The First Czechoslovak Republic, while heralded as a triumph of Wilsonian peacemaking at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, proved no more immune from nationalist tensions than its predecessor, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The state’s official census recognized sizeable Russian, Polish, German, Hungarian and Jewish populations. The majority “Czechoslovak” ethnicity additionally masked the particularist loyalties of Slovaks, Silesians, and arguably Moravians, Chodové, Roma, and so forth.

We seek papers examining the relationship between the Czechs and their neighbors. Papers in the provisional schedule examine the Czech relationship to Germans, Lusatian-Sorbs, Rusyns, and Jews. Most participants so far are considering the First Czechoslovak Republic, but we welcome papers from any time period. Send an abstract of c. 400 words by 1 May.

The workshop will take place on 2 July 2013 at the Kelburn campus of Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. The event is free and open to the public. We regret that we have no funds to subsidize travel expenses. The workshop takes place immediately before the AAEH “Faultlines” conference in Wellington. Scholars participating in the AAEH conference are encouraged to attend the "Czechs and their Neighbours" workshop as well.

The New Zealand Slavonic Journal, a journal with a presence on J-stor, has already expressed interest in publishing selected papers in 2014. Authors unable to attend the workshop may still submit papers to the themed issue of the journal. Final papers will be due later in 2013, but interested authors are urged to make contact as soon as possible.