Conference on “Minority representation and minority language rights: Origins, experiences and lessons to be learned”

October 11-14, 2012
Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár, Klausenburg), Romania

The Department of Juridical Sciences and European Studies of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, the Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities, the European Studies Department of the University of Amsterdam and the ECPR Standing Group on Federalism and Regionalism will organize on October 11-14, 2012 a conference on minority representation and minority language rights.

The conference will cover two separate but interconnected topics: on the one hand, minority representation, involving topics related to political parties, local, national and European parliamentary representation, and on the other hand, minority language rights protection, in connection to the framework documents elaborated by the two organizations that have been fundamental in the development and implementation of minority rights, the OCSE and the Council of Europe (the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages). Case studies focusing on European Union member states, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia are welcome.

The conference organizers are proud to announce the participation of 4 specialists as keynote speakers. A maximum of thirty abstracts will be selected for presentation. Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and should be submitted until April 30, 2012. The selection will be completed by May 31, 2012. The first version of the papers is expected by September 1, 2012 and should not be longer than 7000 words. The conference organizers are planning to publish the proceedings of the conference.

The conference will be held in Cluj-Napoca, at Sapientia University. The city can be easily reached by a number of low budget airlines. Accommodation is not covered; however, the organizers will offer assistance for participants to find cheaper accommodation facilities. Participants are kindly requested to pay a registration fee of 50 Euro that includes the conference materials, the coffee-breaks and two receptions. Participation in the Sunday (October 14) excursion, including a dinner and a visit to a local wine cellar, will require a contribution of 30 Euro.

Please send abstracts to the e-mail address: miremir@sapientia.ro
For further information, please visit http://kv.sapientia.ro/en/miremir.

Conference organizers:

István HORVÁTH (Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities)
László MARÁCZ (European Studies Department of the University of Amsterdam)
Márton TONK (Department of Juridical Sciences and European Studies of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania)