Promises Of 1968:  Crisis, Illusion, and Utopia

Embassy of Romania to the United States, in cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Institute, Cold War International History Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, The Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland (College Park) and The Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at the Georgetown University will co-organize a two –day conference entitled Promises Of 1968:  Crisis, Illusion, and Utopia.

First day of the symposium will be held at the Romanian Embassy. The second day of the event will take place at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The conference will focus on the crisis of 'really existing socialism', the failure of 'socialism with a human face,' post-Marxist utopia and the rediscovery of radicalism.

Key note speakers will be Ambassador Martin Palouš, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UN, Professor Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University, Professor Vladimir Tismaneanu, director of the Center for the Study of Post-Communit Societies (University of Maryland), Chairman of the Presidential Advisory for the Analysis of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania, and Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow.

Welcome addresses and introductory remarks will be delivered by Mr. Horia – Roman Patapievici, President of the Romanian Cultural Institute, and Dr. Christian Ostermann, the Cold War International History Program Director at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Featured speakers include distinguished scholars from prestigious European and American academia and research centers, among them Harvard, Princeton, New York University, Columbia, SUNY, University of Maryland (College Park), Indiana University in Bloomington, LUISS. Details about the program, the participants and their contribution to the conference are attached herewith.

To send the RSVP to either one or both days of the conference, please use the following address and, respectively, web-link: 

First day of the conference: rsvp_november6_2008@roembus.org

Second day of the conference: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1409&fuseaction=topics.event_rsvp&event_id=479768