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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - KEAC-BSR (Knowledge Exchange and Academic Cultures in the Humanities: Europe and the Black Sea Region, late 18th â€“ 21st Centuries)

Teaser

Summary

When the transfer of modern sciences to and the study of the Black Sea Region (BSR) began in the late 18th and early 19th centuries this terra incognita was not yet considered part of Europe. The title of the inter/multidisciplinary research and exchange project KEAC-BSR refers to that fact. Knowledge and science exchange between Europe and the BSR intensified in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries and was interrupted when the Caucasian part of the BSR after WWI and a significant Balkan portion of the BSR were integrated into the Soviet Unionâ€™s orbit after WWII. The BSR disappeared behind the Iron Curtain and only low level knowledge exchange was kept upright; the academic cultures of the West and the East fell apart. The previous quarter of a century has witnessed not only strengthening ties between the countries of the BSR, which is increasingly considered as the wider Southeast Europe, and between the BSR and the rest of Europe as well as globalisation of knowledge and scientific exchange. The integration of the region into the European Research Area (ERA) is on the way but not yet completed. The project provides excellent opportunities to critically reflect the sketched historical processes and to look into future.

KEAC-BSR\'s quality, credibility as well as novelty lies in its
* attempt to investigate systematically knowledge and cultural exchanges between the BSR and Western Europe from the second half of the 18th century to the present,
* theoretical and methodological approaches which have the potential to establish new pathways for future research and in its
* foregrounding of gender aspects.

The suggested international and inter/multidisciplinary project has established a network consisting of twelve research institutions from twelve countries of the Black Sea region and Austria. It includes representatives of all the core disciplines of the humanities around 1900. Innovative aspects of KEAC-BSR consist of 1) drawing attention to an emerging region (BSR) consisting of countries previously considered as belonging to seperate historical regions, 2) systematic investigation of knowledge and culture exchange within and beyond the region, 3) innovative theoretical framework, 4) inter/multidisciplinary methodology and 5) explicit gender perspectives.

Work performed

\"The project\'s initial phase aimed at establishing a theoretical basis on knowledge exchange in the Black Sea Region in historical perspective â€“ an endeavour reflected in the first joint book published in 2018 (\"\"Europe and the Black Sea Region. A History of Early Knowledge Exchange (1750-1850)\"\", edited by Dominik Gutmeyr and Karl Kaser). The research of the region as a sphere of foreign influence and external representation resulted in a rich diversity of papers compiled in this book, all of them connected by the theme of regional exchange in the fields of the humanities. Several studies underlined the influence and long-lasting implications of the first accounts of Western European scholars conducting research in der wider BSR while others took the influence of traditional knowledge systems and regimes as well as the relationship between (Western) European and Ottoman scientific traditions, the entanglement of non-scientific and scientific knowledge and the manifestation of knowledge within an increasing number of types of publications to analysis. The final objective of critically reflecting the representation of women across the BSR region in a men-dominated scientific world led to the establishment of a frequently updated online exhibition on the role of women in the BSR (https://blacksearegion.eu/womenbsr/).

The second stage could draw on the insights from the first stage of the project for which the researchers involved looked for continuities and changes to the relationship between (Western) Europe and the Black Sea Region at a time of institution building under foreign domination. A book published by June 2019, will do justice to the research conducted on the establishment of the first colleges, academies and universities in the BSR under foreign guidance, and analyze their political and societal contexts of their founding and research on the institutionalization of knowledge. Some papers give a new insight into the biographies of the first generation of domestic scholars and altogether compare the phases and implications of the emerging academic cultures in different parts of the BSR. One example for the overall topic of this work package is the work of Hugo Schuchardt as analyzed in a chapter of the forthcoming book while the theme of education abroad, migration and technology is reflected in several chapters. The latter theme is prominently discussed at hand of emerging photography and connected to the question of gender representation â€“ as is reflected in this work packageâ€™s update of the online exhibition of women in the BSR.

The third stage is leading to a third book, by which the team aims to discuss the main theme of outlining the processes of the emergence of independent and semi-independent academic cultures within the BSR until WWI. The papers do justice to the related objectives of conducting research on the backgrounds, discussions and motivation behind the foundation of chairs at BSR universities, on the role of international conferences, congresses and fairs on knowledge transfer and exchange within the BSR and the (self-) representation of BSR countries towards/by Western Europe and on Russian internal colonialism. Another update to the exhibition on women in the BSR gives credit to their overlooked prominence in the exchange of knowledge during WWI, with another emphasis on their increasing contributions in newly established international journals and the emerging medium of film within the framework of representation in and of the BSR.

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Final results

The project is in full accordance with the ER in its ambitions to intensify the research exchange between EU Member States, associated countries and third countries. The European Unionâ€™s association and integration process of BSR countries such as Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Macedonia and Moldova demands more efforts for creating a field of cultural and research dialogue. The project contributes to the efforts of overcoming narrow visions, ethnic and denominational stereotypes of national histories and the politics by promoting a framework for a shared history of peoples in a region worthy to be considered of being a space of knowledge exchange, both on a larger BSR stage as well as on a smaller level, encouraging dialogue beyond conflictual settings in the region.