A new interdisciplinary seminar in Oxford has to be announced:

Central European Studies in Contemporary Context

The continued topicality of "Central Europe" as a concept in history, political science and other disciplines was underlined by the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007. As "Western" European borders have shifted, so has the concept of "Easternness", which, since the end of the Cold War, has retreated from public discussion owing to its specific historical baggage. Because of the perceived need to distance the region from "Iron Curtain" era discourse of "East" and "West", as well as the drive to reinvestigate old historical ties and forge new economic ones, the term "Central Europe" has therefore acquired new impetus over the last decade and a half.