INSTITUTE OF ETHNOLOGY AND FOLKLORE STUDIES WITH ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM
BULGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
INTERNATIONAL SOSCIETY OF BALKAN AND BALTIC STUDIES
Call for papers
International Conference
Balkan and Baltic States in United Europe – History, Religion, and Culture VI
Magic, Holiness and Mountains
Dear colleagues,
You are cordially invited to participate in the 6th edition of the international conference ‘Balkan and Baltic States in United Europe: History, Religion, and Culture VI’ to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria on October 3–5, 2025 with the intriguing topic Magic, Holiness and Mountains.
This time we will explore the intersection of the sacred, magical and mountains, which have always been intertwined in various cultures around the world. The mountains have been places of natural and “unnatural” power, associated with various beliefs and practices of worship, with the noted examples of Mt. Olympus to Mt. Kailash, but also places of the magical and mystical where hermits, mystical creatures and powers reside.
In modern and post-modern societies, with the disenchantment of the world (Weber, 1920) themeaning of these phenomena has not entirely disappeared; on the contrary, their significance isnow growing with more people turning towards the unconventional, particularly in thepostsocialist space (Anastasova, 2011, Valtchinova, 2019; Toncheva, 2015). The magical practicesin Europe (traditional, neo-pagan, shamanic, voodoo, etc.), along with mystical spiritual teachingsand others, whose geography is further expanding around the world, are merely an example ofthese phenomena. Furthermore, we pay attention not only to the human, but also to nonhumanworld such as mountains, animals, plants, and ecosystems, which as entities participate inpractices of veneration, magical spells, and are also protected or valued for their spiritual/ritualsignificance.
The conference is targeted at scholars and researchers from diverse disciplines and backgrounds interested in presenting their research related to the general topic of the conference. Recent PhDs and other young researchers are also encouraged to participate. The themes of the presentations may vary, without being limited to:
- the Balkan-Baltic region in comparative context in relation to holiness, magic and mountains;
- the processes of the “invention” of the sacred space related to mountains, hills, and forests;
- traditional magical beliefs and practices in modern/postmodern society;
- the magical and holy and everyday life;
- nonhuman world and the sacred – the role of nonhumans in various magical practices, as well as the protection of mountains, animals, plants and ecosystems in the context of multispecies ethnography;
- COVID 19 – the role of magic, holiness and mountains in dealing with COVID and its consequences.
Meanwhile, our sixth conference marks seventeen years of the meetings and discussions of theInternational Society of Balkan and Baltic Studies. We, therefore, continue to observe the currentsituation in these regions in terms of transformations in the Balkan-Baltic area, reinterpretationof their history, situation of their diverse ethnic and religious communities, current topics thathave emerged in the novel political, social and other contexts.
Languages:
The working languages of the conference are English and Russian. We intend to publish theconference papers (after transparent process of peer review) in a special publication of our journal‘The Yearbook of Balkan and Baltic Studies’, indexed by SCOPUS.
Conference venue:
The conference will be held in a hybrid format – in presence, at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum in Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as online.
Organising Committee:
- Ekaterina Anastasova and Svetoslava Toncheva (heads), IEFSEM, BAS
- Mare Kõiva, Estonian Academy of Sciences
- Žilvytis Šaknys, Lithuanian Institute of History
- Inese Runce, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia
- Evgenia Troeva-Grigorova, IEFSEM, BAS
- Milena Lubenova, IEFSEM, BAS
- Mariyanka Borisova, Irina Kolarska-Mladenova (secretaries), IEFSEM, BAS
Scientific committee: Dejan Ajdachich, University of Gdansk, Poland; Robert Fletcher, Wageningen University, Netherlands; Sabina Ispas, Academia Romana, Romania; Thede Kahl,Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany; Solveiga Krūmiņa-Koņkova, University of Latvia, Latvia; Dr. Rasa Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania; Nemanja Radulović, University of Belgrade, Serbia.
Conference fee:
There is 60 eur conference fee. It will cover conference materials, cocktails and a 1-day excursionto one of the most sacred region of Bulgaria – Rupite (Vanga’s church), Heraclea Sintica, RozhenMonastery and Melnik. The fee must be paid upon acceptance and no later than August 30 2025.Travel and accommodation costs must be covered by the participants.
Deadline:
The deadline for proposals is March 30, 2025. Please send the title of your paper, an abstract (no more than 300 words), your first and last names, academic degree, academic affiliation, address and e-mail to: Адрес электронной почты защищен от спам-ботов. Для просмотра адреса в вашем браузере должен быть включен Javascript. and Адрес электронной почты защищен от спам-ботов. Для просмотра адреса в вашем браузере должен быть включен Javascript..
Response with acceptance of papers: April 30, 2025
Further information concerning registration, the conference activities and schedule will be provided in a Second Circular in May, 2025.
We look forward to seeing you in Sofia!
Sincerely,
The Organising Committee