CEY - Vol. 6 - Introduction


Editorial Introduction 
 
Meyer Weinshel 
University of Minnesota 
 
As has been the case for the past five years, the CEY continues to publish outstanding 
undergraduate research from the many disciplines within Central European Studies. With 
the appearance of the CEY’s sixth volume, I am excited to share another excellent 
collection of articles that showcase the breadth and depth of undergraduate research 
today. Eight articles appear in this issue, which is an astounding number considering the 
challenges we and our students faced only a few years ago during the pandemic. My 
editorial team and I are grateful for this volume’s authors and readers, and for their 
continued interest in the Central Europe Yearbook.  
 
As we continue to broaden the scope of the journal, I am also pleased to highlight 
scholarship in not only the field of History, but also in other fields such as German and 
Russian Studies. We hope this will encourage undergraduates and recent graduates from a 
variety of fields to submit their work for review, whether it be an article-length paper, 
historiographical essay, translation, or multimedia project.   
 
When perusing the titles of this volume, and upon a closer reading of the articles, it is 
undeniable that many of these scholars and their work are in dialogue with one another. 
There are resonances to our current moment, and sometimes frighteningly so. Two of this 
year’s articles appear in German, a friendly reminder that the CEY also publishes in other 
languages besides English. Harper Crosson addresses an important chapter in Viennese 
history, particularly for Red Vienna, when socialists influenced by Julius Deutsch sought 
to meld working-class and mass politics with sport, albeit with mixed results. Arushi 
Nair, the issue’s other German-language author, combines personal experiences and their 
own scholarly interventions to discuss the supposedly egalitarian and radical spaces of 
Berlin’s night club scene. Both papers address different temporal moments in two distinct 
cultural capitals in Central Europe, but both address how utopian politics often fail to 
reach imagined outcomes. The editors of this journal are especially grateful for their 
willingness to publish their work in German.  
 

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Several of the articles ask vital questions regarding historiography, while others probe 
questions of nationalism and mass politics at the turn of the 19th century and beginning 
of the 20th. Nicholas Sessums addresses the current moment for Russian and Ukrainian 
Studies scholarship, particularly for the study of the Ukrainian-Russian borderlands that 
have faced the brunt of the Russian invasion. Larger, structural questions regarding 
disciplinarity also shape Sessums’ article, as Slavic Studies in general faces both external 
and internal challenges in today’s academy. Arushi Nair, in addition to their article on 
Berlin’s club scene, has contributed a second essay to this volume based on a research 
project completed for the Mellon-Mays Fellowship. Nair introduces scholars to 
foundational texts for the study of Romani and Sinti culture in Germany, and the 
challenges researchers will face due to the marginalization and discrimination Roma and 
Sinti writers and artists have experienced before and after the Nazi Holocaust. Both 
Sessums and Nair highlight the continued role of memory in their respective fields.  
 
Similarly, other articles in this volume address questions of memory, and how they shape 
collective and scholarly understanding of our past and present. Libby Edwards examines 
the politics of naming a Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald after Alfried Krupp, who was 
tried for war crimes for his use of slave labor. Greifswald, a city with a long, storied 
history of its own stretching back to the Hanseatic League, has since the unification of 
East and West Germany seen an uptick in antisemitic acts and neonazi activity. As editor, 
I stress to readers that these terrifying political trends are sadly not new, and have been 
part of modern German politics for over 150 years. Flora Warshaw traces the links 
between post-1871 German nationalism (and nationalist parties) and antisemitism, both 
of which fueled right-wing populism following the Wars of German Unification.  
 
Paula Krajnik also addresses 19th century politics, notably in the parts of historic Silesia 
that remained under Habsburg rule, and sought greater autonomy within 
Austria-Hungary. As these nationalist conflicts increased across Central Europe, it is thus 
important to understand how the politics of assimilation affected Central European Jews 
in 19th-century Germany. Josephine Porter conducted important research on Jewish 
women’s identities in 19th-century Central Europe in the aftermath of the Enlightenment. 
Porter specifically focuses on the life and work of Rahel Varnhagen, whose life and work 
gained renewed interest thanks to Hannah Arendt. Arendt, a German-Jewish philosopher 
and one of the most prominent thinkers of the 20th century, continues to shape our 
understanding of totalitarianism today.  
 

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In conclusion, we at the CEY and the Center for Austrian Studies are excited to publish 
this terrific set of essays, written by talented undergraduates and recent graduates from 
around the world. 

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