Past Event

An International Conference to be held on November 11, 2010 at the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at Carleton University.

11 November 2010, 8:30am – 4:30pm
Room 2017, Dunton Tower, Carleton University

Conference Program

This year marks the sixty-fifth anniversary of the end of World War II and twenty years since the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, two events that each in their own way radically transformed the
landscape of contemporary Europe and Russia. The war left millions of dead across the continent, the majority civilians, including six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. In the aftermath
of the war, a number of efforts were undertaken to construct European and international institutions and legislation with the aim of preventing future war and crimes against humanity – most prominently the
U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Since the end of the Cold War, the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the accelerated process of European integration have led to a redrawing of the political map of Europe and Russia. The postcommunist age revived hopes for the potential of democracy in the region but was also accompanied by the return of nationalism, ethnic cleansing, war, and terrorism to Europe and the successor states of the Soviet Union, raising new questions about future of civility in Europe, Russia and internationally.

This fall thus offers a timely occasion to step back and reflect upon the legacy of World War II for the politics, society, and cultures of Europe and Russia. We propose to organize a one-day conference entitled
“Sixty-Five Years After: World War II and its Legacies for Contemporary Europe and Russia” at Carleton University, sponsored by the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies; the Centre for
European Studies, the Department of History, the Department of Political Science, and the Max and Tessie Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies. The conference aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to reflect upon these momentous events in the recent European past and to discuss their continuing relevance for us today.

The conference will consist of three panels:

• The First Panel “Confronting War and Genocide” will focus on the experience of the war and the impact of encounters with violence and genocide for contemporaries.

• The Second Panel “Justice and Remembrance” will explore the interrelationship between memory and the pursuit of justice in the aftermath of the war with an eye towards its contemporary relevance to post-Communist societies and cultures.

• The Third Panel “Lessons Learned?” will address the fact that the end of World War II and the end of the Cold War did not bring an end to war, violence and genocide. The panel will reflect on contemporary areas of conflict in the region and around the world and what lessons might be
learned from past experiences.

Support for this event has been provided by a generous donation from the Kinross Gold Corporation.