(For more detailed comments on each point on the agenda, see below.)
1.
Opening
- Introductions
- Choice of referee
- Comments on and additions to the agenda
- Feedback on the Network homepage (see: http://www.fsnnielsen.com/oeur/network/)
2. Short profiles of the participating institutions
5.
Future activities and organization of the network
- Future Nordic Conferences
- Research initiatives
- Summer courses
- Internal
contact within the network - Socrates/Erasmus
- Inter-Baltic
MA in anthropology / qualitative sociology
- Cooperation
with institutions outside E/C Europe and Scandinavia
- Publication and translation
- Recruitment of new members
- Financing plan
6. Additional points
7. End of meeting. Dinner.
We
will have dinner on Thursday evening at 19.00, in a Italian restaurant
named Rodolfo, which is fairly cheap and close to the meeting room
Address: Kirkkokatu 5
Phone: (09)625024
The reservation is made in Anna-Maria Salmi's name.
2.
Short profiles of the participating institutions
Each participant will give a presentation of his/her institution,
emphasizing its strengths and needs. Please keep your presentations short!
3.
Charter for the network
A draft charter will be forwarded as soon as
possible, and published to this homepage. We will discuss the draft, and arrive
at a finalized version of the charter.
4.
Network secretariat
Until the network receives money, it will be impossible to keep a regular
secretariat function going.
Suggestion: For the time being it is suggested that the secretariat stay in
Copenhagen, where it de facto is today. In the future, it might be desirable
that the secretariat rotate between participating institutions.
5.
Future activities and organization of the network
The main goal of the meeting will be to arrive at a 2-3 year plan for the
network's future activities. The listed activities are suggestions, which are
briefly commented below:
-
Future Nordic Conferences
It is suggested that the Network be given the future responsibility for keeping
the tradition of Nordic-East/Central European conferences alive. We need to
agree on this, and decide on: (a) how often the conferences will
be held (every 2-3 years?), and (b) where and when the next
conference should be held.
Suggestion: A work-group consisting of 2-3 people should be appointed to
start planning the next conference well in advance.
-
Research initiatives
Within the next 2-3 years, it is suggested that the network apply for money to
carry out a cooperative research project. The East / Central Europe Research
Group (ECEG) in Copenhagen is at present engaged in similar plans, and we think
it might be a good idea if the two projects were coordinated. We need to discuss
themes for such a project, and to find a project format that fits the needs of
our group. (More detailed ideas for such a project will be
forwarded.)
-
Summer courses
A possible activity is to arrange summer courses for Ph.D,'s, MA's and/or
others. Courses might be field courses or intensive thematic courses of various
kinds. Suggestions are welcome.
-
Internal
contact within the network - Socrates/Erasmus
Through the EU's Socrates/Erasmus program, institutions in most of the network's
participating countries can exchange teachers and students. The Institute of
Anthropology in Copenhagen at present has such agreements with three
universities in the East/Central European region, and we hope to expand this
network in the future. The contracts are a simple way to fund mobility between
the participating institutions, and we should discuss the possibility of
creating a web of such contracts, linking all participating institutions to each
other.
-
Inter-Baltic
MA in anthropology / qualitative sociology
During the conference in April 2002, a number of the Baltic participants
discussed the possibility of establishing an Inter-Baltic MA program in
anthropology / qualitative sociology. Some preliminary inquiries into the
possibilities for creating such a program have been made here in Copenhagen, and
it seems that there are possibilities that at least partial funding for such a
program may be found.
Suggestion: If there is agreement among the Baltic institutions to
proceed with this plan, and if we decide that the Network should put its support
behind it, potential participants in such a program will be invited to a smaller
meeting in the course of the workshop, where these prospects will be discussed
in greater detail.
-
Cooperation
with institutions outside E/C Europe and Scandinavia
Aside from its primary regional focus, the Network may wish to establish
contacts with institutions in countries such as the UK, the US or Germany. Such
contacts may be valuable resources for the network. On the other hand, there
cannot be too many of them, since it is not desirable to have contacts we do not
use for anything. We need to decide on a policy for such extra-regional
contacts.
Suggestion: For the time being, we will keep the number of such contacts
at at minimum, but keep an eye open for particularly interesting contacts - i.e.
institutions of international standing, with a marked interest for the region.
-
Publication and translation
A long-term goal of the Network would be (a) to acquire funding for
translation of papers written in East European languages, and (b) to plan
coordinated publication, e.g. of a collection of articles written by Network
members. Funding for translation may be hard to come by. However, if a
publication is planned, translation may be included as part of the publication
grant. If we can arrive at a plan for one such publication, we could apply for
money to fund it. Meanwhile, there exists an open online publication option,
where work in any language may be published - at: http://www.anthrobase.com/.
-
Recruitment of new members
As yet, no effort has been made to expand the network beyond the ranks of the
participants at the conference in Copenhagen in April 2002. Two forms of
expansion are now possible: (a) attraction of new members, and (b)
expansion of the steering group. We need to decide on a policy in relation to
both of these issues.
Suggestion: We will, in the future, seek to attract as many members as
possible to the network. As far as the steering group is concerned, its
membership is at present heavily concentrated around the Baltic region. It would
seem natural to add one or two members from other parts of East / Central
Europe. We need to discuss, however, what milieus would be of particular
interest to include.
-
Financing plan
The meeting should arrive at a tentative timeplan for the activities it plans.
It is hoped that there will also be time to discuss the financing of the
activities. All suggestions are welcome.