In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, political scientist Jeroen Van den Bosch, co-author of the newly published Encyclopedia Tyrannica, joins Ria Laenen, lecturer in Russian and International Politics at KU Leuven, for a conversation that spans both the conceptual and the geopolitical. Together, they explore how the idea for this ambitious encyclopaedia—a research guide to totalitarianism—took shape, and what it finds in common between authoritarianisms across the globe. Why do the Asian republics—once integral to the Soviet Union and still of strategic global importance—remain a blind spot in Belgium, even among political science students? Encyclopedia Tyrannica is available free of charge: Read it here: https://www.ibidem.eu/out/media/vlb_9783838278827_2.pdf #EncyclopediaTyrannica #PostSovietSpace #CentralAsia #PoliticalScience #KULeuven #JeroenVandenBosch #RiaLaenen #StudioCEE #AcademicPodcast #Geopolitics #EasternEurope

This is the first episode of our third season. It feels as if we only started yesterday, yet this is already the third academic year that our Studio on Central and Eastern Europe brings you conversations on the latest research about the region.  In this episode, we draw connections that may surprise many listeners: What can Colombia’s experience with conflict teach Ukraine? And what does transitional justice in Latin America share with the post-conflict processes of Central and Eastern Europe?  Stephan Parmentier, professor of criminology and human rights at KU Leuven, speaks with Fernando Serrano-Amaya, a Colombian scholar whose work bridges peacebuilding, social policy, and the politics of reconciliation. Serrano-Amaya holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and has taught and conducted research in Australia, Colombia, and beyond. His work examines youth and gender-based violence, masculinities, and queer peacebuilding, and he recently co-edited a special issue on the subject in the Revista de Estudios Sociales.  Together, Stephan Parmentier and Jose Fernando Serrano-Amaya discuss the main pillars of transitional justice, while tracing how violence and justice shift and take new forms during and after violent conflict. 

The final episode of this academic year revolves around the story of a group of Belarusian musicians caught in the violent crackdown on dissent. Slavic studies scholar Hanna Stähle speaks with political scientist Peter Vermeersch about his new book Pulse (Polsslag), a compelling chronicle (and musical history) of the 2020 Belarusian pro-democracy protests. Set to the soundtrack of Peremen! — a Soviet-era rock anthem that became the heartbeat of a modern uprising — Pulse traces the stories of artists, musicians, and ordinary citizens who transformed creativity into resistance against the regime of Alexander Lukashenko. Moving from the Belarusian capital Minsk to exiled communities in Warsaw, Riga, Brussels, and Berlin, Pulse captures a moment of history when art refuses to be apolitical. This episode is a conversation about courage, music, and the enduring pulse of dissent.

In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Oksana Dudko discusses how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has broadened the field of Ukrainian studies in the West. In conversation with Maryna Shevtsova, a senior FWO postdoctoral researcher in political studies at KU Leuven, they explore how the war has deepened scholarly engagement and encouraged East European Studies to move beyond its long-standing Russia-centric lens. Oksana Dudko is a historian of 20th-century Europe, specializing in violence, gender, and cultural history in Ukraine and the Soviet Union. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and has taught in both Canada and Ukraine. Beyond academia, she is an active curator and founder of several theatre festivals in Ukraine, and a participant in KU Leuven’s project HER-UKR: Challenges and Opportunities for EU Heritage Diplomacy in Ukraine, which explores the role of cultural heritage in the EU’s external action. The project brings together a consortium of 15 universities to examine EU foreign policy, heritage diplomacy, and Eastern European memory politics.

Uniting Europe or dividing it? A celebration of LGBTQ+ identity or a stage for homophobia? A voice for peace or a platform for political contestations? In the wake of the latest Eurovision edition, KU Leuven academics Maryna Shevtsova (political science) and Jonas Vanderschueren (cultural studies) reflect on the deepening cracks in Eurovision’s identity. They discuss how the song contest came dangerously close to imploding this year—and how its political values remain strikingly inconsistent and unresolved.

Each May, the dazzling and often divisive Eurovision song contest stirs up a whirlwind of fans, deep emotions, and fierce debates. Ahead of this year’s edition, political scientists Maryna Shevtsova and Peter Vermeersch delve into the social and political undercurrents of Eurovision — and its future. A lifelong fan with a sharp analytical lens, Maryna reflects on how Eurovision became important to her personally and why it resonates powerfully in Ukraine today, especially in light of the Russian invasion. In a conversation with political scientist Peter Vermeersch, she unpacks the passions the contest evokes, the challenges its fans face, and its rising significance for the LGBTQ+ community and soft diplomacy. Don’t miss this compelling conversation — and subscribe to our podcast series from the Forum on Central and Eastern Europe at KU Leuven!

In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, we dive into the powerful intersection of literature, myth, and minority narratives in postwar Poland. Our guest is Prof. Emilia Kledzik, a literary scholar from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, whose groundbreaking book The Poet’s Perspective: Jerzy Ficowski’s Romani Studies explores the roots of Romani representation in Polish literature and policy. In conversation with Prof. Kris van Heuckelom (KU Leuven), Kledzik revisits the life and legacy of Papusza—Europe’s most renowned Romani poet—and the role played by Ficowski, her mentor and interpreter, in shaping the discourse around Romani identity. Together, they unpack how Ficowski’s work both illuminated and, at times, mythologized Roma culture, offering insight into how literature became a battleground for cultural memory and state ideology.

In this episode, Ria Laenen discusses her recently published and already widely acclaimed book on the history of global politics since World War II, Een heel klein beetje vrede (A Tiny Bit of Peace). She answers questions from Lien Verpoest, professor of the history of international relations at KU Leuven, about whether we are witnessing a major historical shift and when the post-World War II world order began to unravel. Ria Laenen, a senior lecturer in East European, Eurasian, and international politics at KU Leuven, argues that while Europe spent decades underestimating Russia’s authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin, it now appears to be overestimating his power. Offering a rare non-Eurocentric perspective on current affairs, she is a vital voice in today’s geopolitical discourse.

This podcast is an edited recording of the conversation, in which we explored the resurgence of Soviet-era citizen denunciations in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, a practice once central to Stalinist repression. Russian anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova, who both studied and experienced this phenomenon, shared how she was reported to authorities seven times by a stranger and how it took her two years to uncover the person behind the reports. Forced into exile, she discussed the mechanisms driving individuals to collaborate with authoritarian regimes. Hosted by historian Albena Shkodrova, the discussion also examined how the resurgence of denunciations in Russia echoes their role in the communist regimes of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Historian Nico Wouters provided further historical context, drawing parallels between today’s Russia and mid-20th-century Europe. He noted that in the years leading up to and during the Second World War, many European societies lost faith in democracy’s ability to address their problems, turning instead to autocratic rule. This erosion of democratic confidence, he warned, was a deeply troubling parallel to the present, though he also emphasized Europe’s greater resilience today due to its strong democratic and human rights institutions. Dr. Arkhipova, now a Visiting Professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, has researched political folklore, rumors, and Russian societal narratives. She also runs a widely followed blog analyzing social and political events in Russia. After being designated a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities following the invasion of Ukraine, she was stripped of her ability to work in Russia and forced into exile. Nico Wouters is a Belgian historian. He is the head of the Centre for War and Contemporary Society at the Belgian State Archives and has authored a monograph on the collaboration of mayors and other public servants in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands with the Nazi occupiers during the Second World War. The podcast was recorded during the discussion organized by the Forum on Central and Eastern Europe of KU Leuven on 11 February 2025.

- In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Oliver Reisner, a professor of Caucasian studies at Ilia University in Tbilisi, discusses the historical process of national identity construction in Georgia and the challenges Georgians face in reckoning with the memory of Stalin and their communist past.In his interview with historian Albena Shkodrova, Reisner offers a unique perspective as both a German academic teaching in Tbilisi and a former diplomat who managed a human rights program for World Vision Georgia. He shares his fascinating journey, reflecting on his experiences in the country—one he first fell in love with as a young student.Prof. Reisner participates in the project [HER-UKR](https://www.kuleuven.be/her-ukr): Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU.

Join us for a compelling conversation with Dr. Elżbieta Olzacka, Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, as she sheds light on the emotional and challenging experiences of museum workers striving to safeguard Ukraine’s cultural heritage amidst the ravages of war. In this episode of Studio Central and Eastern Europe, Dr. Olzacka speaks with Dr. Maryna Shevtsova of KU Leuven of how these efforts resonate beyond Ukraine, offering lessons Europe can learn from. This conversation explores the resilience of cultural mobilization in the face of conflict and the broader implications for cultural policy across Europe. Dr. Olzacka participates in the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU.  

Were witches in medieval Ukraine prosecuted in the same way as in Western Europe? How did Russian imperial interests shape Kyiv’s international image between the late eighteenth and the early twentieth century, and did Western travelers accept or challenge these portrayals of the city? In this episode of Studio Central Europe, Kateryna Dysa, a historian and associate professor in the History Department of the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy," discusses her research with Jonas Vanderschueren, host and postdoctoral researcher in Cultural Studies at KU Leuven. Dr. Dysa participates in the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU. She holds a PhD and has been a visiting fellow at Harvard, Stanford, Paris, and Oxford, as well as a visiting professor at the University of Basel. She is the author of Ukrainian Witchcraft Trials: Volhynia, Podolia, and Ruthenia, 17th and 18th Centuries (Budapest, New York, 2020) and has written extensively on the history of witchcraft, sexuality, and medicine in early modern Ukraine. Her current research focuses on the construction of Kyiv’s image in travel literature from the late eighteenth through the early twentieth century.

In this podcast, Albena Shkodrova, a historian at KU Leuven, speaks with Ketevan Gurchiani, a Georgian anthropologist from Ilia University in Tbilisi, about the concept of the city as an urban assemblage. Gurchiani shares her research insights into how the Soviet-era legacy of "camouflaging" and "doing as if" shapes contemporary religious practices in Georgia, fostering a perception of religious rules as flexible.She also explores the complex entanglements between urban infrastructure, nature, and belief systems. Referring to the devastating 2015 flooding of the Vere River, Gurchiani recounts how the disaster raised ecological concerns alongside theological interpretations. Some viewed the flood as divine punishment for religious disrespect, citing the Soviet-era practice of channeling the river through pipes made from melted church bells.Gurchiani discusses the concept of material porosity, where material objects absorb and retain ideas, which can later resurface with transformative force.  Ketevan Gurchiani participates in the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU.

In this episode, host Maryna Shevtsova, senior FWO researcher at KU Leuven, sits down with Alexandra Yatsyk, a researcher at the University of Lille, to explore the complex intersections of history, identity, and politics in Estonia’s public spaces.Since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in 2022, Soviet-era monuments in Estonia have come under renewed scrutiny, sparking heated debates and media interest in both Estonian and Russian-speaking communities. Alexandra Yatsyk delves into the concept of mnemonic security—how collective memory and symbols like monuments are used to preserve identity and social cohesion in times of uncertainty.The discussion unpacks the delicate balance Estonia faces as it relocates these controversial monuments. For Estonians, they represent Soviet oppression, while for the Russian-speaking minority, they are markers of acknowledgment. The episode examines whether these actions will bridge divides or deepen alienation, how shared understanding can be fostered, and the role of media in shaping these narratives.This episode offers fresh insights into memory politics, societal cohesion, and the transformative power of public spaces. Alexandra Yatsyk participates in the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU.

This podcast features a lecture by Piotr Florczyk, poet, essayist, translator, and professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, on the poetry of witness. This form of poetic expression testifies to extreme historical and social events—war, political persecution, exile, and even the horrors of torture and censorship. In his talk, delivered last week in Antwerp, Florczyk explored the unique burden of the twentieth century, a time marked by unimaginable atrocities. As the number of survivors from its darkest moments, including the Holocaust, continues to dwindle, the risk of these events fading from collective memory grows. Florczyk asked: Can contemporary poets and writers engage with tragedies they know only from history books? If so, what should guide their approach? And how can they navigate accusations of exploiting or aestheticizing someone else’s suffering? These urgent questions were at the core of Florczyk’s thought-provoking lecture, hosted by the Institute for Jewish Studies (University of Antwerp) and the Forum on Central and Eastern Europe (KU Leuven), with the support of the Polish Institute in Brussels.

In this episode, Lien Verpoest, professor of Eastern European and diplomatic history at KU Leuven, examines why heritage has become a central issue in Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine. This topic recently took center stage at an international conference in Leuven, where representatives from 15 universities worldwide gathered to discuss EU heritage diplomacy in the war-torn region. In conversation with Peter Vermeersch, professor of political studies at KU Leuven, Verpoest explores the heritage disputes between Russia and Ukraine, highlighting the countries' contrasting views on Ukraine’s colonial and communist past. She also discusses how contested historical and identity narratives are driving both the destruction and strategic reconstruction of heritage in the region. Lien Verpoest is the initiator and coordinator of the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, which led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU.  

In this episode, Kris Van Heuckelom, Professor at KU Leuven, interviews Mirja Lecke, Chair of Slavic Literatures and Cultures at the University of Regensburg in Germany. They discuss Russian imperial literature’s portrayal of colonized territories like Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine—called "Western territories" to obscure their non-Russian identities. Lecke speaks of the historical evolution of Odessa’s cosmopolitan character, and the unique approach of Regensburg’s Slavic and East European Studies program, which embraces the diversity of the entire region rather than focusing solely on Russia. Mirja Lecke participates in the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU.

Stefan Auer, Professor of European Studies at the University of Hong Kong, and Martin Kohlrausch, Professor of European Political History at KU Leuven, discuss the systemic obstacles that prevent the European Union from responding effectively to the war in Ukraine. In this intriguing, if not entirely optimistic conversation, the two academics examine why the EU's technocratic approach falls short in times of war. They also ponder whether liberal Europe can still learn from the "dangerous mind" of Carl Schmitt—a brilliant, if morally compromised, political philosopher who aligned himself with Hitler's Nazi ideology but left behind a body of sharp political writing. Stefan Auer participates in the project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine, led by KU Leuven and co-funded by the EU.

Art historian and curator Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk delves into the lesser-known history of the Polish avant-garde in a conversation with Martin Kohlrausch, professor of Modern European Political History at KU Leuven. Together, they explore how Poland's intellectual and artistic elite perceived their place on the European map during the 20th century. Their discussion touches on the vibrant exchange of ideas among the interwar avant-garde, while also examining the enduring notion of cultural borders separating East and West.

In this podcast Przemysław Czapliński, a distinguished Professor of Polish Literature and author of numerous award-winning works, explores in a highly engaging way how the economic, political, and cultural crises of the 1970s shaped Polish prose. He focuses on writers Jerzy Andrzejewski, Tadeusz Konwicki, Marek Nowakowski and Kazimierz Brandys, examining their depictions of a society grappling with the erosion of collective values and the rise of individualism—changes that set the stage for Poland's eventual shift toward capitalism. The lecture, held on 10 October 2024, was part of the MDRN lecture series and was organized with the support of the Polish Institute in Brussels.