IV Cracovian Congress of History Students: Collective Memory Throughout the Ages

IV Cracovian Congress of History Students — Collective Memory Throughout the Ages

We are thrilled to announce that the IV Cracovian Congress of History Students will take place from 16 to 18 April 2026 at Collegium Novum, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland (14 Gołębia Street).

This year's title, Collective Memory Throughout the Ages, resonates across public history, memory studies, and both local and global historical narratives. It invites reflection on memory across all eras.

Call for papers:

We warmly invite undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students of history and related disciplines to submit paper proposals that explore the different ways in which collective memory has been shaped since antiquity and continues to shape societies, communities, and nations.

Key details:

• Dates: 16–18 April 2026
• Place: Collegium Novum, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland — 14 Gołębia Street
• Fee: €70 (includes 4 nights accommodation, meals, cultural program). Travel costs are not included.

Submission details:

• Submission deadline: 18 January 2026, 23:59 CEST
• Notification of acceptance: 8 February 2026 (official responses will be sent on this date)

Abstract requirements:

• Title: bold, Times New Roman, size 12 (centered)
• Font: Times New Roman, size 12, line spacing 1.5
• Length: around 450 words
• Content: briefly present the research problem, methodology, and main conclusions
• Language: English (the Congress will be held in English; both abstract and bibliography must be in English)

Bibliography requirements:

• Attach a bibliography to the abstract
• Include at least 9 items: 3 primary sources and 6 scholarly studies (only peer-reviewed or academically recognized works will be accepted)

Suggested topics (you may explore collective memory in other ways as well):

• Social reception of historical events (interpretation of uprisings, wars, peace treaties, social changes and transformations)
• Memory about events connecting societies (places, rituals, holidays)
• Trauma, repression, denial and forgetting (genocides, colonial violence, crimes)
• Politics of memory (memory as a tool of conflict; who decides what we remember)
• Mechanisms of memory and oblivion (commemoration and omission)
• Founding myths (legends justifying communities, mythologization of figures and processes)
• Popular culture and collective memory (e.g., Schindler’s List, Call of Duty: WWII, Troy)
• Difficult memory (e.g., the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Middle East)
• Culture of memory (symbolism — flags, gestures, colours)
• Collective memory in historical education (museums, monuments, intangible heritage)
• Historical reenactment

Application link: form

Contact: cchs@uj.edu.pl

We look forward to seeing you in April in Kraków!