New Europe College

Photos from the conference "Who Needs Trust Anymore? Some Thoughts on the Issue of Trust in Romania" given on 17 June 2026 by Claudiu Tufiș, Associate Professor, University of Bucharest, Head of the Comparative European Politics Department

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This event is organized within the research group Politics, Legitimacy and Representation in Strained Societies (POLARIS), hosted by New Europe College.

The weekly NEC seminar: "Informal Empire and Unintended Nations: Global Interests and the Remaking of Nineteenth-Century Southeastern Europe", presentation by Alex R. Tipei, Assistant Professor, University of Montréal, member of the ERC TransCorr Project

Abstract:

Unintended Nations: French Liberals’ Empire of Civilization, Southeast Europe, and the Post-Napoleonic World (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2025) is about a specific moment in the development of the concept of civilization and the cluster of discourses, institutions, and technologies connected to it — or what we might collectively call civilization-speak — as well as the cross-continental networks that employed these ideas as an organizing principle. The monograph focuses on historical figures in France and the lands that make up significant parts of present-day Greece and Romania from the early Napoleonic era through the outbreak of the revolutions of 1848. It demonstrates how civilization-speak provided a discursive matrix that allowed French liberals to impose their model of modernity on Balkan actors and create informal colonies in the region through the exercise of soft power. Unintended Nations reveals how international partnerships and domestic politics were interwoven in both France and Southeast Europe, notably presenting how these relationships and ideas helped to shape novel national identities and ideologies in the early Greek state as well as Wallachia and Moldavia (lands that would later form the core of modern Romania). This talk discusses the books’ central themes, its historiographical ambitions, and presents key examples from the underlying primary research

Photos from day 2 of the workshop "The Phanariot Past and its Afterlives: Historicizing “Corruption” in Central-South-East Europe (1750s-1920s)"
Participants: Raluca Alexandrescu, Mihai-Cristian Amăriuței, Boriana Antonova-Goleva, Constantin Ardeleanu, Elif Bayraktar Tellan, Osman Safa Bursali, Raymond Detrez, Augusta Dimou, Lucien Frary, Simion-Alexandru Gavriș, Aristides N. Hatzis, Paul Karras, Dimitrios M. Kontogeorgis, Kalliope Leivadarou, Myrto Lamprou, Silvia Marton, Nicolas Nicolaides, Ovidiu Olar, Mária Pakucs, Silvana Rachieru, Leonidas Rados, Andrei-Dan Sorescu, Alex R. Tipei, Michał Wasiucionek

The workshop included a discussion titled "From Istanbul to Bucharest: Court Music in the Early Nineteenth Century" and
a Recital by The “Dimitrie Cantemir” Early Music Ensemble, National University of Music, Bucharest
with short presentations given by:
Nicolae Gheorghiță, National University of Music Bucharest
Cătălin Cernătescu, National University of Music Bucharest
Costin Moisil, National University of Music Bucharest
and Damian Drăghici.

This conference is organized within the framework of “Transnational histories of ‘corruption’ in Central-South-East Europe (1750-1850)”, funded by the European Union (ERC, TransCorr, ERC-2022-ADG no. 101098095) and hosted by the New Europe College.

"The Endangered Black Sea: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Religious and Cultural Heritage at Risk and Viable Solutions"

The workshop will take place online only on Thursday and Friday.

Check out the program at the link below.

18 June 2026, 11.00-15.30 (EET)
19 June 2026, 10.00-16.30 (EET)

Participants: Constantin Ardeleanu, Filiz Tutku Aydın, Zeynep Ahunbay, Alena Bagro, Adriana Cupcea, Veysel Dinler, Nail Elhan, Yelis Erolova, Ediz Hazir, Serhat Keskin, Hakan Kırımlı, Theodosios Kyriakidis, David Neagu, Octavian-Adrian Negoiță, Vanessa R. de Obaldía, Metin Omer, Silvana Rachieru, Fatih Sami Özakyol, Özlem Şendeniz, Melike Tepecik, Olena Uvarova, Tiberiu Vasilescu

Zoom meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84960360728?pwd=RUzNOSKEXWX0GbUKdtbhxOmB90iWa3.1

Meeting ID: 849 6036 0728
Passcode: 130544

https://nec.ro/events/the-endangered-black-sea-interdisciplinary-perspectives-on-a-religious-and-cultural-heritage-at-risk-and-viable-solutions/

Wednesday 17 June, at 17.00, at NEC and online.

"Who Needs Trust Anymore? Some Thoughts on the Issue of Trust in Romania", a talk by Claudiu Tufiș, Associate Professor, University of Bucharest, Head of the Comparative European Politics Department

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This event is organized within the research group Politics, Legitimacy and Representation in Strained Societies (POLARIS), hosted by NEC.

https://nec.ro/events/who-needs-trust-anymore-some-thoughts-on-the-issue-of-trust-in-romania/

Pictures from day 1 of the workshop "The Phanariot Past and its Afterlives: Historicizing “Corruption” in Central-South-East Europe (1750s-1920s)"

Participants: Raluca Alexandrescu, Mihai-Cristian Amăriuței, Boriana Antonova-Goleva, Constantin Ardeleanu, Elif Bayraktar Tellan, Osman Safa Bursali, Raymond Detrez, Augusta Dimou, Lucien Frary, Simion-Alexandru Gavriș, Aristides N. Hatzis, Paul Karras, Dimitrios M. Kontogeorgis, Kalliope Leivadarou, Myrto Lamprou, Silvia Marton, Nicolas Nicolaides, Ovidiu Olar, Mária Pakucs, Silvana Rachieru, Leonidas Rados, Andrei-Dan Sorescu, Alex R. Tipei, Michał Wasiucionek

This conference is organized within the framework of “Transnational histories of ‘corruption’ in Central-South-East Europe (1750-1850)”, funded by the European Union (ERC, TransCorr, ERC-2022-ADG no. 101098095) and hosted by the New Europe College.

NEC hosted yesterday the workshop "Across Borders: Migration, Voting Rights and Democratic Inclusion" convened by Natalia C. Malancu.

Participants: Anatolie Coșciug, Adelin Dumitru, Natalia C. Malancu, Claudiu Tufiș, Daniela Vintilă, Bogdan Voicu, Alexandru Volacu

Recent decades have transformed migration into one of the central political and social questions shaping democratic societies. Debates surrounding migration have long focused on its demographic, socio-economic, and cultural dimensions. Increasingly, however, migration also raises broader political questions concerning democratic inclusion, political belonging, political participation, and political representation. Questions concerning who should be allowed to vote, who is perceived as legitimately belonging to the political community, or how migration becomes framed as a public problem are now deeply connected to wider tensions surrounding democracy, nationalism, social cohesion, and political conflict.

These questions are particularly relevant in the Romanian context. Romania remains one of Europe’s largest emigration countries, with millions of citizens living abroad and actively participating in homeland politics. At the same time, Romania is increasingly becoming a destination country for immigration, including growing numbers of third-country nationals employed in precarious and low-paid sectors of the economy, such as construction and platform work. This dual position creates an important setting for examining how migration reshapes social relations, public attitudes, political participation, and broader democratic boundaries.

The workshop is intended as an interdisciplinary exchange among scholars of migration, bringing together perspectives from sociology, political science, political theory, migration studies, and communication studies. It engages with research on youth attitudes toward immigrant and emigrant enfranchisement, comparative public attitudes toward immigration, diaspora representation and emigrant voting, homeland politics, attitudes toward return migrants, transnational parenthood and anti-system resentment, as well as public discourse and anti-immigration backlash. Bringing together both empirical and theoretical perspectives, the workshop explores how migration-related tensions are perceived, framed, politicized, and contested, particularly in Romania and within broader European debates surrounding migration and democratic inclusion.

The event is open to all those interested in contemporary debates on migration, social cohesion, and democratic inclusion. We welcome questions, discussion, and critical perspectives.

This workshop is organized within the framework of the AMEROPA Fellowships program at New Europe College, supported by Ameropa Switzerland.

https://nec.ro/events/across-borders-migration-voting-rights-and-democratic-inclusion/

Câteva imagini de la prezentarea de ieri a Acad. Mircea Flonta: „Despre revoluții științifice”

Informațiile obținute prin cercetare constituie baza elaborării unei imagini științifice a lumii. Dezvoltarea cunoașterii științifice propriu-zisă este cumulativă, progresivă. În schimb, imaginile științifice ale lumii, elaborate pe baza rezultatelor cercetării, sunt de regulă incompatibile. Expresia revoluție științifică, expresie folosită bunăoară pentru a marca apariția fizicii newtoniene, a fizicii relativiste sau a fizicii cuantelor, a explicației darwiniene a evoluției speciilor, este (…) potrivită pentru a desemna schimbarea imaginii științifice a lumii.

În lumina acestor precizări, vom putea înțelege mai bine de ce un cercetător ca Einstein, căruia i se atribuie descoperiri științifice revoluționare, a afirmat și subliniat adesea că dezvoltarea istorică a fizicii teoretice este o dezvoltare cumulativă, progresivă, și nu una revoluționară. (În acest sens, este semnificativ titlul ales pentru o scurtă istorie a fizicii, pe care Einstein a scris-o în colaborare cu fizicianul Leopold Infeld: Evoluția fizicii.)

Discontinuități radicale survin nu în evoluția istorică a cercetării fizice, ci în succesiunea imaginilor fizice ale lumii, imagini schițate pe baza rezultatelor cercetări. Din această perspectivă este important să distingem comunicarea științifică curentă de discursul unor cercetători adresat publicului instruit, acelui public care este interesat să afle ceva despre schimbări ale imaginii lumii la care pot conduce, în cazuri excepționale, rezultatele cercetării științifice. În primul caz, cercetătorii comunică cu alți cercetători, cu „omologii lor”, în cel de-al doilea caz cu publicul interesat de răsfrângerea rezultatelor cercetării în imaginea generală a lumii.

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Mircea Flonta este profesor emerit de filosofie la Facultatea de Filosofie a Universității din București și membru titular al Academiei Române. Printre cărțile sale cele mai cunoscute se numără Filozofia cercetătorului: Înțelegerea fizicii cuantelor la Niels Bohr și Werner Heisenberg (Humanitas, 2022), Darwin și după Darwin: Studii de filozofie a biologiei (Humanitas, 2010), Gânditorul singuratic. Critica și practica filosofiei la Ludwig Wittgenstein (Humanitas, 2008), Imagini ale științei (Editura Academiei Române, 1994), Cognitio. O introducere critică în problema cunoașterii (Editura ALL, 1994).

The weekly seminar: "Artist Talk", presentation by Nicolle Bussien, Landis & Gyr Fellow
Screening of selected works (2021-2026) with Q&A Session

Artistic Research - Narratives of Guilt
This project examines how Swiss news coverage of theft often links crime to origin, producing racialized and stereotype-driven framings—for example references to “Romanian gangs” or “men from Maghreb countries.” Such labels shape public perception by treating “origin” as an explanation for crime and by simplifying complex social issues. The research pursues two aims. First, to analyze how these framings are constructed and repeated in everyday reporting (headlines, images, language). Second, to foreground collective responsibility by asking which social conditions—inequality, labor regimes, migration policies—contribute to criminalization. The focus shifts from individual blame to broader structures. Through artistic methods (video, text, installation) it will map media mechanisms, surface counter-narratives, and invite audiences to reconsider how we speak about crime, origin, and accountability.