From the Russian and Slavic Studies Department

16.01.2023, 5-6:30 p.m., VOXPOP 

Public lecture series by the Russian & Slavic Studies department (University of Amsterdam), in cooperation with the University of New Europe, with artists and intellectuals who recently migrated or fled from Central & Eastern Europe to the Netherlands. 

 As the Russian war in Ukraine and imperialist Kremlin rhetorics continue to disturb world media, Eastsplainers offers a counterweight to westsplaining – the habit of looking at developments in Central & Eastern Europe through Western lenses. In this public program series, we listen to scholars, journalists, artists, musicians, and other cultural and academic professionals who migrated or fled from Kyiv, Łódź, Minsk, and Moscow, among other places, to the Netherlands. Rather than amplifying views on various Central & Eastern European locations as a monolithic European ‘East,’ our programs show that these locations merit independent study and careful attention to local dynamics. 

On January 16, we take a closer look at Central and Eastern European war journalism. We do so with internationally renowned journalist and publisher of the independent media outlet Moscow Times Alexander Gubsky – who is currently guest researcher at the University of Amsterdam – and with acclaimed researcher Johana Kotišová – who grew up in the Czech Republic and works as postdoctoral researcher in Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam and as guest professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Kotišová zooms in on the risks that Ukrainian war journalists and fixers face today. Gubsky reflects on the trends and challenges in independent war journalism that he observes in his work. Eva Peek – Slavic and literary scholar and editor at Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad – acts as moderator. Professor of Russian & Slavic studies Ellen Rutten (University of Amsterdam) starts with a short overview of the Eastsplainers series as a whole. 

To register for this lecture, scheduled at January 16, 2023, 5-6:30 p.m., at VOXPOP Amsterdam, please visit this registration page. For information about the other sessions, please visit the Eastsplainers webpage. The series is set up with support from the University of New Europe, Middle- and Eastern-European studies publisher Pegasus, the Amsterdam school for Cultural Analysis and the diversity & inclusion team of the UvA's Faculty of Humanities.  

We hope to see you on January 16 at VOXPOP.