Topic: Społeczność pogranicza? Problemy identyfikacji z regionem polskich i niemieckich  mieszkańców Nadodrza po 1945 r.

Duration: 01.03.2013 -31.12.2015

Project coordinator: prof. UAM dr hab. Beata Halicka.

Project partners: Europa-Universität Viadrina, Instytut Historii i Stosunków Międzynarodowych Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego, Instytut Socjologii Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego, Institut für sächsische Geschichte und Volkskunde e.V. Drezno.

Project co-funded by Polsko-Niemieckiej Fundacji na Rzecz Nauki (8.000 EURO), a także pozyskano środki na finansowanie projektu w wysokości 98.000 EUR od Viadrina Center „B/Orders in Motion”.

Description:

The border along the rivers Odra and Neisse has existed for nearly seventy years. As a result of forced migration, significant changes in the social structure occurred on both sides of the Odra after 1945. The newly emerging border society had to face rapid and profound political, social and cultural changes and eventually was separated by a partly impermeable boundary. However, it was not a barrier that hindered people from social networking and cultural exchange. The aim of the project is to examine how cross-neighborly relations finally developed and how they affected the identity building of communities within the region on both sides of the Odra. A decisive question will be: Which factors affect the process of forming/creating identity and how is identity constructed?

The project brings together scientists in the fields of cultural studies, history and sociology in order to provide answers to these and further questions. This interdisciplinary approach may also serve as a methodological model for border studies focusing on other regions (for example studies on the Polish-Ukrainian, the Polish-Russian, the German-Czech, and also the US-Mexican or South-North Korean border regions). While this project is meant to prepare an application for research funding, it will also lay the foundations for an interdisciplinary research group uniting scientists from the EUV and the UAM, all working in the framework of several sub-projects. This research group is based at the Polish-German Research Institute under the roof of the Collegium Polonicum in Słubice. A conference and various workshops in cooperation with our project partners are projected in 2014.