Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Sprach- und literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Slawistik und Hungarologie

In our new project, we envision a collaborative exploration of a distinct segment of the archaeology of knowledge in the form of an
archaeology of the field of Slavic Studies itself. We believe this approach will foster the internationalization of Slavic departments, centers, and programs, while also raising critical awareness of the field’s historical development and present-day challenges. Who are we? What are we doing? Where are we going?
Our proposed theme centers on a comparative analysis of the history of Slavic Studies – encompassing academic programs, journals, research groups, and individual scholars—in Europe and the United States from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. We will explore the history, potential and the future role of Slavic and East European and Eurasian studies in our contemporary political and cultural context, and, as our second focus, the role of migration in Germany (focus on Berlin) and the United States (focus on Princeton) for the development of Slavicist theory and its contact and entanglement with global developments. We are particularly interested in the historical contextualization of major developments in the discipline, as well as in the comparative analysis of its phenomena across different academic and national settings.