The Society for Romanian Studies (SRS), founded in 1973, is an international inter-disciplinary academic organization dedicated to Romanian studies. It draws its members – junior and senior scholars, graduate students, and government experts – primarily from North America, Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Western Europe. Through its activities, the SRS wishes to facilitate academic exchange within and across a multitude of disciplines, including history, sociology, geography, anthropology and ethnography, political science, philosophy, law and justice studies, literature and linguistics, economics and business, international affairs, religious, gender, film and media studies, art history, music and education. The society understands Romanian studies broadly to encompass political, socioeconomic and cultural developments in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, the situation of their ethnic minorities and their relations with the ethnic majority, as well as the position of Romanians and Moldovans living outside those countries.

Activities The society holds its Annual General Meeting at the annual conference of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), organized in late November in the United States. At that time, the Society also offers an annual graduate student essay prize for an outstanding unpublished essay or thesis chapter written in English by a graduate student and a biennial book award to the best single-authored scholarly title published in English in any social science or humanities discipline on a Romanian studies topic. SRS members also attend conferences organized by different universities and other scholarly associations.

Since 1986, the society has held several well-attended international conferences gathering Romanian studies scholars from a variety of countries. The First International Congress was held at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1986 with the help of Asociatia Internationala de Studii Romanesti. It was later decided to organize these international meetings in Romania. Subsequent conferences were then held in Iași in 1993, Cluj in 1997, Suceava in 2001, Constanța in 2007, Sibiu in 2012, Bucharest in 2015, and Timișoara in 2022. The 2025 Conference of the Society for Romanian studies is set to be held in May 2025, hosted by Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca.

In 2013, the society launched a book collection in partnership with Polirom, Romania’s largest publisher of academic titles. Co-ordinated by Irina Livezeanu and Lavinia Stan, the Studii Româneşti/Romanian Studies/Études Roumaines/Rumänische Studien series publishes scholarly books in Romanian written or edited by SRS members. It considers for publication Romanian translations of scholarly monographs already published in a foreign language, original scholarly monographs written in Romanian, and edited collections of Romanian-language essays dealing with a unifying theme. Book proposals must deal with Romania and/or Moldova and the populations living on their territories or with the Romanian and Moldovan diasporas and cultures, and they must have primarily an academic profile. Contributions may have a disciplinary, interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary focus, drawing on history, political science, sociology, anthropology, law, economics, linguistics, literature, art history and other fields.

The American Historical Association and the American Political Science Association are some of the scholarly organizations with which the SRS is affiliated. The society has joint-membership arrangements with the South East European Studies Association (SEESA), as well as the Romanian Studies Association of America (RSAA). Recently, the society has welcomed the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Bucharest, the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, and CEPOS at the University of Craiova among its organizational members.

Conferences and meetings

The Society for Romanian Studies has organized several conferences, congresses, and meetings throughout its history, either as stand-alone conferences or jointly with others (most notably with the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, now the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies).

Since 1993, its standalone international conferences have taken place in Romania, with business or joint meetings in North America. The below list includes joint conferences, annual meetings, annual conferences, and business meetings of the Society for Romanian Studies. +Conferences and meetings of the Society for Romanian StudiesYearDatesHost cityHost countryHost institution(s)Type1986July 1–4 ParisSorbonne UniversityInternational conference1987November 7Boston, MassachusettsEmerson CollegeAnnual conference1988October 21–22Lincoln, NebraskaUniversity of NebraskaAnnual conference1989November 3Chicago, IllinoisAmerican Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS)National meeting1990October 18–21Washington, D.C.AAASSBusiness meeting1991November 22–25Miami, FloridaAAASSNational meeting1992November 19–22Phoenix, ArizonaAAASSBusiness meeting1993July 6–10IașiUAIC Iași, Academia Română, A.D. Xenopol Institute of HistoryInternational conference1994February 18–19New York City, NYRomanian Cultural CenterNational meeting1994November 15–16New York City, NYRomanian Cultural CenterNational meeting1994November 17–20Philadelphia, PAAAASSBusiness meeting1995April 8New York City, NYRomanian Cultural CenterGraduate student conference1995October 24–25Washington, D.C.Embassy of RomaniaNational meeting1995October 27Washington, D.C.AAASSBusiness meeting1996April 26Washington, D.C.Embassy of RomaniaConference on business and politics1996November 12Boston, MassachusettsBoston CollegeNational meeting1996November 15Boston, MassachusettsAAASSBusiness meeting1997July 1–6Cluj-NapocaAcademia Română, Babeș-Bolyai UniversityInternational conference1997November 19–20Seattle, WAUniversity of Washington, AAASSNational meeting1998March 20–21Washington, D.C.Georgetown University, Embassy of Romania25th anniversary conference1999April 17New York City, NYRomanian Cultural CenterNational meeting1999November 19St. Louis, MOAAASSBusiness meeting2000November 10Denver, COAAASSBusiness meeting2001July 9–12SuceavaUniversity of SuceavaInternational conference2001November 16Arlington, VAAAASSBusiness meeting2002November 22Pittsburgh, PAAAASSBusiness meeting2003November 21Toronto, ONAAASSBusiness meeting2005November 4Salt Lake City, UTAAASSBusiness meeting2006March 24–25New York City, NYRomanian Cultural Institute, Columbia UniversityBusiness meeting2007June 25–28ConstanțaOvidius UniversityInternational conference2007November 17New Orleans, LAAAASSBusiness meeting2008November 21Philadelphia, PAAAASSBusiness meeting2009November 13Boston, MAAAASSBusiness meeting2010November 19Los Angeles, CAAssociation for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES)Business meeting2011November 18Washington, D.C.ASEEESBusiness meeting2012July 2–4SibiuLucian Blaga UniversityInternational conference2012November 16New Orleans, LAASEEESBusiness meeting2013November 22Boston, MAASEEESBusiness meeting2015June 17–19BucharestUniversity of BucharestInternational conference2018June 26–30BucharestBucharest Academy of Economic StudiesInternational conference2022June 15–17TimișoaraUniversitatea de Vest, Muzeul Național de ArtăInternational conference2025May 29–31Cluj-NapocaBabeș-Bolyai UniversityInternational conference

Presidents of the Society for Romanian Studies Stephen Fischer-Galati, 1978–1980 Mary Ellen Fischer, 1981–1982 Rodica Botoman, 1983–1984 Walter M. Bacon, Jr., 1985–1986 Earl A. Pope, 1987–1988 Barbara Jelavich, 1989–1990 George R. Ursul, 1991–1993 Joseph Harrington, 1994–1996 Paul D. Quinlan, 1997–2000 James Augerot, 2001–2005 Paul E. Michelson, 2006–2009 Irina Livezeanu, 2010–2013 Lavinia Stan, 2014–2019 Roland Clark, 2019–2022 James A. Kapaló, 2023–present

References

External links Society for Romanian Studies