Announcement: International Scientific Conference “Hope in the Future: The Experiences of Youth under Communism, the Transition to Democracy, and the Present”

The Catholic University Partnership in conjunction with the Catholic University of Croatia is organizing a two-day international scientific conference entitled “Hope in the Future: The Experiences of Youth under Communism, the Transition to Democracy, and the Present” on Friday, 12 May, and Saturday, 13 May 2017.

Approximately twenty participants are coming from seven European Catholic Universities. The lectures will be delivered by Rectors and representatives of the Ukrainian Catholic University (Ukraine), the Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Hungary), the Catholic University in Ruzomberok (Slovakia), the John Paul II Catholic University (Poland), the Sulkhan Saba Orbelian Teaching University (Georgia), the Catholic University of Croatia (Croatia), the University of Zadar (Croatia) and the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, United States).

As part of the conference, three panels and a final debate will reflect on topics such as “Young Europeans in Difficult Times under Communism,” “Educational Experience during the Transition to Democracy” and “Hopes and Disappointments in the Post-Communist Age”.

In addition to lecturers, Professor Emeritus Ivo Banac of Yale University will deliver the keynote address at the conference entitled “Croatian Universities in Post-communism: The Unfinished Transition” Professor Viacheslav Briukhovetsky, Honorary Rector of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy from Ukraine, one of the figures of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and Peter Stastny, politician and former Member of the European Parliament from Slovakia, will also participate in the debates. Mr. Stastny is better known for his professional hockey career and is considered one of the top 100 best hockey players of all times.

The Catholic Universities Partnership (CUP) operates within the framework of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. The objective is to re-establish Catholic universities in Europe which were closed under the pressure of communist regimes and assist in the opening of new Catholic universities in post-communist countries. Since 2005, the Partnership has been organising scientific-research conferences once a year in different European countries.