First of all, why the name? Why “Nicolaus Olahus” series of lectures?
Nicolaus Olahus was one of Europe’s famous humanist figures of his time, historiographer and well known penfriend of the renowned scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam. We intend to and, at the same time, we propose to you, an academic dialog, even better than in the times of the aforementioned personalities. More precisely, we have initiated a series of itinerant lectures in the country’s most prestigious university centers, which will connect the history from this part of Europe with nowadays scientific world.
In other words, the series of international lectures, organized by “ISTROS” and the American Institute for Southeast European Studies, are intended to be addressed within the major university centers from Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Timișoara, Constanța and so on, meant to academically connect our region with Southeastern Europe and North America, through the lectures held by researchers acknowledged by the international scientific community. At the same time, our second main objective of this project is to promote in the Eastern European region and beyond the research and work of Romanian scholars that deserve the attention of the international academic world.
In its first phase, our project was an itinerant one through the major university centers of Romania, in Bucharest, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca and Iași, through a series of lectures held throughout the 2021/2022 academic year, that had as usual format the inviting of a renowned international researcher, who held his/her presentation as guest speaker of the host university center, as well as promoting one of the host institution’s representative as fellow speaker.
In its current second phase of our project, we have in our sight for the academic year 2022/2023 holding two presentations by the host institutions, one held by an experienced and accomplished faculty member and another held by a young alumni researcher proposed by the university center to the internal and international scientific community.
Finally, in its third phase and so on, starting with the academic year 2023/2024, we propose to support three lectures held by representatives of the Romanian research community along with the international guest speaker. Thusly, besides the two types of presentations already mentioned in the previous phase, we will add a third lecture held by an emeritus professor of another university center, different from the hosting institution.
All these phases are meant to promote an academic dialog between researchers, to encourage forming scholarly connections in the region and beyond, independently of national borders.
The "ISTROS” Society for Historical Sciences 