ACLS Announces Scholars to Participate at 2025 Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), in partnership with the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia (CAS), is pleased to name 15 scholars who will participate in the 2025 Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe (SISECSE). ACLS will convene these leading scholars from Eastern Europe and North America for a two-week residency hosted by the American University in Bulgaria from June 5-20, 2025 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.  
 
At SISECSE, participants will have the opportunity to dedicate time to their own research and writing in a collaborative and interdisciplinary setting. During the institute participants will also engage in a series of immersive discussions exploring the topic “Epistemic Mistrust: Authorship, Credibility, and Knowledge Production.”
 
The 2025 scholars are working on a wide variety of research topics, across diverse geographic areas and fields of study, including the first environmental history of the Crimean War; graffiti in early modern Moldavian churches; the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to model post-war reconstruction and peacebuilding in Ukraine; and nationalism and academic freedom in Albania. This year’s participants will come from institutions across Eastern Europe and the United States, including Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University, Vanderbilt University, University of Bucharest, and the Icon Museum and Study Center.

“The Summer Institute provides an essential space where scholars from Eastern Europe and the United States can come together to build new networks, learn from the diverse perspectives of their fellow participants, and make progress on their own research,” said Deena Ragavan, ACLS Director of International Programs. “ACLS is grateful to the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia for their partnership in convening leading scholars of East Central and Southeastern Europe in Bulgaria.”

The Summer Institute for Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe is made possible by a generous donation from Carl and Betty Pforzheimer. The program builds on a long history of ACLS support for humanistic scholars and scholarship in Eastern Europe, including the ACLS Humanities Program in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine (1999-2010).