The Romanian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv, in collaboration with The Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, is organizing on May 4th, 2015 a series of academic events entitled "Creat(iv)e Europe –Discovering Romania through cinema and academics".
The events, introducing the students to the Romanian culture, will take place on campus, between 14:30 and 23:00, as follows:
• 14:30-16:00, Conference room “Rotem”, 2nd floor, Student Union Building: Master class, in English, entitled “Fifty Shades of Europe. The Romanian Public Discourse on Trans-forming/ De-forming/ Re-forming/ Con-forming (to) Europe” delivered by dr. Ovidiu Ivancu. The event will be attended by students and professors of The Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
Free entrance, the number of seats is limited.
• 20:30-23:00, Lecture hall no.26, 2nd floor, room 6, as part of the “Cinema Europa” framework of events: the lecture „Creative work in progress - 10 years of Romanian Cultural Institute in Israel” delivered by Dr. Gina Pană, director of RCI Tel Aviv, and the screening of the film “Child’s Pose” (Romania, 2013, directed by Călin Peter Netzer) for the students of the Ben Gurion University. Tickets and more information: http://www.bgu4u.co.il/pages/tickets_all.aspx (in Hebrew) or negative@aguda.bgu.ac.il
Long ago, Europe ceased to be just an objective geographic notion; it has been covering for centuries cultural, ideological, political or economic realities. From Renaissance to Post-Communism, in the Romanian public discourse, Europe legitimized or de-legitimized different aspirations, desires or utopias. The present lecture aims at analyzing the idea of Europe in the Romanian cultural space; its main purpose is trying to catch a glimpse of the way Romanians perceive Europe. The premise I start from is that certain paradigms, such as tolerance or multiculturalism are understood differently in Occident and Orient, that is in West and East, based on some historical moments when Romanian culture, alongside with some other Balkan cultures, seems to drift apart from the cultural realities of what we nowadays consider the core of Europe. Moreover, analyzing the discourses on identity, one needs to oppose two concepts which are, at the same time, interdependent: identity vs. alterity.
Ovidiu Ivancu is a Romanian writer and teacher. He is a Doctor in Philology, his thesis being published in 2013, under the title “Romanian Collective Mentality in Post-Communism. Myths, Images, Perceptions, Repositionings”. He has a BA in joint studies - Romanian and English Philology, and an MA in Cultural Studies, his MA dissertation being entitled: ‘Images of the Romanians in the cultural journal ‘DilemaVeche’ (The Old Dilemma).’ Between 2009-2013, he was Visiting Lecturer of Romanian Literature and Language with Delhi University, New Delhi, India. His main interests are Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature, Imagology, Post-Communism. Ovidiu Ivancu published two volumes of poetry and, in 2014 a book on his experiences in India (“The Monsoon Time: Four Years in India”). He is a permanent collaborator with the Literary Journal “Viața Românească”, where he signs the column “Exerciții de luciditate” (“Practising Lucidity”). He contributed with articles to different collective volumes which are in Central and Eastern European Online Library. He was a member of the Grant Project of the Romanian Academy “The Romanian Press and the Idea of National Unity. Anthology, Study, Dictionary, Critical Dossier”. (2007) He is a member of the Centre of Imaginary “Speculum”, Alba Iulia, Romania. He was invited to deliver conferences in several countries such as: Poland, UK, India and Israel.
