Two collections were presented by the Council for Bulgarian Studies Abroad at GC of BAS on 11 November 2019 in “Academician Ivan Evstratiev Geshov” Hall in the building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
In her congratulatory address, the Scientific Secretary of division “Cultural-Historical Heritage and National Identity” of BAS Prof. Joanna Spassova-Dikova, PhD emphasized the importance of the activity of the Council for Bulgarian Studies Abroad at GC of BAS. It includes representatives from the eight institutes of the division, she explained and emphasized the excellent team work of its staff in recent years.
The book “Bulgarian Studies in Europe: Present and Future” by “Iztok-Zapad” Publishing House presents the reports of a round table held in Sofia in May 2018 on a project of the Institute of Literature at BAS. This is the only project of BAS funded by the National Culture Fund within the framework of the Cultural Program for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, highlighted Prof. Spassova.
The contents of the collection were presented by Prof. Andrey Boyadzhiev, PhD from Sofia University “Kliment Ohridski”. In it, authors from 15 countries review and discuss different aspects of Bulgarian Studies abroad. Prof. Boyadzhiev emphasized that the analyzed problems were especially relevant in view of Bulgaria’s position in the European cultural space and that the visions offered by Bulgarian and foreign specialists for overcoming the identified difficulties deserved the attention of both contemporary politicians and the general public.
In her speech, Prof. Slavia Barlieva, PhD emphasized the role of the Council for Bulgarian Studies Abroad, established exactly 25 years ago, for maintaining contacts with Bulgarian researchers abroad.
A short presentation of the collection “Beyond the Borders” by the Publishing House of BAS was made on behalf of the editorial board by Prof. Lora Taseva, PhD. It is compiled by the Institute of Balkan Studies with Center of Thracology of BAS and contains selected reports from the Tenth Bulgarian-American Conference in Sofia in 2016, organized by the Council for Bulgarian Studies Abroad at GC of BAS and the Bulgarian Studies Association of scholars from the USA and Canada. It explores the boundaries of historical and cultural, social and political, spiritual and cognitive phenomena, analyzes their causes, interactions and transformations. Twenty-seven articles offer new perspectives on understanding, diachronically and synchronously, language, literature, art, history and society.
Prof. Anisava Miltenova, DSc, told the history of traditional Bulgarian-American scientific meetings which had begun in 1973 at the University of Madison (WI). She emphasized that, over the years, research perspectives were enriched and expanded, and in addition to traditional philological issues, studies in the fields of contemporary history, ethnology and art were becoming increasingly important in recent years.
