The Organizing Committee for the founding of a new study association based in the region(s) is formed.

We are happy to announce that the Organizing Committee for the founding of a new study association has been formed. With an aim to develop rich debates across disciplines, the main focus of the Association is to built new connections of solidarity and knowledge exchange in Central, South-Eastern, Eastern European, Baltic, Caucasus, Central and Northern Asia Studies. The main goal of the Organizing Committee is to establish the structure of the Association and organize its work before the elections of the Board of Representatives, which will take place during the inagural annual conference of the Association in June 2024 in Ukraine.  RUTA Association’s Organizing Committee grew out of networks that emerged in response Russia’s 2022 escalation of its war against Ukraine. It is comprised of scholars whose research focus and public engagement aligns with the idea of transforming area studies, building on existing solidarity networks.

The Organizing Committee members are: Maia Barkaia, Una Bergmane, Giorgi Cheishvili, Franziska Davies, Olenka Dmytryk, Oksana Dudko, Sofia Dyak, Marat Ilyasov, Tereza Hendl, Ilona Jurkonytė, Botakoz Kassymbekova, Ivan U. Kłyszcz, Pavlo Khudish, Yulia Kischuk, Martin-Oleksandr Kisly, Kateryna Kostohryz, Olena Palko, Kateryna Rietz-Rakul, Iryna Skubii, Darya Tsymbalyuk, Panayiotis Xenophontos, Yuliya Yurchuk.