Thomas Kukučka Memorial Lecture: "The rise of populism in Central and Eastern Europe"

April 2, 2023 - 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Room 332 Cathedral of Learning
 
Roman Krakovsky is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Ottawa and since 2022 the holder of the Research Chair in Slovak History and Culture. He holds a PhD from Sorbonne University (2012) and has been teaching at University of Geneva, Sciences Po, Sorbonne University, University of Lille and Comenius University. In his research, he focuses on mechanisms of social cohesion and modernization strategies in Central and Eastern Europe. Prof. Krakovsky is the author of Le Populisme en Europe centrale et orientale (2019), State and Society in Communist Czechoslovakia: Transforming the Everyday from WWII to the Fall of the Berlin Wall (2018), and L’Europe centrale et orientale de 1918 à la chute du mur de Berlin (2017).
 
Thomas Kukučka worked as a reporter for The Pittsburgh Press while enrolled as a student of Slovak language. After his tragic death in 1988, the University of Pittsburgh established the Thomas Kukučka Memorial Scholarship in his memory with funds from private and family donations, the staff of The Pittsburgh Press, and matching funds from the Scripps-Howard Corporation. Any student of Slovak at Pitt may apply for these scholarships, which may defray the cost of travel for study in Slovakia, or incentivize achievement in Slovak language courses at Pitt. The annual keynote lecture on Slovak culture keeps alive the memory of Thomas Kukučka, whose commitment to Slovakia in the 1980s helps future generations to improve their knowledge of the country.