Tom Grusiecki, associate professor in the Department of Art, Design and Visual Studies, will participate in the 2024 Summer Institute for the Study of East Central and Southeastern Europe, convened by the American Council of Learned Societies and the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia.
Grusiecki is one of fifteen talented scholars from Eastern Europe and North America convening for a two-week residency hosted by the American University in Bulgaria from June 13-29, 2024 in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The institute will provide the scholars with dedicated time for their own research and writing in a collaborative and interdisciplinary setting. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to participate in small group writing workshops and a series of discussions on the topic “The Humanities and Interpretive Social Sciences in a Time of Emergency, or Thinking Urgently,” exploring how humanistic scholars and scholarship can foster resilience, empathy and collective action.
Grusiecki’s research explores Ecocide Art: Extinction Management and the Material and Visual Cultures of the Jaktorów Forest Aurochs, 1500-1650.
“ACLS is excited to continue our successful partnership with the Centre for Advanced Study Sofia and convene leading scholars of East Central and Southeastern Europe in Bulgaria,” said Deena Ragavan, American Council of Learned Societies’ director of international programs. “The summer institute provides a vital opportunity for scholars to advance their own projects, as well as benefit from the perspectives of their fellow participants representing a diversity of institutions, geographic areas, and fields of study in the humanities.”
Now in its second year, the summer institute is made possible by a generous donation from Carl and Betty Pforzheimer. The program builds on a long history of American Council of Learned Societies’ support for humanistic scholars and scholarship in Eastern Europe including the American Council of Learned Societies Humanities Program in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine (1999-2010).