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International Federation For Research in Women's History
Federation Internationale Pour La Recherche En Histoire Des Femmes

Newsletter No 28, July 1999

Conference Reports

Report on the International Conference "The Limits of Citizenship: European Women between Tradition and Modernity"
Sofia, 29-31 May 1999

Conference Organizers: Department of History and Theory of Culture, University of Sofia; Bulgarian Women's History Group
The main and strategic objective of the conference was to introduce in Bulgarian public space, and most specifically in its academic dimension, a new set of problems: the historical presentation of construction and manipulation of gender identities in the European realm and its bearing on overall social and cultural development. The initiative to put in place the first ever meeting on women's history to be held in Bulgaria was intended:

to discuss and to define strategies as to the introduction of Women and Gender History courses in the curriculum of Sofia University;
to bring together researchers from different countries who will not only present the results of their work but will , as well, discuss the state of Gender Studies and Women's History in their respective academic institutions;
to offer Bulgarian students, researchers, NGO members and media representatives a fine sample of some of the leading and best known researchers in the field of women's history;
to debate, present and put into a book some texts on gender and women's history where important issues and problems of the field would be represented and that could serve as a textbook;
to introduce some established scholars in the field to the students in the very first university course in women's history, currently under way at the Department for History and Theory of Culture, University of Sofia.

The conference was held in the Conference room of the University of Sofia. It opened in the morning of May 29 and was closed at noon on May 31. The papers were presented in 5 panels, arranged thematically and chronologically. Each panel had 2 or 3 presentations, followed by a discussion. The topics covered a broad range of problems: from discussion of the status and history of women in premodern times (Middle Ages and Ottoman Empire) - Sashka Georgieva, Olga Todorova, Svetlana Ivanova from Sofia; through early modern times (Maureen Bell, University of Birmingham; Raina Gavrilova, Sofia University)- as some wide spread perceptions were questioned; into the Twentieth century movements for women's citizenship and acceptance (June Purvis, University of Portsmouth, Efi Avdela, University of Athens; Krassimira Daskalova, Sofia University; Andrea Peto, CEU-Budapest; Dobrinka Parousheva, Institute for Balkan Studies, Sofia; Irina Genova, Institute for Art Studies, Sofia; Iliana Marcheva, Institite of History, Sofia). It should be noted that the discussions were lively with large number of questions and commentary; especially noteworthy was the involvement of students who were generally greeted as the new generation of researchers and teachers in Women and Gender studies.

On May 31 a roundtable was organized with the participation of all presenters as well as of colleagues from different Departments from the University of Sofia and some visiting professors in this field (Ralitsa Mucharska, June Purvis, Maureen Bell, Andrea Peto, Efi Avdela, Francine Frank, Judith Barlow, Milena Kirova, Tania Stoicheva, Kornelia Savova, Tania Kotseva, Raina Gavrilova, Krassimira Daskalova). The main issue were the problems of introducing Gender Studies in the University curriculum, the motivation of broader groups of students, the organization of inter-departmental programs, the social acceptance and popularization. The discussion was recorded and will be published with the papers. The roundtable was followed by the screening of a educational film, brought by Prof. Purvis, that she offered to the organizers as a gift.

Within the official program of the conference were presented papers: 4 by international participants and 14 by Bulgarian researchers. The sessions were attended by visiting professors from different departments as Dept. of English, Dept. of Sociology, Dept. of Bulgarian Literature, Dept. of Philosophy and from different institutes.The audience (between 30 and 50 persons on the different days) consisted of students, colleagues, members of different NGO, representatives of the media, general audience.

Broadcasting

The organization of the conference was covered by New Television; an announcement will appear in the newspaper "Cultura"; a presentation and summary - in the "Divinatio" review.

Cultural Program

In the evening of the opening day a reception was held for all guests, participants and colleagues.On the closing day, a trip was organized to the Rila monastery, followed by concert and invitation to the British Council reception, devoted to the British Cultural Week in Bulgaria.

Results

With projects of this kind, designed to bring in changes in the organization and priorities of an institution the results are not immediately visible. Nevertheless we could point at the following positive steps:

a general discussion on the relevance of Women and gender Studies in Bulgaria;
exchange of experience and formulation of common goals and strategies in the curriculum development;
a network of Bulgarian and foreign researchers and teachers was established with the intend to exchange programs, ideas and teachers in respective programs;
a decision was taken to start the development of a Balkan network for teaching and research in Women and gender studies;
students from different departments were exposed to the facts and interpretations of serious scholarly work in the field;

Follow-up

a book will be published in Bulgarian and English; containing the papers and the round table transcripts. The purpose is double: to provide a reader and a textbook in women's history; to popularize the work of Bulgarian scholar in this field.

Krassimira Daskalova
Raina Gavrilova
Bulgarian Women's History Group, Sofia University, Bulgaria