Digital resources in the Social Sciences and Humanities OpenEdition Our platforms OpenEdition Books OpenEdition Journals Hypotheses Calenda Libraries OpenEdition Freemium Follow us

postdoctoral research

The aim of my PhD was to relate the history of an almost forgotten endeavor of the Cold War during a crucial moment when archives were becoming accessible to research, and I was able to gather oral testimonies from former FEUE fellows still alive at the time. However, significant changes have occurred in the world over the last fifteen years ‒ from December 2006, when I started my research, until today.

My genuine interest in geopolitics, migration, exiled youth, and soft power inspired me to think about my research topic in our current context, to look for links between past and present, and study the contemporary situation from a historical perspective.

I am following a postdoctoral research agenda that I call the University in Exile Research Project. This research program highlights the issues I am most interested in, and has three components:

  • Fellowship programs for exiled youth in Europe after WW2 until today
  • University in exile in the longue durée
  • Historical research related to the Free Europe Committee ‒ for example, the continuation of the Free Europe Summer Sessions from 1959 to 1965 in Strasbourg at the Château de Pourtalès after the closure of the FEUE and its study center; the French counterpart of the Free Europe Committee; and the FEUE’s and the Collège de l’Europe libre’s story through the Eastern European regime’s secret police archives.

I am currently working on these topics, and I am looking for opportunities to share my research.

Veronika Durin-Hornyik PhD

January 2022