Home: 2025 Call for Papers

NINTH ANNUAL TARTU CONFERENCE
ON EAST EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN STUDIES

Resilience and Adaptation in Times of Adversity

11-13 June 2025, Tartu, Estonia

The Centre for Eurasian and Russian Studies (CEURUS) at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu, in collaboration with the University of Tartu Ukraine Centre (UTUC), invites proposals for full panels, roundtables, and individual papers for its 2025 annual conference on East European and Eurasian Studies. The Tartu Conference provides an academic forum that brings together scholars from area studies, comparative politics, international relations, economics, history, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and related disciplines to discuss the fundamental cultural, social, economic, and political trends and questions affecting all aspects of life in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The organisers expect that, as in previous years, more than 200 scholars will attend the event. 

The conference will take place as a fully in–person event at the University of Tartu, Estonia. The conference will begin in the afternoon on Wednesday 11 June and end in the late afternoon on Friday 13 June. The conference opening ceremony will take place on Wednesday evening, followed by a plenary roundtable on “Democracy and Resilience” and a drinks reception. On Thursday evening, there will be a keynote lecture followed by a conference dinner. This year’s keynote will be given by Kate Brown, Thomas M. Siebel Distinguished Professor in the History of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who will speak about community action and urban self-provisioning in a talk entitled: “Tiny Gardens Everywhere: A Kaleidoscopic History of the Food Sovereignty Frontier.”

The Tartu Conference 2025 invites participants to address the historical legacies, contemporary challenges, and future pathways of resilience in Eastern Europe and Northern Eurasia, focusing on social, political, economic, and environmental factors shaping how different states, communities, and individuals adapt and transform when faced with adversity. The conference welcomes submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes: 

• Historical and contemporary cases of resilience, including adaptations and transformations during times of crisis (e.g., wars, regime change, migration and population displacement, pandemics, economic downturns)  

• Cultural resilience, including the role of language, identity, memory, and heritage in building and sustaining communities 

• Democratic resilience, social mobilization, and collective action in response to political and legal challenges (e.g., authoritarianism, populism, political polarization, disinformation, corruption) 

• Resilience and adaptive strategies in the face of resource scarcity, environmental degradation, and climate change  

• Institutional adaptations to (geo)political pressures and internal and external security threats, including EU integration, NATO cooperation, hybrid warfare, and shifts in foreign policy alignment 

• Strategies to counter the impact of disinformation and information warfare on public opinion, political stability, and social cohesion 

The Tartu Conference invites submissions for panels, roundtables, and individual papers addressing the above and related themes, as well as other issues relevant to the past and present developments in Eastern Europe and Northern Eurasia. Comparative research focusing on the region and beyond, as well as interdisciplinary perspectives, are especially welcome. The Programme Committee will give careful consideration to all proposals, however, full panel proposals are particularly encouraged. 

Each paper proposal must include an abstract of no more than 250 words. Panel and roundtable proposals should list all speakers (3 or 4 per panel/roundtable), along with abstracts and, if available, information about the chair and the discussant (alternatively, these can be assigned later by the Programme Committee). In the formation of panels, we are committed to promoting diversity in gender, career stage, and institutional/country affiliations to foster a broad range of perspectives and enhance scholarly dialogue. 

The deadline to submit proposals is 20 January 2025. Please visit the conference website to submit an individual paper, panel, or roundtable proposal. All submissions will undergo review by the Programme Committee. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by email by 20 February. Accepted participants will be expected to register by 20 April and pay a registration fee of 120 euros. Students are eligible for a reduced fee of 80 euros. Please see Rules of Participation and Important Dates for other deadlines and requirements.

For scholars whose primary affiliation is with an institution in Ukraine, participation fees will be waived. Please note that all participants are expected to attend in-person and we are unable to accommodate requests for online participation or proposals for hybrid sessions. 

All participants should plan to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements. The organisers will issue visa invitations upon request. 

For further information, please see the conference website: https://tartuconference.ut.ee
If you have any questions, please contact the organisers at tartuconference@ut.ee

Programme Committee 

Catherine Gibson, University of Tartu 

Una Bergmane, University of Helsinki  

Matthew Blackburn, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs 

Ketevan Gurchiani, Ilia State University 

Dmytro Khutkyy, University of Tartu 

Aigerim Nurseitova, University of Tartu 

The conference is organised by: