Chernobyl, etc.: Approaching Disaster Studies
16-18 March 2006, Budapest

The seminar’s starting point will be the interdisciplinary discussion of Chernobyl: one of the most developed case studies in ‘disaster studies’. Special emphasis will be laid on the role of historical perspectives, however. To what extent does the temporalization of the point of view help to unfold the genesis and meaning of disastrous events? What is the role of commemoration and the working through of trauma in mitigating the consequences of catastrophes? Can the history of previous natural and human catastrophes help us to learn about contemporary disasters? The seminar will gather an unusually broad circle of expertise, ranging from historians and social scientists to ecologists, nuclear physicists and artists, policy-makers and environmental activists, many of them important witnesses and seasoned field mitigation workers - both from the Central and Eastern European region and worldwide.