Events / Program: Milena Jesenská Fellowship for Journalists

	Title	Date Sort ascending	Type	Speakers
	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
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
	Religious Fundamentalism and the Decline of Women’s Reproductive Rights in Central Europe	Mon, 17.05.2021	Seminars and Colloquia	Amanda Coakley Dennis Patterson Ivan Vejvoda	Religious Fundamentalism and the Decline of Women’s Reproductive Rights in Central Europe Mon, 17.05.2021 Speakers: Amanda Coakley Dennis Patterson Ivan Vejvoda Series: Seminars and Colloquia In the shadow of population decline some Central European states have turned their attention to curtailing women’s access to abortion and in the case of Poland, effectively outlawing it. These policy moves are not only the work of illiberal governments. They are also heavily linked to religious institutions who for decades have labelled women’s reproductive rights as enemy number one on the battlefield of moral values. Calling for a “return to traditional family values” is not the path to economic and social prosperity. Yet it is a clarion call sounded from Warsaw to Budapest. Furthermore, these moves are indicative of the Church’s desire to maintain its political as well as religious influence as a growing number of people in the region chose a more secular life. Read more
Religious Fundamentalism and the Decline of Women’s Reproductive Rights in Central Europe Mon, 17.05.2021 Speakers: Amanda Coakley Dennis Patterson Ivan Vejvoda Series: Seminars and Colloquia In the shadow of population decline some Central European states have turned their attention to curtailing women’s access to abortion and in the case of Poland, effectively outlawing it. These policy moves are not only the work of illiberal governments. They are also heavily linked to religious institutions who for decades have labelled women’s reproductive rights as enemy number one on the battlefield of moral values. Calling for a “return to traditional family values” is not the path to economic and social prosperity. Yet it is a clarion call sounded from Warsaw to Budapest. Furthermore, these moves are indicative of the Church’s desire to maintain its political as well as religious influence as a growing number of people in the region chose a more secular life. Read more
	Crimes Without Punishments and Damaged Collective Identities	Mon, 15.03.2021	Seminars and Colloquia	Jerko Bakotin	Crimes Without Punishments and Damaged Collective Identities Mon, 15.03.2021 Speakers: Jerko Bakotin Series: Seminars and Colloquia The lecture briefly presented the circumstances of the massacre committed in the town of Dvor during the Croatian Army’s Operation Storm, which crushed the secessionist Serb Republic of Krajina. In the early afternoon of August 8, 1995, nine (possibly ten) mentally ill and handicapped people were executed in Dvor’s primary school, where they had found shelter. Twenty-five years after the massacre, the killers have still not been prosecuted and it is even unclear to which army they belonged. In the vicinity there were both Croatian and Serbian units, while the Bosnian Army was only a few kilometers away. In addition, the massacre happened in front of Danish UN soldiers, whose base was on the school’s playground a mere 20 meters away from the massacre. Read more
Crimes Without Punishments and Damaged Collective Identities Mon, 15.03.2021 Speakers: Jerko Bakotin Series: Seminars and Colloquia The lecture briefly presented the circumstances of the massacre committed in the town of Dvor during the Croatian Army’s Operation Storm, which crushed the secessionist Serb Republic of Krajina. In the early afternoon of August 8, 1995, nine (possibly ten) mentally ill and handicapped people were executed in Dvor’s primary school, where they had found shelter. Twenty-five years after the massacre, the killers have still not been prosecuted and it is even unclear to which army they belonged. In the vicinity there were both Croatian and Serbian units, while the Bosnian Army was only a few kilometers away. In addition, the massacre happened in front of Danish UN soldiers, whose base was on the school’s playground a mere 20 meters away from the massacre. Read more
	Mental Illness as a Cultural and Societal Phenomenon	Mon, 23.11.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Anna Kiedrzynek Eric Reinhart Ludger Hagedorn	Mental Illness as a Cultural and Societal Phenomenon Mon, 23.11.2020 Speakers: Anna Kiedrzynek Eric Reinhart Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia The collapse of communism in the CEE region 30 years ago was the start of a long-term process of sociopolitical change, in which a major transformation of the mental health system was expected. Unfortunately, this transformation is not yet complete. For example, in Poland people with severe mental illnesses and disabilities are treated in large psychiatric institutions and lack access to community-based care. The stigma around people with severe illnesses remains higher there than in Western European countries (according to The Lancet Psychiatry): they face exclusion on many levels and often remain marginalized. It is crucial that mental illnesses is seen, by both academic researchers and journalists, as not just a biological fact but also a societal and cultural phenomenon. Read more
Mental Illness as a Cultural and Societal Phenomenon Mon, 23.11.2020 Speakers: Anna Kiedrzynek Eric Reinhart Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia The collapse of communism in the CEE region 30 years ago was the start of a long-term process of sociopolitical change, in which a major transformation of the mental health system was expected. Unfortunately, this transformation is not yet complete. For example, in Poland people with severe mental illnesses and disabilities are treated in large psychiatric institutions and lack access to community-based care. The stigma around people with severe illnesses remains higher there than in Western European countries (according to The Lancet Psychiatry): they face exclusion on many levels and often remain marginalized. It is crucial that mental illnesses is seen, by both academic researchers and journalists, as not just a biological fact but also a societal and cultural phenomenon. Read more
	Letters to Enver Hoxha	Mon, 02.11.2020	Seminars and Colloquia	Nikolai Antoniadis Miloš Vec	Letters to Enver Hoxha Mon, 02.11.2020 Speakers: Nikolai Antoniadis Miloš Vec Series: Seminars and Colloquia From after World War II until his death in 1985, thousands of Albanians wrote letters to Enver Hoxha, a mixture of trivial everyday concerns and exceptional episodes that are tragic, heart-warming and absurd in equal measure. These letters were meticulously archived by the authorities, discussed and acted upon. Put in context, they reveal an abysmal world in which the Party was in control of all aspects of life – a national trauma that has not been addressed to this day. Read more
Letters to Enver Hoxha Mon, 02.11.2020 Speakers: Nikolai Antoniadis Miloš Vec Series: Seminars and Colloquia From after World War II until his death in 1985, thousands of Albanians wrote letters to Enver Hoxha, a mixture of trivial everyday concerns and exceptional episodes that are tragic, heart-warming and absurd in equal measure. These letters were meticulously archived by the authorities, discussed and acted upon. Put in context, they reveal an abysmal world in which the Party was in control of all aspects of life – a national trauma that has not been addressed to this day. Read more