Past Conferences
Solidarity Movement Conference
The School of History, in conjunction with the Institute of History, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, is pleased to announce the hosting of a conference to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the foundation of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the event to take place in the Boole IV lecture theatre on Saturday 18thSeptember.
The School of History, in conjunction with the Institute of History, JagiellonianUniversity, Krakow, is pleased to announce the hosting of a conference to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the foundation of the Solidarity movement in Poland, the event to take place in the Boole IV lecture theatre on Saturday 18thSeptember.
The conference consists of a number of talks, by various experts on the subject, on different aspects of Solidarity’s origins, role and influence, together with a recital of songs associated with the movement, and a showing of Andrezj Wajda’s Palme D’Or-winning film Man of Iron, which is set against the backdrop of the Gdansk shipyard strike of August 1980 that was to be the inspiration for the formation of Solidarity.
The keynote speaker is Professor Norman Davies, author of (amongst many other works) the international best-selling titles Europe : a history and The Isles: a history. He returns here to his principal specialism and first love, the history ofPoland. His appearance at the conference will be one of only a handful he has made inIreland, and his views on the historical origins of the Solidarity movement are sure to be wide-ranging and stimulating. Other speakers are Professor Mark Kramer of Harvard University (author of numerous works on central and eastern Europe), Dr Jakub Basista, assistant head of the Institute of History in the Jagiellonian university whose research interests include contemporary Polish history, and Dr Janina Lyons and Professor Maciej Smolenski, of the Irish Polish Society, who will talk about the support afforded to Solidarity from Ireland during the 1980s. The Polish choir ofSt Augustine’s will also perform songs inspired by, and which in turn sustained, the Solidarity movement.
The conference is organised with generous assistance from the Embassy of Poland,Dublin.
The event is free, and all are welcome to attend.
9.30am ‘THE LEGACY OF SOLIDARITY’
Dr Jakub Basista,JagiellonianUniversity
10.30am Break
10.40am ‘THE SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT, 1980-1989’
Professor Mark Kramer,HarvardUniversity
11.40am ‘IRELAND’S SOLIDARITY’
Dr Janina Lyons, Professor Maciej Smolenski, Irish Polish Society
c12.20pm Lunch break
1.30pm SHOWING OF ANDRZEJ WAJDA’S FILM MAN OF IRON
4.10pm RECITAL OF SONGS FROM THE SOLIDARITY ERA
Polish choir,St Augustine’s church,Cork
4.50pm Break
5.00pm ‘THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF SOLIDARITY’
Professor Norman Davies,LondonUniversity