CONFANN: Association for the Study of Nationalities, April 2001 (Columbia U.) 

Columbia University, 5-7 April 2001
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM NOW ON THE WEB
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Watson_Institute/ASN/
http://asn.uno.edu

The full preliminary program of the ASN Sixth Annual World Convention, the world's foremost gathering on nationalism and identity in the former Communist world, is now available on the ASN web sites http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Watson_Institute/ASN/ or http://asn.uno.edu. The Convention will feature 108 panels, spread over eleven sessions from Thursday April 5, 1 PM, to Saturday April 7, in the evening. More than 500 people will be on panels.

All post-Soviet areas will be covered in tremendous depth, with sixteen panels on the Balkans, fifteen on Central Europe (including the Baltics), fourteen on Central Asia (including Turkey, China, and Mongolia), thirteen on the Russian Federation, eleven on Ukraine, six on the South Caucasus, and two dozens on thematic and cross-regional themes. Special roundtables will include "The Future of Peacekeeping Operations," organized by David Laitin; "Russia and the Western Media," featuring Stephen F. Cohen; "The Gongadze Case and Kuchmagate," Ukraine's ongoing political scandal; "The Second Chechen War," on French reporter Anne Nivat's book Chienne de guerre; "The Collapse of Yugoslavia," with Susan Woodward; and "Democracy and National Identity," with Jack Snyder.

Eleven recent documentaries and feature films, exploring ethnonational and identity issues in the post-Communist world, will also be shown at the convention. These will include GULAG, a BBC three-hour enquiry in the history of the Gulag; A TRIAL IN PRAGUE, on Czechoslovakia's postwar Slansky Trial; WAR IN THE LAND OF THE MUJAHEDDIN, set in the Afghan war zone; a brand new film on ABKHAZIA, and many others. The full list of films will be announced shortly.

Each film will be followed by discussion.

CENTRAL EUROPE-related panels at the convention will include:

The Borderlands: Poland as a Model of the Possibilities of Reconciliation Romanian Identity Politics in Transylvania: Community and Education Privatization, Property and the Role of the Emigres: The Identity Politics of Post-Communist Czech Jewry Nations, Regions, and Politics in Poland Historical Legacies and Intolerance in Central Europe Diaspora Politics in Central and Eastern Europe Reinventing Other Europes: Contest in the Margins The convention is consolidating its status as the World Annual Event on Nationalities Studies. As in the past, over one hundred and fifty panelists will be travelling from overseas for the event (plus an additional three dozens from Canada). Almost 40 percent of paper-givers are international participants (and this does not include the large amount of non-US born participants currently residing in the United States).

A growing number of research institutions are sponsoring panels at the convention. In addition to the Harriman Institute, which is hosting the convention, and the Watson Institute (Brown U), which is co-sponsoring, the list includes the European Center for Minority Issues (Germany); the European Academy Bolzano (Italy); the European Balkan Network (U of Bologna, Italy); the Council on Foreign Relations; the Open Society Institute; the International Peace Academy; the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs; the Institute for the Study of Conflict, Ideology, and Policy; Freedom House, and the Shevchenko Scientific Society. The French Institute of Political Studies, which is organizing the ASN co-sponsored conference "Nationality and Citizenship in Post-Communist Europe" on 9-10 July 2001 in Paris, will also have a strong presence at the convention.

LOCATION. The convention will be taking place in the International Affairs Building (IAB) of Columbia University, 420 W. 118th St. (metro station: 116th St., on the Red Line). Registration will be on the 15th Floor of IAB and the panels will be held on several floors.

REGISTRATION. $40 for ASN Members, $60 for Non-Members ($30 for Non-Members residing in Eastern Europe at the time of the convention) and $25 for Students. Preregistration payments are non-refundable after 1 March 2001.

A registration form can be downloaded from the ASN web site http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Watson_Institute/ASN/  or (http://asn.uno.edu) or requested from Lara Nettelfield (ljn9@columbia.edu). People who plan to attend the convention are strongly encouraged to pre-register, since places are limited.

SCHEDULE. Registration will begin at 11 AM, Thursday April 5, on the

15th Floor of IAB. People who sent preregistered will need to pick up their name tag and the convention program. On the Thursday, the panels will run from 1 PM-7.30 PM. On Friday and Saturday, from 9 AM to 6.30 PM. The convention will end on the Saturday evening, April 7.

ACCOMMODATION. The convention does not have arrangements with a particular hotel. A list of nearby hotels can be found on the ASN web site.

ASN MEMBERSHIP. People can now directly join a fast growing ASN on the convention pre-registration form. In addition to getting a significant discount at the ASN convention, ASN members receive annually four issues of Nationalities Papers, the field's leading journal; four issues of the Analysis of Current Events, containing up-to-the-minute analyses of ongoing events; and two issues of ASNews, the association's newsletter. An annual membership costs a remarkably low $50 annually-$30 for students.

BONUS FOR ASN MEMBERS. ASN members have also the option of subscribing to Europe-Asia Studies (formerly Soviet Studies), which publishes eight issues a year, for $55, almost a hundred dollars less than the regular subscription price. Convention panelists can take advantage of this offer directly on the convention registration form.

BOOK EXHIBIT/SALE OF PAPERS. Publishers will exhibit their wares in the exhibit room, located in the spacious Dag Hammarskjold Lounge on the 6th floor. Convention papers will also go on sale for $1.50 apiece. At least 20 copies of each paper will go on sale in the book exhibit on Friday, April 14, at 11.15 AM.

We look forward to seeing you at the convention!

For information on panels:

Dominique Arel ASN Convention Program Chair Watson Institute Brown University, Box 1831

130 Hope St.

Providence, RI 02912

401 863 9296 tel

401 863 2192 fax darel@brown.edu For information on exhibits and advertisements in the convention program:

Gordon Bardos ASN Convention Director Harriman Institute Columbia University

1216 IAB

420 W. 118th St.

New York, NY 10027

212.854.8487 tel

212.666.3481 fax gnb12@columbia.edu