We forward this call for papers for the 12th International Conference “Lviv: City – Society – Culture” which will be held at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv and the Center for Urban History, May 29-31, 2014. The conference, dedicated to Lviv’s urban space in both its physical and symbolic dimensions, is called “Urban Spaces of Lviv/Lwów/Lemberg: Imagination, Experiences, Practices.”
Space, particularly urban space, was perhaps the most commonly used delineation in the humanities over the past few decades. This led not only to the emergence of new methodological approaches, the formulation of new questions or reformulation of existing theses, and the creation of links between different disciplines, but also in general to the rethinking of the weight and importance of space in modern society. The purpose of this conference is to gather researchers who are exploring Lviv’s past through its spatial aspects. As part of the conference, we want to problematize space using the example of one city, show its multilevelness and multifactorness, and critically discuss space as a factor in the formation and integration of the city as a whole.
The subject of space allows for the opportunity to study a number of terms that are related to spatiality: place, situationality, centrality, and peripherality, locality and globality, inclusion and exclusion. To help us better understand space, we will have three main focuses: imagination, practice, and experience. For us it is important to see how in different times and in different contexts space and spatiality were both part of the representations and part of the forming of urban space through the individual and collective imagination of residents of the city, their personal experiences in the development, and attitudes toward their surroundings.
A number of topics will be discussed at the conference; these include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Territoriality and the city: buildings, boundaries, integrity, and fragments
- Space as an image: the projection of the city in maps, panoramas, photographs, and texts
- Lviv as a space in spaces: the city and suburbs, town and village, city and state
- Space and its limits: boundaries, exclusion and inclusion in urban society and urban life
- Marking urban space: its value and through churches, monuments, names of places and buildings
- The city as a space of cultural and intellectual production and interaction: people actors and the environment, intermittency and continuity
- City in the minds of its inhabitants: subjectivity and living space
- Development, change, and radical transformation of the city: reform, gaps, continuity, and adaptation
- The urban space and experience of the war and postwar period: Lviv in the “short” twentieth century
- A city of media and virtuality: broadcasts, meaning, and audience
- The spaces of the historical city in modern times: heritage, memory, identity
Applications for participation in the conference should be sent by March 17, 2014, by emailto Associate Professor at the Faculty of History Marian Mudryi m_mudryi@yahoo.com and Deputy Director of the Center for Urban History Dr. Iryna Matsevko i.matsevko@lvivcenter.org.The application must contain a brief description of the proposed topic (one page) and a resume (up to two pages).The Organizing Committee will cover the living expenses in Lviv for conference participants.The conference’s budget is limited. Transportation costs can only partially be covered by the organizers.Invitations to attend the conference will be sent to participants by April 1, 2014.Working languages: Ukrainian, Polish, EnglishThe conference will consist of thematic panels and roundtables. The results of the conferencewill be published in a separate issue of the series “Lviv: City – Society – Culture.”Co-organizers of the conference:History Department of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv
Institute of History of the Pedagogical University of Crakow
Center for Urban History of East Central Europe
If you have any questions, please contact Maryan Mudryi (m_mudryi@yahoo.com) or Iryna Matsevko (i.matsevko@lvivcenter.org).