CEU Podcasts

In this interview, Merike Kurisoo, Director, Niguliste Museum, Tallinn, discusses her work on the Rode Altarpiece and how it enables ‘time travel’ to the 1480s. The Niguliste Museum (branch of the Art Museum of Estonia) is based in the medieval St Nicholas ( Niguliste ) Church in central Tallinn.  One of the most important items in its collection is the massive and stunning beautiful altarpiece by...

In this episode of Protecting Academia at Risk, we explore the evolving landscape of risk in academia. Instead of framing risk only as a threat to individual academics facing persecution, this conversation expands the lens to examine systemic risks to academic institutions, knowledge production, and academic freedom. How do shifting political landscapes, neoliberal policies, and illiberal interven...

In this episode, Elena Trifan, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Erfurt, delves into her research on at-risk academics within the Romanian higher education system. With a background in anthropology and sociology, Elena offers a unique lens shaped by her academic journey and personal connection as a first-generation scholar. Her research explores Romania’s position as a peripheral EU count...

In this interview, Jessica Knowles discusses her current research into the apocalyptic stained-glass window in St Martha’s pilgrim hospice church in Nuremberg, comparing it to apocalyptic windows in All Saints, North Street in York, northern England. Jessica is considering St Martha’s window in its fullest context of the late-fourteenth century.  Therefore, this includes not only the images and th...

In this episode, we are joined by our colleague, Dr. Nadiya Kiss, a social linguist from Ukraine and co-founder of the Vision Ukraine – Education, Language, Migration research network. Drawing from her extensive work on language policy and activism, Nadiya explores the pivotal role of language in migration and identity formation, especially in the context of forced displacement. She discusses the...

 In this interview, Maria Theisen talks about her work on the Making of the Wenceslas Bible.  This great bible was written in German in the late fourteenth century, and although it was never completed, it still contains 2,000 folios and over 650 illuminations.  Maria sets the creation of the bible into the context of the times, particularly the reforms within the church and the power struggles bet...

In this episode, we get to know our colleague Tania Arcimovich, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Erfurt and a key member of the Protecting Academia at Risk project. Originally from Minsk, Tania reflects on her journey to Germany, her evolving identity as a scholar, and the impact of displacement on academic life. Tania shares her unique perspective as a Belarusian researcher, focusing on...

In this interview, Olga Kalashnikova, recent PhD graduate and researcher at the CEU Democracy Institute ‘History of Democracy’ section, discusses her research into Good Friday Sermons – the Mass Media of 14th Century Bohemia. Olga’s research focussed on Milíč of Kroměříž, a popular and radical preacher in Bohemia who wrote many lengthy sermons which were widely copied and disbursed in central and...

In this episode, we hear from our colleague, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kleeberg from the History of Science (Historical Department) at the University of Erfurt. Prof. Kleeberg discusses his work on political epistemologies and the cultures of knowledge, focusing on how scientific habits and political frameworks intertwine. As a historian of science, he shares insights into the Political Epistemologies of...

The UrbanCommunity podcast elevates voices from community led initiaitves for sustainable and just cities. In this final episode (for now),  our community of practice expert and network weaver, Duncan, explains what these terms mean. He shows us how local initiatives, like our previous UrbanCommunity experiments, can be connected over great distances, leading to a more united effort to make this p...

 This episode examines, through the lens of Aristotelian virtue ethics, how roguelike video games, such as Cogmind, can foster personal development and self-understanding through training our ethical and intellectual virtues. Roguelikes provide more than entertainment; they offer a space to practice virtue, teaching resilience, adaptability, and growth through the careful deployment and interactio...

This episode examines the classic psychological horror game Silent Hill 2 through the framework of psychoanalysis, investigating how the game represents the unconscious, dream symbolism, horror, and the processing of trauma. Silent Hill 2 is celebrated for its sophisticated portrayal of human psychology, particularly its engagement with a Freudian psychoanalytic theory. In this video, I argue that...

This episode continues our exploration of Wittgenstein’s philosophy, moving on to his famous remarks on games in his Philosophical Investigations, which have become one of the most famous pieces of philosophical writing in video game studies.  Watch the video version on YouTube here. CreditsWritten and presented by James CartlidgeProduced by Greta RauleacOriginal Music by James CartlidgeBreaking t...

Wittgenstein famously wrote about games in a book called Philosophical Investigations, one of the most important philosophical works of the 20th century. To contextualize his thoughts, Part 1 of this series provides an introduction to Wittgenstein’s life and philosophy. Part two will discuss the most famous passages from the Philosophical Investigations where he discusses games. These passages for...

Named for their similarity to the 1980 video game Rogue, ‘roguelikes’ have one of gaming’s richest, most interesting histories, represent one of gaming’s most enduringly popular genres, and one of its most enduringly influential in terms of game design. The roguelike’s history stretches back to the earliest days of video gaming but also continues to affect a tangible influence on modern gaming in...

This episode explores the philosophical relevance of video games, examining why games matter and what they reveal about the human condition. At the core of this inquiry is the question of what it means to be human and how we cope with life’s existential tensions. Playing games, engaging in sport, and immersing ourselves in stories are all ways in which we seek meaning and enjoyment in life. Video...

In this episode, Alina Dragolea, Associate Professor at the National University of Political Science and Public Administration in Bucharest, discusses the complex dynamics of "academia at risk" in both high- and low-ranked universities. She challenges Western-centric views on academic migration and explores how diverse institutional and national contexts shape the experiences and support strategie...

In this episode, Dina Gusejnova (PhD in History, University of Cambridge), Associate Professor in International History at LSE, shares her insights on the complexities of supporting scholars at risk in Europe. With research interests in modern European political, intellectual, and cultural history—particularly during transitional periods such as the revolutions of 1918-20 and the two World Wars—Di...

In this interview, Natalia (Talia) Zajac, an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Niagara University, New York State, discusses her on-going research into ‘Noble Ladies: Between East and West’.  This is the interesting phenomenon of noble ladies from Rus marrying into Central European noble families, and nobles ladies from Central Europe marrying into the Rus nobility, thus creating marriag...

In our first episode of the Protecting Academia at Risk podcast, we introduce the project's origins and the personal journeys that brought our interdisciplinary team together. Lead researcher Andrea Pető shares her story of growing up during the anti-communist resistance and her academic career at CEU, highlighting the attack on gender studies and the broader threats to academic freedom. We discus...

In this interview, Karel Pacovský discusses his on-going research into the daily lives of the Benedictine nuns of St George’s Monastery in Prague Castle.  The monastery, founded around 970 exclusively for women, was the earliest monastic institution in Bohemia. It held an important position within the Bohemian state due to its physical location and the status and learning of its abbesses. Karel’s...

In this interview, Jack Wilson, historian of the Mongol Empire and PhD candidate at Central European University discusses his current research into the Mongol invasions of Hungary in the thirteenth century. Focussing on the lesser known Mongol invasion of Hungary in the 1280s, and viewing this from the perspective of the Mongols, Jack’s research considers the likely reasons for the invasion.  His...

In this interview, Martin Bauch, the leader of a group researching medieval climate history and climate change at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO) in Leipzig, discusses his research into the eruption of the Samalas volcano in 1257 in Indonesia.  Based on a wide range of information sources, including chronicles from Europe, the Middle East and the Far East...

This podcast episode explores the role of art criticism, especially the question whether critics can establish a standard for determining what constitutes beauty in art. For this episode, I took inspiration from my thesis where I assessed three thinkers who offer contrasting perspectives on this matter: David Hume, Pierre Bourdieu, and Alexander Nehamas. Hume, in his work Of The Standard of Taste,...

In this interview, Maria Vargha, Assistant Professor for Spatial Approaches to Medieval Studies at University of Vienna, discusses her recent and current research into early Christianisation on the edges of what came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. Using a vast amount of archaeological and historical data, and spatial and network analysis, Maria shows how different regions of Central Europe...