Series: Seminars and Colloquia In his presentation, Aleksander Palikot explored whether the delicate balance between the need to preserve unity and mobilize resources, and the protection of democracy is under threat in Ukraine. What will Zelensky do with the media-political machine he created? What state will emerge from the security-first digitalized regime that now flourishes in wartime Ukraine? How will this experience reshape what used to be called the post-Soviet sphere, including Russia? Read more
The Invention of Ukraine: How War Is Remaking Ukrainian Media Mon, 05.02.2024 Speakers: Aleksander Palikot Mariia Shynkarenko Series: Seminars and Colloquia In his presentation, Aleksander Palikot explored whether the delicate balance between the need to preserve unity and mobilize resources, and the protection of democracy is under threat in Ukraine. What will Zelensky do with the media-political machine he created? What state will emerge from the security-first digitalized regime that now flourishes in wartime Ukraine? How will this experience reshape what used to be called the post-Soviet sphere, including Russia? Read more
	Tunisia: After the Terror	Mon, 15.01.2024	Seminars and Colloquia	Dalia Mikulska Ayşe Çağlar	Tunisia: After the Terror Mon, 15.01.2024 Speakers: Dalia Mikulska Ayşe Çağlar Series: Seminars and Colloquia This presentation aimed to explore the societal schism in Tunisia between conservative (Muslim) and liberal factions. Following a constitutional coup in 2021 that concentrated substantial power in the hands of the president, Tunisia is ostensibly more secure, but is grappling with authoritarian regression, a deepening economic crisis, and a broader erosion of human rights. The speaker showed how the specter of the terrorist threat is leveraged to justify violations. Read more
Tunisia: After the Terror Mon, 15.01.2024 Speakers: Dalia Mikulska Ayşe Çağlar Series: Seminars and Colloquia This presentation aimed to explore the societal schism in Tunisia between conservative (Muslim) and liberal factions. Following a constitutional coup in 2021 that concentrated substantial power in the hands of the president, Tunisia is ostensibly more secure, but is grappling with authoritarian regression, a deepening economic crisis, and a broader erosion of human rights. The speaker showed how the specter of the terrorist threat is leveraged to justify violations. Read more
	Art Criticism during Wartime: Why Not Everything is a Cultural Policy	Mon, 03.07.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Anna Kaluher Katherine Younger	Art Criticism during Wartime: Why Not Everything is a Cultural Policy Mon, 03.07.2023 Speakers: Anna Kaluher Katherine Younger Series: Seminars and Colloquia What does art criticism mean during wartime? How does decolonization manifest within Ukrainian art criticism in 2022–2023? What are the risks of limiting ourselves to the diplomatic function of cultural policy realization, even if it seems to be the only viable option for action? These questions were explored during this Fellows Colloquium. Read more
Art Criticism during Wartime: Why Not Everything is a Cultural Policy Mon, 03.07.2023 Speakers: Anna Kaluher Katherine Younger Series: Seminars and Colloquia What does art criticism mean during wartime? How does decolonization manifest within Ukrainian art criticism in 2022–2023? What are the risks of limiting ourselves to the diplomatic function of cultural policy realization, even if it seems to be the only viable option for action? These questions were explored during this Fellows Colloquium. Read more
	Irony in Politics	Mon, 05.06.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Gergely Tóth Misha Glenny	Irony in Politics Mon, 05.06.2023 Speakers: Gergely Tóth Misha Glenny Series: Seminars and Colloquia Irony has always fascinated thinkers, artists and frankly, everyone reflecting on the smaller and bigger paradoxes of life. Since the Romantic movement, irony is understood to be more than an “average” trope; it has been framed, variously, as an attitude, a discursive strategy or even the source of freedom. According to Søren Kierkegaard, “[j]ust as philosophy begins with doubt, so also a life that may be called human begins with irony. […] no genuinely human life is possible without irony.” Read more
Irony in Politics Mon, 05.06.2023 Speakers: Gergely Tóth Misha Glenny Series: Seminars and Colloquia Irony has always fascinated thinkers, artists and frankly, everyone reflecting on the smaller and bigger paradoxes of life. Since the Romantic movement, irony is understood to be more than an “average” trope; it has been framed, variously, as an attitude, a discursive strategy or even the source of freedom. According to Søren Kierkegaard, “[j]ust as philosophy begins with doubt, so also a life that may be called human begins with irony. […] no genuinely human life is possible without irony.” Read more
	How left-wing parties deal with immigration: Notes from France	Mon, 04.07.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Ludger Hagedorn Madeleine Schwartz	How left-wing parties deal with immigration: Notes from France Mon, 04.07.2022 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Madeleine Schwartz Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this talk, Schwartz discussed her recent reporting on the French socialist and leftist parties to elaborate on how left-wing parties deal with changing social patterns. Read more

	The One That Got Away / Everyday Life During Armed Conflicts	Mon, 06.12.2021	Seminars and Colloquia	Dimiter Kenarov Keith Krause Ludger Hagedorn Paweł Pieniążek Soli Özel	The One That Got Away / Everyday Life During Armed Conflicts Mon, 06.12.2021 Speakers: Dimiter Kenarov Keith Krause Ludger Hagedorn Paweł Pieniążek Soli Özel Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this Joint Fellows Colloquium we had presentations from two of our current Fellows, both from the Milena Jesenská Fellowship Program for Journalists, Dimitar Kenarov and Paweł Pieniążek. Dimitar Kenarov is a freelance journalist and poet based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Paweł Pieniążek is a Polish journalist covering conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Read more
The One That Got Away / Everyday Life During Armed Conflicts Mon, 06.12.2021 Speakers: Dimiter Kenarov Keith Krause Ludger Hagedorn Paweł Pieniążek Soli Özel Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this Joint Fellows Colloquium we had presentations from two of our current Fellows, both from the Milena Jesenská Fellowship Program for Journalists, Dimitar Kenarov and Paweł Pieniążek. Dimitar Kenarov is a freelance journalist and poet based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Paweł Pieniążek is a Polish journalist covering conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Read more