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Each week, an interview is published as part of the 45 for 45 series, which will run throughout 2018 to mark the 45th anniversary of the Society for Romanian Studies as well as the 100th anniversary of the formation of modern Romania. You might want to check the latest interviews, available at: https://society4romanianstudies.org/activities-programs/45-for-45/.

 

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Call for Coeditor, Journal of Romanian Studies

Description automatically generatedThe Journal of Romanian Studies is currently seeking a new Coeditor, to replace Svetlana Suveica, beginning in July 2023. The Coeditor will work with Jill Massino (Coeditor), Iuliu Raţiu (Book Review Editor) and Iemima Ploscariu (Editorial Assistant)

This biannual peer-reviewed journal published by the Society for Romanian Studies in collaboration with Liverpool University Press examines critical issues in Romanian Studies broadly conceived, linking work in that field to wider theoretical debates and issues of current relevance, and serving as a forum for both junior and senior scholars.

The journal considers original manuscripts that draw on various theoretical, conceptual and methodological perspectives as understood in disciplines ranging from history, political science, philosophy, law and justice studies, anthropology, sociology, ethnography, and education to literature, linguistics, economics, business, religion, gender, film and media studies, art history, and music. It considers theoretically informed manuscripts that examine political, socioeconomic and cultural developments in Romania and Moldova, the situation of their ethnic minorities and their relations with the ethnic majority, as well as the position, culture, and history of Romanians and Moldovans living outside the shifting boundaries of those countries.

The journal also welcomes articles that connect Romania and Moldova comparatively with other states and their ethnic majorities and minorities, as well as with other groups by investigating the challenges of migration and globalization, changes and opportunities in international relations, and the impact of the European Union. Both articles with a historical focus and studies dealing with contemporary events will be considered.

Coeditors serve three-year, renewable terms and are responsible for:

·     Directing the editorial content and policy of the journal;

·     Liaising with LUP on production and all other publishing matters;

·     Soliciting articles, book reviews, translations, and special issues;

·     Reviewing article-length manuscripts to determine if a piece should be sent out to complete the double-blind peer-review process.

·     Quality assurance in the final proofs for publication.

The editors are not compensated for their effort. Guest editors have been used for special issues and this practice will continue as opportunities and needs present themselves.

If you would like to be considered for either of these positions, please send a current curriculum vitae and a letter of intention by Friday 31^st March 2023 to the President of the Society of Romanian Studies, James Kapaló (j.kapalo@ucc.ie) and Secretary of the Society for Romanian Studies, Dana Trif dana.trif@gmail.com

Society for Romanian Studies in Solidarity with Ukraine

As the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches, the Society for Romanian Studies would like to send a renewed message of support for the Ukrainian people, for Ukrainian sovereignty and democracy. As an academic society, we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and with our Ukrainian academic colleagues who not only face violent attack but also the onslaught of Russian propaganda and denial of Ukrainian culture, history and identity. We pledge to continue to support our Ukrainian colleagues in whatever way we can in the time ahead.

James A. Kapaló

President of the Society for Romanian Studies

Society for Romanian Studies—Call for Nominations

As the calendar year draws to a close, so do four SRS executive mandates: President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. According to our by-laws, the President and Vice-President serve for three years (January 2023 – December 2025), whereas the Secretary and the Treasurer serve for four years (January 2023 – December 2026). The Nominating Committee would like to call for nominations to these four positions on the SRS Executive Board, to replace Roland Clark, Rodica Zaharia, Anca Sincan and Vladimir Solonari.

Please send nominations or self-nominations, specifying clearly the position, by December 10 to Lavinia Stan, Past President and Chair of the Nominating Committee, via e-mail at lstan@stfx.ca.

The nomination should include a current email address and institutional affiliation, a 200-word bio, as well as a brief personal statement about your goals on the SRS Executive Board (up to 300 words). Please consult the SRS by-laws for details about SRS governance, available at https://society4romanianstudies.org/srs-bylaws/

The Society for Romanian Studies is an international interdisciplinary academic organization dedicated to promoting the professional study, criticism, and research of all aspects of Romanian culture and civilization, particularly concerning the countries of Romania and Moldova. The Nominating Committee strives to promote balanced representation in regard to age, gender, professional background, locations of residence, and geographical and disciplinary areas of specialization, but is not be bound by any particular formula.

Qualifications include being a member of SRS and being actively engaged in the field of

Romanian Studies. To be eligible for election as Treasurer a person must be a member in good standing for at least the calendar year prior to election.

OPEN POSITIONS

The open positions and a brief description of duties are as follows:

The President shall call and preside at all meetings of members and shall be the Chair of the Executive Board. She/he shall sign all contracts, agreements and other instruments which may be entered into by or on behalf of the SRS.  The President shall appoint as needed non-voting members as advisory to the Board (committee chairs, such as the prize committees, program committee chairs, or ad hoc committee chairs) with the approval of the Board.  The President (assisted by the Vice-President) shall be responsible for monitoring Board participation and making recommendations to the Board in cases of perceived nonfeasance, misfeasance, or malfeasance.

The Vice-President shall assist the President in the execution of her/his functions and perform the duties of the President in the absence of the President. She/he shall also perform those specific duties assigned by the Executive Board.

The Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Society and of the National Board; shall maintain the Archives of the Society; shall keep current the list of the Society’s liaison/representatives to other societies and associations that the SRS is affiliated or related to, as well as informing the President and the Board when replacements need to be made; shall receive and answer correspondence addressed to the Association in consultation with the president; and shall send out, receive, and tabulate election ballots, and report the result of elections to the Board. The Treasurer will also serve as an acting Secretary for purposes concerning the organization’s financial transactions.

The Treasurer shall have the care and custody of all funds of the Society which shall come into her/his hands, shall deposit the same in such manner and in such banks as the Executive Board or the President may direct, and shall disburse such funds under the direction of the Board. She/he shall keep true books of account and render statements thereof whenever required, and in no case less frequently than once a year, at the annual meeting of the Society; shall manage the collection of dues, and keep accurate lists of the members in each category; and shall provide to the annual meeting of the Society a written statement of disbursements and assets for the current fiscal year.

Please send nominations or self-nominations to the chair of the Nominating Committee until December 10, 2022: Lavinia Stan (lstan@stfx.ca)

SELECTION PROCESS

SRS selects Board members through an electronic ballot of all members in good standing. Open balloting will take place from December 12-24, 2022 and the results will be announced no later than January 1, 2023.

The nominating committee consists of:

Lavinia Stan (chair), St Francis Xavier University, Canada, lstan@stfx.ca

Ruxandra Trandafoiu, Edge Hill University, UK, trandar@edgehill.ac.uk

Matei Gheboianu, University of Bucharest, Romania, matei.gheboianu@gmail.com

Open Letter Regarding the Romanian National Archives

În atenția:

Klaus Iohannis, președinte

Gabriel-Cristian Pișcociu, consilier de stat

Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, prim-ministru

Marcel Ciolacu, președinte al Camerei Deputaților din România

Alina Gorghiu, președintele Senatului României

Lucian Nicolae Bode, Ministerul de Interne

Lucian Romașcanu, Ministerul Culturii

Valeria Oana Zaharia, manager, Institutul Național al Patrimoniului

Cristian Anița, director al Arhivelor Naționale ale României

Alina Pavelescu, director adjunct al Arhivelor Naționale ale României

Mă adresez în numele Societății de Studii Românești (SRS), o asociație internațională de cercetători din Europa, America de Nord și Asia dedicată promovării studiului profesional, criticii și cercetării tuturor aspectelor culturii și civilizației românești, în special în ceea ce privește România și Republica Moldova. SRS susține categoric petițiile recente și este în asentimentul expresiilor de frustrare și îngrijorare referitoare la noile reguli privind accesul la documentele de arhivă ale Arhivelor Naționale ale României.

Conform declarației UNESCO din 2011, „Arhivele constituie un patrimoniu unic și de neînlocuit transmis din generație în generație. Surse de informație credibilă pentru o guvernare responsabilă și transparentă, arhivele joacă un rol esențial în dezvoltarea societăților contribuind la constituirea și salvarea memoriei individuale și colective”. Ca cercetători, prețuim libertatea academică, bazată pe diverse garanții constituționale (art. 30 libertatea de exprimare, art. 31 dreptul la informație, autonomia universitara art. 32 para. 6). Prin urmare, suntem consternați de restricțiile actuale privind accesul la documentele de arhivă și de lipsa finanțării și a sprijinului acordat arhivelor. Noi vă rugăm să acordați:

1. Acces egal și nerestricționat la toate documentele din colecția Arhivelor Naționale. Precizăm că toate aceste documente nu prezintă vreun risc pentru securitatea României, ele fiind create înainte de 1989, iar unele în perioada celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial sau chiar și mai înainte. Accesul la documentele de arhivă este un pas crucial în tranziția de la o societate totalitară la una democratică deschisă și este in conformitate cu articolul 24 al Legii 182/2002, care prevede că nu pot fi clasificate, ca secrete de stat, informații, date sau documente „în scopul ascunderii încălcărilor legii, erorilor administrative, limitării accesului la informațiile de interes public, restrângerii ilegale a exercițiului unor drepturi ale persoanelor sau lezării altor interese legitime” și nici documentele referitoare „la o cercetare științifică fundamentală”, care nu au „o legătură justificată cu securitatea națională”. Până acum, dacă un cercetător avea acces la un document, acesta nu putea fi refuzat altcuiva. Multe dintre documentele cu acces acum interzis au putut fi cercetate înainte de instituirea restricțiilor, iar unele au fost și publicate. Istoricii, cercetătorii și arhiviștii nu își pot îndeplini sarcinile profesionale fără acces la aceste colecții de arhivă. Solicităm, așadar, ca restricțiile actuale să fie eliminate cât mai repede posibil.

• O nouă lege a arhivelor care să garanteze accesul public și egal al cercetătorilor la toate fondurile Arhivelor Naționale, în conformitate cu Recomandarea Nr. R (2000) 13 al Consiliului Europei, care se referă la accesul și utilizarea arhivelor istorice ale Uniunii Europene (HAEU).

• Trecerea Arhivelor Naționale din jurisdicția Ministerului de Interne la Ministerul Culturii. Standardul internațional pentru arhive este că Arhivele Naționale sunt fie autonome, fie în subordinea Ministerului Culturii sau echivalentului acestuia. Pentru că se referă la patrimoniul național, misiunea Arhivelor Naționale – aceea de a colecta, păstra, administra și garanta transmiterea memoriei colective prin intermediul documentului istoric – ține de responsabilitatea Ministerului Culturii și nu a Ministerului de Interne. Conducerea Arhivelor Naționale nu trebuie să implice cenzură sau vreo implicare a DGPI.

• Asigurarea unei finanțări adecvate pentru a permite arhivelor să își îndeplinească atribuțiile prevăzute de lege. Conform Strategiei Arhivelor Naționale 2015-2021, “principala instituție de arhivă a statului român a fost nevoită să supraviețuiască cu mijloace învechite, extrem de reduse: o concepție și o bază juridică întruchipate de Legea nr. 16/1996, repede depășite de realitate, lipsa modernizării, în primul rând a informatizării, personal insuficient, în reducere drastică după 2008 și parțial deprofesionalizat din cauza lucrărilor de nivel inferior, un buget simbolic, de supraviețuire. A rezultat o slăbire continuă a instituției și o creștere a discrepanței dintre obligațiile legale și posibilități. Toate au culminat cu seria de măsuri din perioada 2006-2011 (obligarea prin lege de a prelua state de plată, degradarea în rang administrativ la toate nivelurile, reducerea drastică de personal, reduceri bugetare ș.a.), care au adus instituția practic în prag de colaps.” În calitate de utilizatori ai Arhivelor Naționale, membrii noștri nu au văzut nicio îmbunătățire de când aceasta a fost scrisă acum șapte ani. Dimpotrivă, Curtea de Conturi a România a raportat în 2017 că “reorganizarea instituției la nivel de direcție a atras retrogradarea de nivel a tuturor funcțiilor de conducere din subordine, aspect care a influențat negativ relațiile de autoritate, de reprezentare și de control la creatorii și deținătorii de documente, în special în cazul celor 42 de structuri teritoriale. În ceea ce privește numărul de posturi prevăzute, în perioada 2009-2015, reorganizările succesive de la nivelul instituției au însemnat atât modificarea statutului instituției, cât și desființarea unor posturi, fiind înregistrată astfel o scădere semnificativă a acestora, de la 1.728 posturi la 714 posturi (număr menținut și în anul 2015).”

Trebuie luate măsuri urgente în lumina acestei situații de criză.

Vă mulțumim pentru înțelegere.

În speranța unei soluționări pozitive,

Dr. Roland Clark, FHEA, FRHistS

President, Society for Romanian Studies

Statement on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The Society for Romanian Studies and the PLURAL Forum for Interdisciplinary Studies:
Considering the military aggression of the Russian Federation against the territorial integrity, the sovereignty, and the independence of Ukraine,
Considering the atrocities committed by the Russian Armed Forces against the civilian population in Ukraine, including children,
Considering the repression by the Russian State of the people who use their freedom of speech,
Aware of their mission to defend human rights and democratic values and to spread this awareness,
jointly PROTEST against the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
STAND IN SOLIDARITY with the people of Ukraine and with our Ukrainian academic colleagues,
and pledge to HELP them in whatever way they can,
BACK the petitions of their fellow associations ASEEES, BASEES, and IARCEES,
SUPPORT the protests of the Russian intellectuals and the entire Russian people,
and HOPE for peace and for justice.

The Society for Romanian Studies

Announces:

 

The Fourth Biennial SRS Book Prize

The committee agreed unanimously to award the prize to Roland Clark, Holy Legionary Youth: Fascist Activism in Interwar Romania (Cornell UP, 2015). Clark’s book offers a comprehensive reinterpretation of the interwar Legionary movement from the perspective of the history of everyday social life. Moving away from abstract paradigms of ‘the nature of Romanian fascism’, Clark tells us more about what the Legionaries actually did (and did not) do, using a large number of new archival sources. His book covers the career of the movement from beginning to end and treats a remarkable range of topics, with a good structure, contextualization, regional coverage, and comparison with other fascist movements. Especially impressive is the way Clark situates interwar Romanian political phenomena in the context of broader paradigms of international social, cultural, political and religious history; and brings the topic up to date with a closing reflection on the memory of Legionary activity in post-war and present-day Romanian society. For the breadth and depth of its analysis, its rich documentation and clear writing style, Clark’s work stands out against a very strong field.

There were also three important Honorable Mentions:

Virginia Hill and Gabriela Alboiu, Verb Movement and Clause Structure in Old Romanian (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016) show that although early Romanian texts display predominantly Latin and Romance morphology patterns, they also signal a strong manifestation of the Balkan Sprachbund where syntax is concerned. These findings help us to understand more clearly the linguistic processes that paved the way for the emergence of modern Romanian.

Dennis Deletant, British Clandestine Activities in Romania During the Second World War (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) contains priceless and rare information concerning Britain’s wartime role in Romania, that by its nature is hard to access. Deletant not only clarifies the documentary record of a contested story but offers careful and calibrated assessments of the ultimate impact of British activities, as well as providing insights from Romanian archives that have not hitherto been available to British researchers.

Ştefan Ionescu, Jewish Resistance to Romanianization (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) greatly enriches our understanding of Jewish resistance to the Antonescu regime during the Second World War. Focusing on the Jewish community of Bucharest, Ionescu defines his topic as ‘an asynchronic duel fought with legal weapons in an asymmetric warfare’. His fine analysis, based on extensive archival research, adds to our knowledge both of the Jewish community’s plight and activities, and of their impact on the social and political history of wartime Romania as a whole.

 

SRS Book Prize Committee Members: 

Alex Drace-Francis European Studies Department University of Amsterdam Kloveniersburgwal 48 AMSTERDAM 1012CX Netherlands

Peter Gross 10025 Casa Real Cove Knoxville, TN 37922 USA

Inessa Medzhibovskaya Eugene Lang College The New School 65 West 11th Street New York, NY 10011 USA

About the SRS Book Prize:

For details of the Prize and past winners please see: https://society4romanianstudies.org/2016/06/18/awards-prizes/

Two recent histories of the Society for Romanian Studies are available, each focusing on different aspects of the association:

Paul Michelson. “‘To Promote Professional Study, Criticism and Research and All Aspects of Romanian Culture and Civilization’: The Society for Romanian Studies at Forty.” Balkanistica 29 (2016): 263-277.

Roland Clark. “The Society for Romanian Studies, 1973-2019: The Globalization of Academic Associational Culture.” In Studiile româneşti în anul centenarului, edited by Marina Cap-Bun and Florentina Nicolae.  Bucharest: Editura Universitara, 2019, 13-21.

Paul E. Michelson (Huntington University) joined the executive board of the SRS in 1976, and also served as secretary pro tem. He was officially elected secretary and newsletter editor in 1978. In 1995, he established the first SRS website. Paul served as secretary from 1976 through 2006, and again from 2010 to 2015. From 2006 to 2009, he served as President of the SRS. He was editor of the SRS Newsletter from 1978 to 2006 and edited the website from 1995 to 2010.

The year 2013 marks the fortieth Anniversary of the Society for Romanian Studies. (1) The SRS originally came into existence as The Romanian Studies Group (RSG, 1973-1977), primarily on the initiative of Jim Augerot and Michael Impey. Their experiences in Romania in the 1960s and early 1970s had led them to the realization that there was both a pressing need for a professional organization dealing with Romanian Studies in the United States and a sufficiently large critical mass of scholars – created in large part by the Fulbright and the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) programs with Romania that began in the 1960s – to make such an organization feasible and viable. The initial organizational step was taken by Augerot, who called and coordinated a “Conference on Romanian Language and Literature” at the University of Washington on May 12-13, 1972. The meeting had as special guests and speakers the prominent historian Constantin Giurescu, who was teaching for the year at Columbia, Dan Grigorescu of the Romanian Library in New York, and Georgene Lovecky of the Fulbright Program. It was during this conference, the first of its kind in the US after World War II, that conversations, public and private, led to the idea of organizing a Romanian studies group.

The formal steps toward organizing the RSG were subsequently taken at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference in April 26-28, 1973, where it was decided that the group would include all areas of the humanities and social sciences, not just language and literature. Michael Impey (Comparative Literature, University of Kentucky) and James Augerot (Language and Literature, University of Washington) were elected as the first executive officers of the Charter Board (President and Secretary-Treasurer respectively), and an advisory board was established composed of Robert Austerlitz (Language and Folklore, Columbia University), Jan Harold Brundvand (Folklore, University of Utah), Charles M. Carlton (Linguistics, University of Rochester), Stephen A. Fischer-Galati (History, University of Colorado), Keith Hitchins (History, University of Illinois), Barbara Jelavich (History, Indiana University), and Eric Hamp (Linguistics, University of Chicago). Forty-one charter members joined the organization. (2) Augerot also began publishing the first in a series of RSG newsletters. He served as Secretary-Treasurer until April 1977, and as Treasurer until September 2010.

The first RSG conference was held November 15-16, 1974 at the University of Colorado, hosted by Stephen Fischer-Galati. This was followed on October 12-13, 1975 by the Second RSG conference/Annual Meeting at the University of North Carolina, hosted by Augustin Maisse. Approximately fifty were in attendance including the Romanian Ambassador, Corneliu Bogdan.

In 1976, Radu R. N. Florescu (History, Boston College) became President and E. Garrison Walters (History, Ohio State University) became the Newsletter Editor. Paul Michelson (History, Huntington College), who had been elected to the Executive Board, became secretary pro-tem in 1977. During Florescu’s presidency, the third (and final) RSG conference was held at Ohio State University in Columbus on April 6, 1977, dedicated to the “Centennial of Romanian Independence.” The celebration was co-sponsored by the Romanian Academy and IREX. This was linked to the Association for South Eastern Studies Symposium/Conference on Southeastern Europe which took place on April 7-9, 1977. OSU had taken the lead in the AASES. It had also catapulted into a leading role in Romanian studies since launching the most successful ever Romanian Program in the US under the leadership of Rodica Boţoman in 1975. The success of her first Romanian language course in 1974 led to the establishment in 1975 of the OSU Romanian Culture and Civilization Program which by 1977 had over 140 students. By 1980, the OSU program had over 360 students studying Romanian and Romanian civilization. (3) The 1977 OSU conference was a watershed for South East European Studies and Romanian studies in the US. The Romanian Academy sent a full delegation and the vast majority of American Romanianists participated. Romanian studies emerged as the largest and strongest of the participating South East European area groups, with 4 panels at the RSG conference and 16 panels at the Symposium-Conference (Yugoslavia had 2, Bulgaria 5, Greece 3, Albania 1, and Southeastern Europe had 14). The program committee for the RSG waså led by Radu Florescu and included R. V. Burks (Wayne State), Walter M. Bacon (Political Science, University of Nebraska-Omaha), Rodica Boțoman (Slavic and East European Languages, The Ohio State University), and Paul Michelson.

At the 1977 annual business meeting, held during at the conference/symposium, on April 7, the RSG formally emerged as the Society for Romanian Studies. The SRS agreed at this meeting to become an affiliate of the American Association for Southeast European Studies (whose unfortunate acronym AASES provided so much hilarity and ribald commentary over the years that the group eventually changed its name to the South East European Studies Association or SEESA). The AASES had developed out of the American Association for South Slavic Studies and its publication, Balkanistica, became a flagship journal for the RSG/SRS.

The 1978 SRS annual business meeting was also held at Ohio State University on October 14 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), October 12-15, 1978. Special events were again organized by the OSU Romanian Program.

Officers for 1978-1980 were elected in November 1978, with Stephen A. Fischer-Galati chosen as President of the SRS, Walter M. Bacon, Jr. as Vice-President, Paul E. Michelson as Secretary and Newsletter Editor, and Jim Augerot as Treasurer. Michelson served as Newsletter Editor until 2007, publishing 30 volumes of the newsletter, and continues as secretary to the present. The national meeting of the SRS was held in New Haven CT, on October 12, 1979, as part of the AAASS meeting, October 10-13, 1979, though no separate program was held. This was followed in 1980 with a splendid stand-alone SRS conference at Lafayette College in Easton PA, November 8, hosted by Earl A. Pope.

Mary Ellen Fischer (Government, Skidmore College) was elected President of the SRS in 1980-1982, and Gerald J. Bobango (History, Romanian-American Heritage Center) served as Vice-President. The 1981 annual meeting was once more held at Ohio State University, April 9-11, 1981.The SRS program again held in conjunction with the Second AASES Symposium/Conference at OSU. Once more the SRS had the most panels at the symposium with eight full sessions. A similarly sparkling annual meeting was held at Boston College, Boston MA, April 30-May 1, 1982, with a broad program of panels, music, and other activities. The program, celebrating the George Enescu Centennial, was organized by Fischer and hosted by Radu Florescu.

It was during Fischer’s tenure as president that the SRS came under increasing pressure (which continued throughout the 1980s) from the Romanian communist regime which was not pleased by some of the papers being presented at our meetings, particularly those dealing with post-1945 Romania. It is almost needless to say that Fischer (and his successor Rodica Boţoman) firmly informed the Romanian authorities that the SRS would brook no attempts to interfere with the academic freedom of conference participants to present their research findings at our meetings and that if they didn’t like it they didn’t have to send people to participate. This made program planning a bit more difficult as delegations were promised, then withdrawn, then promised, then didn’t show up. In the end, the Romanian regime realized that it was damaging itself more than the SRS and resumed sending people to SRS meetings. The tradition of defending the right of scholars to have their say no matter how unpopular this might be to political or cultural authorities has, I am pleased to say, has continued strong down to the present.

Fischer was succeeded as President in 1982-1984 by Rodica Boţoman and Walter M. Bacon, Jr. was elected Vice-President. The highlight of this period was the 1983 National Meeting, a gala event held in Kansas City MO on October 21-22, celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the SRS. Ten panels spanning the breadth of Romanian studies were presented at this meeting and affirmed the solidity of the foundations laid by Augerot and Impey in 1973. (Perhaps exhausted by this outstanding effort, no national meeting was held in 1984.) Discussions of idea of holding an international congress on Romanian studies were begun with Sorin Alexandrescu of the University of Amsterdam.

Walter M. Bacon, Jr. served as President in 1985 and 1986, as the term of office was shifted to a calendar year basis. Michael Impey was Vice-President. A stand-alone Annual Meeting was held at Ohio State University on April 4-6, 1985, a lively program that included Romanian food and dancing as well as eleven scholarly sessions. Rodica Boţoman hosted; her husband, George, was again the star of OSU’s Haiducii Romanian dance ensemble.

The events of 1985-1986 were capped by the First International Congress on Romanian Studies at The Sorbonne in Paris, France, July 1-4, 1986. A joint project with the European Asociaţia Internaţionale de Studii Româneşti, this was the largest-ever gathering of Romanian Studies specialists in the world to date. Walter M. Bacon, seconded by Rodica Boţoman and Paul Michelson for the SRS, was North American program chair; Catharine Durandin (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales) and Claude Karnoouh (Institut de Monde Soviétique, d’Europe Centrale et Orientale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) were program chairs on the European side. Selected papers from this congress were published in The International Journal of Rumanian Studies (Amsterdam), edited by Sorin Alexandrescu. Several members of the SRS also joined the board of the IJRS at this time.

In 1987-1988, Earl A. Pope (Religion, Lafayette College) was President and Barbara Jelavich was Vice-President. Another impressive stand-alone Annual Conference was organized at Emerson College, Boston, by George Ursul (History, Emerson College), held on November 7, 1987. The 1988 Annual Meeting and program were held at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE, October 21-22, 1988, excellently hosted by Walter M. Bacon. The program included a number of Romanian guests.

Barbara Jelavich succeeded to the presidency for 1989-1990, with Katherine Verdery (Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University) as Vice-President. This, obviously, was a time of considerable turmoil and exhilaration as the Communist regime in Romania came tumbling down. The future of Romanian Studies in North America also changed significantly. We held our National Meeting in Chicago IL, November 3, 1989, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting of November 2-5, but with no stand-alone program. This was followed in October 18, 1990, with a business meeting also in conjunction with the AAASS, October 18-21, accompanied by a special program at the Romanian Embassy. In 1990, through Jelavich’s efforts, the SRS became an official affiliate of the American Historical Association.

In 1991, George R. Ursul was elected President with Rodica Boţoman as Vice-President. They served from 1991 to 1993. The 1991 Annual Meeting was a separate session held in Miami FL, November 22-25, in conjunction with the AAASS. The 1992 business meeting was at the AAASS convention in Phoenix AZ, November 19-22, 1992, though without a separate program.

The major preoccupation of the SRS, aside from adjusting to new conditions in Romania, was the planning and execution of our Second International Congress on Romanian Studies in Iaşi in Summer 1993. The SRS decided that logistically and financially having the meeting in Romania made more sense than a possible meeting in the United States. The cooperation of the Romanian Academy was significant, as were contributions of the Romanian Cultural Foundation. Cornelia Bodea of the Romanian Academy and Paul Michelson were joint program chairs and Dumitru Vitcu handled local arrangements for the University of Iaşi and the Xenopol Institute of History. The congress, held on July 6-10, 1993, was a rousing success, particularly in introducing Romanian academics to American-style congresses, with less formality and a wide variety of panels, round tables, and social events. There were 67 academic sessions at the Iaşi meeting, along with a myriad of extra-curricular events, a concert, and other protocol events so beloved by President Ursul.

Joseph Harrington (History, Framingham State College) served as President from 1994 to 1996, and Lory Wallfisch (Music, Smith College) was Vice-President. The indefatigable Harrington organized or promoted more meetings and conferences than any of his predecessors or successors: a National Meeting at the Romanian Cultural Center, New York NY, February 18-19, 1994; another at the Romanian Cultural Center, New York NY, November 15-16, 1994; a business meeting in Philadelphia PA, November 19, 1994, in conjunction with the AAASS, November 17-20; (4) a first-ever SRS Graduate Student Conference at the Romanian Cultural Center, New York NY, April 8, 1995; a National Meeting at the Romanian Embassy, Washington DC, October 24-25, 1995; an annual business meeting Washington DC, October 27, 1995 in conjunction with the AAASS, October 26-29, 1995; a first-ever SRS Conference on Business and Politics at the Romanian Embassy, Washington DC, April 26, 1996; a stand-alone National Meeting at Boston College, Boston MA, November 12, 1996; and the 1996 business meeting in Boston MA, November 15, 1996 in conjunction with the AAASS meeting, November 14-17. The year 1995 was also significant in that the SRS website went live in the summer, hosted at Huntington College and administered by Paul Michelson until 2010.

The 1997-2000 (5) Presidency of Paul Quinlan (History, Providence College) and Vice-Presidency of Grant Harris (Librarian, Library of Congress) also featured a significant number of important conferences. The 1997 Third International Congress on Romanian Studies, held in Cluj-Napoca, July 1-6, was the main achievement. The Romanian Academy again collaborated with the SRS thanks to the work of Cornelia Bodea. Paul Michelson was program chair again, and Vasile Puşcaş and Nicolae Bocşan handled local arrangements for the Babeş-Bolyai University. There was an increased number of non-traditional disciplines represented, that is, disciplines outside of history, language, and literature.

Other meetings during Quinlan’s tenure were a stand-alone National Meeting at the University of Washington, Seattle WA, November 19, 1997, and a business meeting in Seattle, November 20, 1997, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting, November 20-23; a fine 25th Anniversary SRS Conference at the Romanian Embassy and Georgetown University, Washington DC, March 20-21, 1998, hosted by Charles King; a National Meeting at the Romanian Cultural Center, New York NY, April 17, 1999; an annual business meeting in St. Louis MO, November 19, 1999, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting, November 18-20; and an annual business session in Denver CO, November 10, 2000, in conjunction with the AAASS, November 9-12. It became clear, however toward the end of the 1990s, that the efforts devoted to the planning and execution of the international congresses meant that the days of stand-alone SRS conferences were coming to a close.

Also in 1999, under the Quinlan presidency, the SRS became an affiliate of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and in 2000 the SRS began a joint-membership arrangement with the newly-refounded South East European Studies Association (SEESA) as well as becoming an affiliate organization of SEESA. The purpose of SEESA was to make sure that Southeastern Europe didn’t get lost in the shuffle of changing currents in the AAASS and the potential swamping of Romanian studies interests in favor of Central European and Russian studies. Augerot and Michelson have served as officers of SEESA from the start and have provided strong ties between SEESA and the SRS.

Jim Augerot, President, and Henry (Chip) Carey (Political Science, Georgia State University), Vice-President, were elected for 2001-2004. The Fourth International Congress on Romanian Studies at the University of Suceava on July 9-12, 2001, was another major event for the SRS. Attendance was about the same as at the previous two congresses, but regionalism (or, perhaps better said, “provincialism”) seemed more apparent. Participants were mostly from northeastern Romania as Romanian participants seemed unwilling to travel to other regions of the country, especially if these were a little out of the way. Paul Michelson was program chair; local arrangements were handled by the University of Suceava and the Center for Romanian Studies in Iaşi. We held our annual gathering in Arlington, VA on November 16, 2001, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting on November 15-18. A highlight of that meeting was the publication of a Festschrift for Cornelia Bodea. Other annual business meetings took place at Pittsburgh PA, November 22, 2002, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting, November 21-24; Toronto Canada, November 21, 2003, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting of November 20-23; and Salt Lake City UT, November 4, 2005, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting, November 3-6.

From 2006 to 2010, Paul E. Michelson served as President, and Ileana Orlich (Languages, Arizona State University) was Vice-President; Jim Augerot handled the Secretarial duties along with the Treasury. In 2007, Dan Pennell (Library, University of Pittsburgh) became Newsletter Editor. We held a spring program session at the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York on March 24, 2006, followed by a joint meeting with the Association for the Study of Nationalities at Columbia University in New York on March 25, 2006. The ASN sessions were useful since they brought us into contact with quite a number of graduate students and recent PhDs. The annual business meeting was in Washington DC, November 18, 2006, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting, November 16-19. Michelson, Orlich, and several SRS representatives engaged in dialogue with the Romanian Cultural Institute in several meetings held in Washington D.C. about redirecting their involvement in Romanian studies.

The Fifth International Congress on Romanian Studies was held at Ovidius University in Constanţa on June 25-28, 2007. Paul Michelson was chair and Adina Ciugureanu (Ovidius University) was responsible for local arrangements. With an attendance of well over 200, this was perhaps the largest congress we have held. We had a better regional turnout than at Congresses 3 and 4. On the other hand, participation by the Romanian Academy was nil and Romanian intra-mural academic disputes affected attendance. The quality of the program continued to rise and for the first time younger scholars outnumbered the veterans of Congresses one to four.

The 2007 business meeting was held in New Orleans on November 17, 2007, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting of November 15-18. Similar business meetings were held in Philadelphia PA on November 21, 2008, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting of November 20-23; and Boston MA on November 13, 2009, in conjunction with the AAASS meeting of November 12-15. We participated in the First Central Europeanists reception at the Philadelphia AAASS in 2008, where SRS members were able to meet others interested in the “Lands in Between” and to publicize the SRS. Another new venture was the presentation of the First 2009 SRS Graduate Student Essay Prize to Roland Clark (History, University of Pittsburgh) at Boston. Margaret Beissinger (Folklore, Princeton University) was chair of the selection committee.

Irina Livezeanu (History, University of Pittsburgh) was elected President for 2010-2014, with Bill Crowther (Political Science, University of North Carolina/Greensboro) as Vice-President. When Jim Augerot retired as Treasurer in the fall of 2010, Bill was persuaded to replace him and Lavinia Stan (Political Science, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada) was chosen as Vice-President. In the same year, Ashby Crowder (University of Maryland) took over as the website guru. In 2011, Roland Clark became the Newsletter Editor and, beginning with Vol. 34 (2011), the newsletter was published electronically which allowed us to expand the size and use improved graphics. In 2013, Lara McLaughlin (independent scholar) became our web site manager.

We added a graduate student representative to the National Board for the first time in 2010 in the person of Ashby Crowder. He was succeeded by Catherine Hansen (Princeton University) in 2011.

In the summer of 2010, a brand new, redesigned SRS website was launched at www.society4romanianstudies.org. Ashby Crowder, who had agreed to edit the site, also set up and handled our new Facebook page. We presented the second Graduate Student Essay Prize to Anca Mândru (University of Illinois) in 2010; Margaret Beissinger was chair of the selection committee. This prize was announced at the annual business meeting in Los Angeles CA on November 19, 2010, held in conjunction with the ASEEES meeting of November 18-21. At the same meeting, Jim Augerot was recognized for his long service to the SRS.

The big news of 2011 was the implementation of a formal set of SRS Bylaws in January 2011. These had been developed during 2010. The major step forward was that, effective in 2011, membership in the Society for Romanian Studies was opened internationally. Obstacles to international membership had gradually fallen by the wayside in an electronic age and we have been pleased by the response from Romania and elsewhere. The SRS also created several new categories of membership, including supporting, sponsor, and patron members, with a view toward increasing funding for the organization.

In 2011, Cristina Onose (University of Toronto) was awarded the third Graduate Student Essay Prize at the National Business Meeting in Washington DC on November 18, 2011, held in conjunction with the ASEEES meeting of November 17- 20. Matt Ciscel (English, Central Connecticut State) served as committee chair. The same year we presented the First SRS Book Prize to Tom Gallagher (University of Bradford UK). Margaret Beissinger chaired the book prize committee. The Romanian Embassy held a reception in honor of Romanian scholars attending ASEEES on November 18, 2011.

As usual, pride of place in 2012 went to our Sixth International Congress on Romanian Studies held at Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu, Romania, July 2-4, 2012, with the theme of “Europeanization and Globalization: Romanians in Their Region and the World.” This was our first themed congress, the others had been general conferences. In a great venue and centrally located, we were served a rich intellectual fare in a significant historical ambiance. Support for the congress was provided by Universitatea Lucian Blaga, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the American Embassy, the Universitatea Naţională de Arte, and the Sibiu Primăria. Attendance included probably the best mix of nationalities, regions of Romania, and new participants ever. There were three plenary lectures and 52 panels along with collateral events. Things went so well we decided that five year intervals for the congresses is just too long. Matt Ciscel was the chair of the International Conference Committee that included Irina Livezeanu, Lavinia Stan, Margaret Beissinger, Narcis Tulbure, Monica Ciobanu, and Catherine Hansen; local arrangements were handled by Alexandra Mitrea, Mihaela Grancea, Mirela Ocinic, and Anca Iancu. Later in 2012, we held a business meeting in New Orleans on November 16, 2012, in conjunction with the ASEEES meeting of November 14-17. The 2012 SRS Graduate Student Essay Prize was won by Jonathan Stillo (Anthropology, City University of New York).

In 2013, a major initiative was the creation of an H-Romania site, with R. Chris Davis (History, Lone Star College) and Valentin Sandulescu (University of Bucharest) as editors. Davis became our liaison with H-Net. It is anticipated that this site will become our most widely-used vehicle for scholarly interchange. The Book Prize Committee, chaired by Bill Crowther, awarded the Second Biennial SRS Book Prize to Gail Kligman (Sociology, UCLA) and Katherine Verdery (Anthropology, CUNY); while the Graduate Student Essay Prize committee, chaired by Roland Clark, awarded the annual SRS Graduate Student Essay Prize to Florin Poenaru (Sociology, Central European University). These prizes were awarded at the annual meeting being held in Boston, MA, on November 22, 2013 in conjunction with the ASEEES meeting, November 21-24. Lastly, in 2013, the SRS began a joint-membership arrangement with the Romanian Studies Association of America.

NOTE: For an extensive SRS chronology for the years 1973-2015, including a listing of all officers, board members, meetings, and significant events, see the SRS Chronology 1973-2015.

Sources

1. Michael Impey, “The Present State of Romanian Studies in the United States and Canada. A Review Article,” Modern Language Journal, 59 (1975): 262-272; Jim Augerot’s contribution to Lilliana Ursu, Ioana Ieronim, and Archbishop Chrysostomos, eds., Să vezi lumea cum o văd ceilalţi/To See the world as others see it: American and Romanian Alumni Share Their Fulbright Impressions (Bucharest: Editura Vremea, 2003), 22-23; a fairly complete file of RSG and SRS newsletters; and personal recollections. On the early days of Romanian studies in the US and UK, see also Michael Impey, “The Land of Rushing Streams: Returns and Departures,” New International Journal of Romanian Studies, 2/1-2 (1999): 84-108; and Michael Impey, “Some Reflections on Romanian Studies in the United States and Europe, 1975-2007,” in Marina Cap-Bun, ed., Studiile româneşti în lume în 2008/Romanian Studies Around the World in 2008 (Bucharest: Editura Universitară, 2009) 58-73.
2. Thereafter, in December 1973 meeting of the Modern Languages Association, Romanian language specialists formed the Romanian Studies Association of America as an affiliate of the MLA. Impey, “Romanian Studies,” 271. Regrettably, this association, led and formed primarily by Romanian émigrés, remained generally apart from the RSG/SRS, but in 2012, the RSAA leadership participated enthusiastically in the SRS Sibiu Congress. Subsequently, a joint membership was created for those who wanted to join both the RSAA and the SRS, and this new cooperation between the SRS and RSAA will continue in the future. In 1974, Sorin Alexandrescu, University of Amsterdam, organized the Asociaţia Internaţionale de Studii Româneşti. The First Congress on Romanian Studies at the Sorbonne in 1986 was a joint project of the SRS and the AISR.
3. See Paul E. Michelson, “Discovering Romanian…and Romania: Rodica Boţoman and Romanian Studies at the Ohio State University, 1974-2003,” Lingua: Language and Culture, NS, 9/1 (2010): 51-65.
4. At this meeting, it was unanimously decided that Presidential and Vice-Presidential terms would be three years.
5. The term of office was extended to four years to avoid complications with the planning and execution of our international congresses.

Originally published as Paul Michelson. “‘To Promote Professional Study, Criticism and Research and All Aspects of Romanian Culture and Civilization’: The Society for Romanian Studies at Forty.” Balkanistica 29 (2016): 263-277.

The SRS encourages donations to support our awards and programs. Donations may be made through Zelle (preferred for donations from the United States), PayPal, or by mailing a check to the SRS Treasurer. Zelle payments for the Society for Romanian Studies may be made to srstreasury@gmail.com.

Checks may be mailed to:

SRS Treasurer George Andrei

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Thank you for your support.

〉President

Roland Clark

History Department, University of Liverpool, 11 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 7WZ, United Kingdom, +44 (0)151 794 9526, Roland.Clark@liverpool.ac.uk

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〉Vice-President

Rodica Milena Zaharia

Centrului de Cercetare in Relatii Economice Internaționale, Academia de Studii Economice, Piata Romana, Nr. 6, Sala 1212, Bucuresti, Romania, +40 (0)21 319 1901, milena_zaharia@yahoo.com

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〉Past President

Lavinia Stan

Department of Political Science, St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, B2G 2W5, Canada, +1 (902) 867-5084, lstan@stfx.ca

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〉Treasurer

Past Treasurer: Roxana Cazan, Saint Francis University, rcazan@francis.edu

Current Treasurer: Vladimir Solonari, Department of History, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fl 32816-1350, USA, Vladimir.Solonari@ucf.edu

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〉Secretary

Anca Sincan

‘Hidden Galleries’ European Research Council Project, University College Cork, Room 3.37, T12 ND89, Ireland, anca.sincan@ucc.ie

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〉Newsletter Editor

Leah Valtin-Erwin

Indiana University, Bloomington, Department of History

lvaltin@iu.edu