Romanian-Moldovan Studies

The group is a forum bringing together Graduate students from the UK, Western Europe, Romania and Moldova and its aim is to assess how far Romania has come since 1990 in terms of a synchronization of behaviour and an acceptance of shared European values, which are implicit in respect for the acquis communautaire. The Republic of Moldova, which aspires to join the EU, will form the object of a similar analysis. Romania's membership of the EU will act as a magnet to the Republic of Moldova, given the linguistic - and in part, cultural - identity that the majority of Moldovans share with the Romanians.

The series of seminars is conceived as an in-depth examination of Romanian identity and seeks to challenge the ethno-centric narratives that permeate the discussion of Romania's past and present by counter-balancing them with studies of minorities in Romania and border areas. In this respect the position of the Roma minority, the largest of its kind in Europe with an estimated population of 2.2 millions, that of the Hungarians of Transylvania and of the Csangos will also be addressed.

The group invites scholars researching Moldova's past and its peoples to consider the validity of the concept of a Moldovan identity and to examine to what degree the debate over this has contributed to the division of the Republic with the secession of the territory self-styled Transdnestr (Transnistria).

The seminars will take place within an interdisciplinary framework, spanning history, literature, the social sciences and cultural studies. They will promote the study of Romania and the Republic of Moldova and the multiple perspectives coexisting within them rather than unilateral analyses of a state or group.

Please see event programme

For further information please contact Professor Dennis Deletant d.deletant@ssees.ucl.ac.uk