Dear Colleagues,

It is our great pleasure to let you know that, from 05 to 08 May 2004, The Centre for Studies in Folklife and Traditional Culture of the County of Dolj, an academic institute for studies in ethnology and anthropology, will organise in Craiova, Romania the international seminar "Death and Orient/La mort et l'Orient". Our seminar’s aim is to create a debate framework for academics both from Romania and from abroad that are concerned with such a complex topic as death and its representations.

If in Western Europe death was the subject of some very interesting academic debates and papers, despite of a constant interest shown to this research topic by the scholars in the Eastern Europe, the results of the research work in this part of the continent are far from being known enough to the international academic community. The variety of documentation sources and the persistence of some funeral rituals and usage in this area which are far from having eroded their significance entitle the idea of constructing a research field at least as interesting as that one in the Western Europe. Only the comparative evaluation of the research results will offer a general view of the dialogue the European societies developed with the idea of death, this process specific features and joint aspects.

Our intention is that the participants in the seminar (ethnologists, anthropologists, historians, philologists, art historians etc.) should discuss the results of their research work stressing on: sources of their research, methodological aspects of their work, the usefulness of a multi-disciplinary approach of this field. Papers will be given in English or French and they are not to exceed 20 minutes of time. In order to improve communication we are going to edit and publish the volume of the seminar in advance, so that each participant should have it in its conference portfolio. That is why the paper to be presented during the conference, the in extenso copy, should be submitted to our editorial board by February 28th, 2004.

The submitters should send the papers to the publisher at the following address:

Mihai Fifor, manager
Nicolae Mihai, editor in chief
Centrul Creatiei Populare Dolj (The Centre for Studies in Folklife and Traditional Culture of the County of Dolj)
28 Alexandru Macedonski Street
1100 Craiova-Romania

The organisers will cover all the accommodation expenses.

The deadline for registration and sending the tentative title of your paper is December 1st 2003.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Truly yours,

Mihai Fifor, Ph.D.
Researcher
Manager of the The Centre for Studies in Folklife and Traditional Culture of the County of Dolj, Romania