Faculty of Arts

Central and East European Studies Program

Students will gain an understanding of this crucial part of Europe through interdisciplinary study of the region's history, politics, languages, literatures and cultures. Faculty from areas of study across the university train a new generation of specialists in the cultures and societies of Central and Eastern Europe and their global relevance and impact.

Our faculty and staff
Budapest, Hungary skyline at night.

Department statement

Please read the statement from the Department of German and Slavic Studies and the Central and East European Studies Program at the University of Manitoba (March 3, 2022).

Statement against Russia's invasion of Ukraine

A Statement by the Department of German and Slavic Studies and the Program in Central and East European Studies at the University of Manitoba (March 3, 2022)

The Department of German and Slavic Studies and the Program in Central and Eastern European Studies at the University of Manitoba strongly condemn the Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine. Since 24 February 2022, 5:00 a.m. Kyiv time, Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine has started the worst security and humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War Two. This assault causes suffering, devastation, and damage to the people and cultural heritage of Ukraine. All the programs of our department (Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, German, and Hungarian) and the multi-disciplinary Program in Central and East European Studies stand united with Ukraine and its people in these perilous times. As scholars and educators, we reject President Putin’s justifications of this war and its misrepresentation as a “special military operation.” We declare our support for all those in Ukraine and beyond who are suffering because of this invasion. We stand together with the people of Ukraine, our students, partners, and colleagues from all ethnic backgrounds who are in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, and around the world who oppose this war. The Department of German and Slavic Studies expresses solidarity with our partner institutions in Ukraine:  Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University, and the Lviv Polytechnic National University. If you feel the direct impact of the war (especially international students from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, who are enrolled in the courses taught by our Department) and need assistance, please let us know at: german_slavic@umanitoba.ca

News and events

Public talks, conferences, publications and more regularly showcase research, history and current events from the region.

The Central and East European Program Lecture Series

Local, national and international experts present academic and community roundtables, book launches, graduate student presentations and more in this annual program sponsored by the CEES Program and the Department of German and Slavic Studies.

  • Book Launch: Juli Zeh - A Critical Companion

    Thursday, November 21, 2024
    11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. CT
    Online via Zoom

    Register

    In their talk, the co-editors of this volume cast a critical light on one of Germany’s bestselling and most controversial authors. Juli Zeh’s literary work is not only widely read in Germany, but also featured on high school and college syllabi both in Germany and abroad. In recent years, her work has evolved away from the literary and philosophical thought that informed her more nuanced earlier work and towards a more conservative representation of contemporary social dynamics. Zeh herself, who is a seemingly omnipresent public intellectual, has taken increasingly libertarian positions in recent political debates. This volume traces the development and broad impact of Zeh’s writing while reflecting on the responsibility of the scholars who read and teach it to confront her ambiguous and sometimes troubling politics.

    Dr. Sonja E. Klocke, Professor of German with an affiliation in Gender and Women’s Studies as well as European Studies. University of Wisconsin
    Dr. Necia Chronister, Professor of German. Kansas State University
    Dr. Lars Richter, Instructor of German Studies in the Department of German and Slavic Studies. UM
    Moderator: Dr. Stephan Jaeger, Department of German and Slavic Studies, UM

    Sponsored by: German and Slavic Studies Department, Central and East European Studies Program, German Studies Canada

    For more information about the event, please contact Dr. Elena Baraban.

     

  • Book cover featuring a female sitting at a table speaking into a microphone.

 

Call for Papers

The 8th University of Szeged-University of Manitoba Partnership Biannual Conference:
Continuities and Discontinuities in Intercultural Dialogues

Call for papers deadline: November 30, 2024
Conference: May 8-10, 2025
University of Szeged, Hungary

For this interdisciplinary conference, we welcome proposals for papers that reflect on intercultural dialogue, both past and present, addressing experiences of continuity and discontinuity on all levels of social, cultural, political, and economic formations. We invite participants from a variety of disciplines, such as literature, history, the arts, visual culture, social and political sciences, and cultural and identity studies.

Ten travel subsidies – generously provided by the University of Manitoba Hungarian Endowment Fund, usually sufficient for a transatlantic airfare – will be available to presenters from UM. The primary target group for delegates are permanent, probationary, or long-term university members from any Faculty as the objective of the partnership conference is building future connections between the universities, so it is less for graduate students or visiting scholars. 

Potential presenters are requested to send a 150-word abstract and a 100-word CV to Stephan Jaeger and Elena Baraban by November 30, 2024. Submissions will be peer-reviewed.

2025 conference description

Continuities and Discontinuities in Intercultural Dialogues

Human existence has long been captured in terms of continuity and discontinuity, stability and disruption, permanence and change. Classical social theorists thus repeatedly focused on investigating either the primary conditions for social equilibrium or the potential triggers of social change in various historical contexts. An unprecedented series of events at the end of the last millennium, such as the regime change in the former Eastern bloc countries, the resultant expansion of the European Union and NATO, also changing Canada’s role in the world, a number of unexpected regional conflicts and wars on all continents, advances in technology, the spread of the World Wide Web, the expansion of digital culture, and the unpredicted scale of globalization and neoliberal economic trends have impacted individual and communal lives in complex ways on the global, national, regional, and local levels. Academic responses to these have included proposals on the nature and mechanisms of globalization (Will Kymlicka), alternative conceptualizations of place and space (Avtar Brah), challenges to the hegemony of the nation state as the dominant political and economic capsule (Saskia Sassen), subversive approaches to discourses (Norman Fairclough), to cultural representations (Stuart Hall), and to colonial legacies (Gayatri Spivak), all of which have shaped our current understandings of the world around us.

Programs of study

Study with us

Countries of the region include:

    • Austria
    • Belarus
    • Bosnia
    • Bulgaria
    • Croatia
    • Czechia
    • Estonia
    • Germany
    • Hungary
    • Latvia
    • Lithuania
    • Macendonia
    • Moldova
    • Montenegro
    • Poland
    • Romania
    • Russia
    • Serbia
    • Slovakia
    • Slovenia
    • Ukraine

Courses investigate topics such as:

    • state formation, democratization and economic reforms
    • totalitarianism, nationalism and military conflicts
    • social, political, cultural and religious history
    • the arts and contemporary society (literature, fine arts, architecture, gender, religions)
    • the role of language (identity and citizenship, maintenance, shift and endangerment)
    • security (terrorism, trafficking of women and children, organized crime syndicates)
    • demographic movement (displaced peoples, diasporic formations, refugees, guest workers)
    • education (rewriting of curricula, establishment of new institutions for higher learning)

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Student resources and opportunities

Career opportunities

The study of Central and Eastern Europe provides training for a wide range of professions that require skills in communication, interpretation and research. A first-hand understanding of an area, and fluency in one of its languages, can open doors to careers in industries such as:

  • business
  • academia
  • journalism
  • politics
  • commerce
  • education
  • travel
  • translation

Undergraduate research awards (URA)

Undergraduate students have the opportunity to work with our leading faculty researchers and gain valuable experience.

Learn more and apply for a UM URA

Financial aid and awards

The Central and East European Studies Program provides awards, scholarships and bursaries at all levels of study (usually administered by the Department of German and Slavic Studies). Students are also eligible for university fellowships and national awards. Further awards and scholarship opportunities might be found in conjunction to specific study and work abroad programs and travel courses.

You'll find awards in the UM-wide awards database, including the following:

  • Special Departmental Achievement Awards and Scholarships: For high achievement / promise in undergraduate courses in Central and East European Studies (administered by the Department of German and Slavic Studies).
  • C. E. L'Ami Prize in Slavic Studies: For demonstrating outstanding achievement in Slavic studies.
  • Anastasia Sawula Prize: For highest standing in Ukrainian I or another Slavic literature course.
  • Sam and Mary Szach Scholarship: For completion with good standing of at least one year in a Slavic studies program.

Study and work abroad

Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Ukraine — these are the exciting destinations where you can study abroad. The reasons for studying abroad vary, but students almost universally describe these experiences as life-changing.

Join a student group

  • German Students' Association (GSA)

    Through their various activities they promote an environment where students can feel free to practice and improve their language skills, meet other students with similar interests and above all, have fun!

    Follow GSA on Instagram

    Follow GSA on Facebook
     

  • Polish Student Association (PSA)

    PSA creates a student community that promotes Polish language and culture courses, offers an opportunity for Polish students to connect and hosts fun events to get students through the year.

    Follow PSA on Instagram

  • Russian Language Club (UMRLC)

    A club where students can practice and improve their language skills, meet other students with similar interests and organize events related to Russian language and culture.

    Follow UMRLC on Instagram

  • Ukrainian Students Association (UMUKRN)

    UMUKRN offers events and fun activities for students to connect, practice language skills and learn more about Ukrainian-Canadian culture.

    Follow UMUKRN on Instagram

    Follow UMUKRN on Facebook
     

Row of students wearing headphones, looking at laptops in the Language Centre.

Practice your skills at the Language Centre

As in all language departments, students have access to the Faculty of Arts Language Centre with language laboratories that are well stocked with a variety of recorded material (to help with learning through listening), language practice software, books, videos, games and programs designed specifically for certain courses that contain a lab component. Language tutors are also available.

Learn more and visit the Language Centre

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Contact us

At times, departmental support staff are working from home and can be reached via phone or email.

Central and East European Studies Program
328 Fletcher Argue Building
15 Chancellor Circle
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada

CEES@umanitoba.ca
204-474-9516
Monday to Friday 9:00 am - 3:00 pm