
SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE
AT THE OSLO FREEDOM FORUM, AN EVENT ORGANIZED BY RUSSIAN DISSIDENT GARRY KASPAROV AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION,
Emil Constantinescu awards the “Václav Havel” International Prize for Creative Dissent to journalist Marina Ovsyannikova
Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, one of this year’s laureates, protested against the war in Ukraine on a live newscast of state-run television station Channel 1.
”I supported Ms. Ovsianikova’s bid through the judge panel debates precisely because I know how hard it really is to speak the truth when facing an oppressive regime. During the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the first detainees released were the imprisoned journalists, sentenced to rot for having protested against the Ceausescu dictatorship. And to those that might still be asking themselves: “What did Marina ultimately change through her symbolic gesture live on Russian State television in Moscow?”, I will answer in Vaclav Havel’s own words: “Hope is not the conviction that things will take a turn for the better, but rather the conviction that what you are doing makes sense regardless of the turn things take, for better or worse””, president Constantinescu stated during the ceremony.
SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINIAN ACADEMIA
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization condemns the invasion of Ukraine, calls for an increase in the support offered refugees, and stands in solidarity with those within the Russian Federation protesting the ongoing war
Romania shares the longest border with Ukraine among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Romanians have lived through their own historical suffering, and we cannot remain indifferent to the plight now experienced by the Ukrainian people. It is time to show solidarity with the refugees arriving in our country and support those continuing to fight in Ukraine. We salute the decision of the Romanian authorities of harbouring students and professors from Ukraine, and we are launching an appeal to intensify cooperation with the academic environment in our neighbouring country. At the same time, we stand in solidarity with those that are currently facing repression in Russia, by protesting the ongoing war.
Scientific Research Programmes
RECENT HISTORY AND THE ANTICIPATION OF THE FUTURE
Projects
The World Post-COVID-19. A Humanist Vision for a Sustainable Development
The Levant – Recent History. From the Revolutions of Eastern Europe to the Arab Spring
The European Union between hope and anxiety. The Europe of the Future: a political, economic or spiritual union?
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY AND THE CULTURE OF PEACE
Projects
The Levant Initiative for Global Peace
Cultural diplomacy and the challenges of the 21st century
Cultural diplomacy – historical approaches, current trends, future perspectives
REDISCOVERING LEVANTINE SOURCES – AN OPPORTUNITY FOR 21ST CENTURY WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Projects
The Levant – cradle of Abrahamic religions
The cultural history of the Balkans
Peace, governance and society in Levantine public and private law: from the Code of Hammurabi to Justinian and law treatises in the modern period
The civilization of the Lower Danube from prehistory to modernity
Jews in Romanian culture
The Levant in cartography
The ‘Levant’ bibliographic platform
DOBROGEA – WITNESS TO THE MILLENNIAL CIVILIZATIONS OF THE LEVANT
Projects
Natural and cultural heritage – a source of the sustainable development of the Dobrogean regions
The multiculturalism of Dobrogean ethnicities
THE ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Projects
The relationship between minerals and biology in a holistic approach to natural research
Fundamentals for the creation of a UNESCO geopark in Dobrogea
Educational Programmes
THE ANNUAL SCHOOL OF BYZANTINE AND POST-BYZANTINE STUDIES
THE ANNUAL INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE, ORIENTAL STUDIES AND EGYPTOLOGY
THE ANNUAL SCHOOL OF ARABIC LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
INFO
THE ANNUAL SCHOOL OF BYZANTINE STUDIES, SIXTH EDITION: PEACE AND WAR IN BYZANTIUM
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilisation, in partnership with the „Aristotle” University of Thessaloniki, organizes on the 14th-20th of September 2022 the sixth online edition of the Annual School of Byzantine Studies, titled „Peace and War in Byzantium”. The scientific director of this event is prof. univ. dr. Athanasios Semoglou („Aristotle” University of Thessaloniki).
For registration and other details please write an email to office@institutlevant.ro and raducan_ana_maria@institutlevant.ro until the 13th of September 2023.
September 14th-20th 2023
ANCIENT GREEK, EGYPTOLOGY AND ORIENTAL STUDIES: VICE AND VIRTUE IN ANTIQUITY
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilizations (ISACCL), in partnership with the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures at the Polish Academy of Science, and the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Civilizations at the University of Bucharest, organize on the 4th-9th of September 2023 the fourth edition of the Annual Interdisciplinary School of Ancient Greek, Egyptology and Oriental studies. The scientific director of this event is assoc. prof. dr. Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska (Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures at the Polish Academy of Science). The School’s coordinators are assoc. prof. dr. Maria-Luiza Oancea (University of Bucharest), dr. Cătălin-Ștefan Popa and dr. Ana-Maria Răducan (ISACCL).
September 4th-9th 2023
MOHAMMAD H. FADEL, PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, DELIVERS THE THIRD LECTURE IN "THE CULTURE OF LAW IN THE HISTORY OF THE LEVANT AND THE MIDDLE EAST" PROJECT SERIES
The third lecture in "The Culture of Law in the History of the Levant and the Middle East" series organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, delivered by Professor Mohammad H. Fadel of the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto on July 27th, 2023 at 5pm Bucharest time, focuses on themes of "Sovereignty, Territoriality and Islamic Private International Law".
July 27th, 2023, 17:00
AN HOMAGE TO MARIANNA VARDINOYANNIS
The ill tidings of Marianna Vardinoyannis’ untimely passing have caused me great sorrow. Her dignified, driven and determined figure, remaining unchanged over the many years that I have come to know her in, shall always radiate brightness in my affective memory.
I last met Ms. Vardinoyannis during the 20th High-Level Reunion organized by the Vardinoyannis Foundation and the “Nizami Ganjavi” International Centre in January of 2020. Then, we sought to highlight the impacts climate change was having on the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in the Mediterranean – a noble cause, championed by an even nobler person. I was struck then, as I had been each time prior, of her tireless impetus to seek out solutions to the high-stakes issues our discussions highlighted; and the same is true of all the other times we met attending a multitude of international fora.
Over the course of our numerous interactions, the Greek Goodwill Ambassador to UNESCO, Marianna Vardinoyannis, always remained a steadfast believer in the inherent good of humanity, her ceaseless energies deployed to seek solutions by which turn her vision of a better world, centred on the protection of culture, history and the environment through shared and mutual understanding, into reality.
Emil Constantinescu
July 25th, 2023
NATIONAL NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE – A SOURCE OF SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
On June 8th, 2023, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization is organizing an academic debate on the subject of “National natural and cultural heritage – a source of sustainable development of the country’s regions”.
The debate will take place in a hybrid format at the Institute’s headquarters, and will address pressing issues of national heritage, such as the dichotomy between the natural and the cultural in approaching the concept of heritage in Romania; the state of conservation and solutions for a better protection of natural heritage; the usefulness of a holistic approach to heritage in the sustainable development of the regions; and interdisciplinary research into the natural and cultural capacities of heritage.
June 8th 2023
ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION: THE PORTS OF THE DANUBIAN-PONTIC REGION. ARCHAEOLOGY, HISTORY AND CARTOGRAPHY
The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, in partnership with the National Museum of Maps and Old Books, the “Paul Păltănea” History Museum of Galati, the “Carol I” Museum of Brăila and the Lower Danube Museum of Călăraşi, is organizing a round-table discussion on “The Ports of Danubian-Pontic Region. Archaeology, history and cartography”, as part of the “Port cities in the Danubian-Pontic region” project. The debates are scheduled for June 7th, 2023, to be held at the Bucharest Museum of Maps and Old Books (39 Londra St., Bucharest).
June 7th 2023
KEYNOTE LECTURE BY PROFESSOR MICHAEL J. BROYDE ON THE CODIFICATION OF JEWISH LAW IN THE LEVANT, MIDDLE EAST AND EASTERN EUROPE
On Tuesday, June 6th 2023, Professor Michael J. Broyde of Emory University will give a keynote lecture on "The Codification of Jewish Law: What was in the Law, Culture and Civilization that led to the Codification of Jewish Law from 1400 to 1600 in the Levant, Middle East and Eastern Europe?" as part of an ongoing programme launched by the the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization focusing on "The Culture of Law in the History of the Levant and the Middle East".
June 6th 2023
EMILIA JUSTYNA POWELL, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LAW AT NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY, THE FIRST INVITED SPEAKER IN THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES IN LEVANT CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION'S "CULTURE OF LAW IN THE HISTORY OF LEVANT AND THE MIDDLE EAST" LECTURE SERIES
The lecture series on "The Culture of Law in the History of the Levant and the Middle East" aims to examine several codes of law starting from the earliest legal codes found in the Middle East and the Balkans, the birthplace of the sciences, culture and administration. Throughout the ages, this space saw the foundations of local forms of administration laid in prehistoric and ancient societies, as well as the Byzantine reforms, post-medieval legal treatises, the post-war treaties of the Ottoman period which took the form of international law treaties, as well as the various legislative acts and principles that governed the Islamic world, which would prove universal for communities both in the Levant and beyond.
The first lecture in this new series structured in a hybrid format, both online and in-person, will be delivered by Emilia Justyna Powell, a Professor of Political Science and Law at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
May 31st, 2023
THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES IN LEVANT CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION LAUNCHES THE "RECENT HISTORY AND ANTICIPATION OF THE FUTURE" COLLECTION IN TÂRGU-MUREȘ
On Saturday, May 27th 2023 at 17:00 EEST, the National Theatre in Târgu-Mureș will host the launch of the first two works in the “Recent History and Future Anticipation” Collection, published by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization under the coordination of President Emil Constantinescu. Entry is free.
Scheduled as part of the TEDx Cornișa Conference, whose 2023 edition is held under a rallying ‘Call for Courage’, the launch of the first two titles in the collection – Parteneriatul Strategic România-SUA 25: Garanție de securitate pentru mileniul III (“25 years of Strategic Partnership between Romania and the United States: A Security Guarantee for the Third Millennium”) and Lumea Post-Pandemie între Război și Pace (“The Post-Pandemic World between War and Peace”) – shall also speak, in turn, about courage: the courage of choice; the courage to act to resolve crises; the courage to pursue and achieve ideals; the courage to assume one’s destiny.
May 27th 2023