Who we are?
The Center for Anti-Communist Resistance and History aims to contribute to the in-depth, comparative and interdisciplinary research of the recent history of Făgăraș County and of the anti-communist resistance in Romania. One of the aims of CRAI is to support local communities in knowing and understanding their past. This process - awkward but necessary - needs time and dialogue partners. The journey to the recent past is part of a broader process of memory restoration and identity definition. By understanding the legacy of the communist period, we better understand today's society. Discovering the traumas of that period, we can talk about their acceptance, integration and healing.
The Center for Anti-Communist History and Resistance aims to become a relevant actor at local, national and international level in academic debates related to the wider history of communism, generating content and creating models for studying recent history and presenting it to a specialized audience, but also for the general public, including in tourism projects.
CRAI will develop programs, projects and events targeting different historical and interdisciplinary themes, both correlated with the phenomenon of anti-communist resistance, and with other historical themes relevant for the Făgăraș Research Institute. We also consider educational, public policy and awareness-raising activities to bring the results of our research closer to various actors in the community, such as young people, civil society organizations, public institutions and companies.
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Team
Ana-Maria Chirila, M.A.
Andreea Maierean Ph.D.
Claudia Șerbănuță, Ph.D.
Cristian Daniel, Ph.D.
Georgi Georgiev, Ph.D.
Ioana Hașu-Georgiev M.A.
Laura Vișan, Ph.D.
Monica Popescu, Ph.D.
Octavian Gabor, Ph.D.
Ștefan Cibian, Ph.D.
Ana-Maria Chirila, M.A.
Since the beginning of her career, she has been an active participant in the community while supporting the activity of the Institute and the Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation. She holds a BA in Biotechnical Systems Engineering and an MA in Environmental Engineering. Ana-Maria considers that community engagement is an important part of one’s life, therefore, it is important that we create and collaborate, as we are sharing life experiences every day. Ana-Maria is passionate about exploring new places and sports, such as endurance biking, swimming, and hiking.
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Andreea Maierean Ph.D.
Dr. Andreea Maierean is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science and the Study Abroad Director at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science in 2013 from Boston University and she previously studied in Bucharest, Romania, at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration; in Trieste, Italy, at the University of Trieste; in Budapest, Hungary, at Central European University and in Vienna, Austria, at the Institute for Human Sciences. Her research and teaching interests broadly include post-communist transitions to democracy, transitional justice, and environmental policy.
Claudia Șerbănuță, Ph.D.
Cristian Daniel, Ph.D.
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Georgi Georgiev, Ph.D.
Georgi Georgiev is a doctoral candidate in comparative history at the Central European University, Budapest (CEU). He was a Visiting Predoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Research Group “Epistemes of Modern Acoustics” (October-November 2018). He completed an MA in Central European history at CEU. Georgi’s research experience includes extensive study of the Radio Free Europe archival collections hosted by the Blinken Open Society Archives in Budapest. Georgi’s PhD project focuses on methods of information gathering during the Cold War, with a special emphasis on acoustic information gathering and noise as an object of research. His work explores the intersection between science, technology, and politics.
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Ioana Hașu-Georgiev M.A.
Ioana Hașu-Georgiev is interested in Romania’s recent past, researching aspects related to the armed anti-communist resistance. She holds an M.A. from the Central European University (2015) and is an accredited independent researcher at the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (2011). She explores in her research the less known aspects of the anti-communist struggle, such as the role of women in the resistance, postmemory and trans-generational trauma, traumatic amnesia, the relation between forgetting, remembering, and healing.
In 2012 she created an interactive workshop for children, Grandparents’ Times, focusing on the early communist period and repression. The workshop is offered in schools, high schools, and camps. In 2018 she launched an exposition at the Țara Făgărașului Museum entitled The Women in the Resistance, invisible actors of the anti-communist struggle.
In the last 10 years, Ioana gave public lectures and participated in conferences organized by the Institute for the Investigation of Crimes committed by the Communist Regime.
Ioana has over 15 years of experience in mass-media, among others, working for BBC Romania and Radio France Internationale.
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Laura Vișan, Ph.D.
Laura Visan is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Arts, Culture and Media (ACM) at the University of Toronto Scarborough and has a Ph.D. in communication from York University and Ryerson University in Toronto. She researched the process of social capital formation through civic participation and networking in the case of Romanian immigrants from Toronto. Having grown up in Romania, Laura has also written about the popular culture artefacts of the Nicolae Ceauşescu era, with a focus on the 1970s and 1980s. She has taught at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton and at York University in Toronto.
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“Recuperate, Recycle, Reuse: Adaptive Solutions for the Socialist Architecture of Bucharest”. In Lisa B. W. Drummond and Douglas Young (Eds.), Socialist and Post-Socialist Urbanisms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020; pp. 168-184
“Political Engagement through Civic Transnationalism: Romanian Diasporas and the 2014 Presidential Elections”, in Reading Sociology: Canadian Perspectives, Third Edition. Oxford University Press, 2017
“Reading Cutezatorii and Watching Jackie Chan – Romanian Children and the Communist Propaganda (1970s and 1980s). Medialni Studia (Media Studies), Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University Prague, II 2013, Pp. 212-228. Available online at: http://medialnistudia.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/6_laura-visan.pdf
“(Dis)Connected: Romanian Canadians in Cyberspace”. Romanian Journal of Communication, Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations. Pp. 113-127. Vol. 15 No. 1 (29). April 2013. ISSN 1454-8100.
Available online at: http://journalofcommunication.ro/29/visan_29.pdf
“Creating Social Capital Resources: A Case Study of Romanian Immigrants in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area”. Working Papers series no. 93 / 2012, CERIS, the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement; available online at: http://www.ceris.metropolis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/WP93_Visan.pdf
Romanian Immigrants Go to Church” – Illumine – The Journal of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria, 2012; vol 11, no. 1. Available online at: http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/Illumine/issue/view/763/showToc
“Partially Color– Rethinking Exterior and Interior Spaces in Communist Romania” – Anthropology of Eastern Europe Review, Vol. 29, No 2 / Fall 2011, 51-66; available online at: http://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/aeer/
“Houses that Cry: Online Civic Participation in Post-Communist Romania” – McMaster Journal of Communication, Vol. 7, Issue 1, 2011; available online at: http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/mjc/vol7/iss1/3/
Monica Popescu, Ph.D.
Dr. Monica Popescu is Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar of African Literatures at McGill University. She is the author of South African Literature Beyond the Cold War (which won the 2012 Gustave O. Arlt Award in the Humanities) and The Politics of Violence in Post-Communist Films, and co-editor of a special issue of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing on Alternative Solidarities: Black Diasporas and Cultural Alliances during the Cold War. She has published articles on postapartheid literature, African culture and the Cold War, postcommunist cultures and nationalism which have appeared in journals like Studies in the Novel, Research in African Literatures, Current Writing, and The Yale Journal of Criticism. She is currently completing a book manuscript on “Postcolonial Cultures, African Literatures, and the Cold War.”
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Octavian Gabor, Ph.D.
Dr. Octavian Gabor is Professor of philosophy at Methodist College. He has a PhD in Philosophy from Purdue University, and MA in Applied Orthodox Theology (Balamand University), English (Virginia Tech), and Communication (University of Bucharest). He works in Greek philosophy and has strong interests in Dostoevsky and the issues of freedom and responsibility as they appear in the context of communist persecution. His most recent publications include: “Two Kinds of Responsibility in Crime and Punishment” (in Mundo Eslavo) and “Noica’s Becoming within Being and Meno’s Paradox” in A Handbook to Classical Reception in Eastern and Central Europe (Blackwell, 2017). He has translated work from French to Romanian and Romanian to English. His most recent translation is Constantin Noica’s Pray for Brother Alexander (Punctum Books, 2018).
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Journal Articles and Book Chapters:
“Re-Creation of Normality in the Absurd Space of Deportations to the Siberian Gulag.” Vergentis, 9.2019. https://vergentis.ucam.edu/index.php/vergentis/article/view/162 “Taming the Beast: Constantin Noica and Doing Philosophy in Critical Political Contexts.” Dialogos, 2019. https://revistas.upr.edu/index.php/dialogos/article/view/16610 “Justice between Mercy and Revenge in Sophocles’ Antigone and Plato’s Crito.” Lexicon Philosophicaum: International Journal for the History of Texts and Ideas. 6.2019. http://lexicon.cnr.it/index.php/LP/article/view/599/439 “Communism: ‘the attempt at deification without God. Reflections on Andrei Scrima’s thought.” The Faith Almanac, 2019, p. 170-177. “Nationalismul intre sisteme solare si constelatii.” The Faith Almanac, 2019, p. 220-227. “Two Kinds of Responsibility in Crime and Punishment.” Mundo Eslavo, vol. 16, 2017. http://mundoeslavo.com/index.php/meslav/article/view/237/209 “Constantin Noica’s Becoming Within Being and Meno’s Paradox.” Companion to Classical Reception in Eastern and Central Europe. Eds. Zara Torlone & Dana Munteanu. Blackwell (April 2017). “The Use and Intended Outcomes of Presence: A Focus Group Study.” (second author) International Journal of Nursing Knowledge. (2016). “The Sultan and His Janissaries. Gheorghe Hagi and the Golden Era of Galatasaray Istanbul.” Cultures of Communication/Cultures de la Communication. 1 (2016): 45-56. “Despre născători de frumos în închisorile comuniste.” Identități sociale, culturale, etnice și religioase în comunism. Ed. Cosmin Budeancă. Polirom, 2016. “Birth-Givers of Beauty: An Excursion into Finding One’s Given Place within a Constellation.” Introduction to Aspazia Otel Petrescu. With Christ in Prison. Reflection Publishing House, 2014, p. 5-18. “Dialogical Writing in Philosophy and Literature – A Study on Plato’s Gorgias and Thomas Love Peacock’s Nightmare Abbey.” Kinesis 29.2 (2002): 67-84. “Adevar si credibilitate in mesajul publicistic de televiziune” (Truth and Credibility in the TV message). Comunicariile “Hyperion” 1. Bucuresti: Editura Hyperion, 1998, p. 72-4.Reviews:
Review of Brian A. Butcher, Liturgical Theology after Schmemann: An Orthodox Reading of Paul Ricoeur. Fordham University Press, 2018. Phenomenological Reviews, January 2019. https://reviews.ophen.org/2019/02/21/brian-a-butcher-liturgical-theology-after-schmemann-an-orthodox-reading-of-paul-ricoeur/ Review of Constantin Noica, Pray for Brother Alexander. Punctum Books, 2018. Romanian Studies Association of America Journal. September 2018. Review of Martha Nussbaum, Anger and Forgiveness: Resentment, Generosity, Justice. Oxford University Press, 2016. Metaphsycology Online Reviews, November 2016. https://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=7775&cn=394 Review of Michael Davis, The Soul of the Greeks: and Inquiry. Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press, 2011. Bryn Mawr Classical Review, May 2012. https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2012/2012.05.25 Review of Terence Irwin, “Stoicism: Action , Passion, and Reason” and “Stoicism: Virtue and Happiness.” The Development of Ethics: A historical and Critical Study. Vol. I-III. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The Philosophical Forum: A Quarterly. 42.3 (2011): 279-80. Review of Brooke Holmes. The Symptom and the Subject: The Emergence of the Physical Body in Ancient Greece. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2010. Bryn Mawr Classical Review, March 2011. Review of Ronald Polansky, Aristotle’s De Anima. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Bryn Mawr Classical Review, September 2009. Review of Julie K. Ward, Aristotle on Homonymy: Dialectic and Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Bryn Mawr Classical Review, October 2008.Translation:
Noica, Constantin. Pray for Brother Alexander. Translated from Romania to English. Punctum books, 2018. https://punctumbooks.com/titles/pray-for-brother-alexander/ Monk Moise, ed. Do Not Avenge Us: Testimonies of Romanians Deported to Siberia. Translated from Romanian to English. Reflection Publishing, 2016. Scrima. André. Apophatic Anthropology. Translated from Romanian to English. Gorgias, 2016. Fr. Arsenie Boca. Living Words. Translated from Romanian to English. Deva: Charisma Publishing House, 2014. Jean Servier. Istoria Utopiei. Translated from French to Romanian by Octavian Gabor and Elena Gabor. Bucharest: Meridiane, 2000. Original title: L’Histoire de l’utopie.
Ștefan Cibian, Ph.D.
Dr. Ștefan Cibian is a member of the Board and the executive director of the Făgăraș Research Institute.
Stefan teaches courses related to international relations, international development, international organizations, peacebuilding, and postcolonial Africa at the M.A. in International Development at the Political Science Department, Babeș-Bolyai University and the M.A. in International Public Affairs at the Political Science Department, University of Bucharest.
Previously, Stefan worked as an Academy Fellow at Chatham House – The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Africa Programme and Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs, the World Bank Group, the European Commission, the Association for Community Relations, and Central European University.
His research interests include international development, community development, Africa-CEE-EU relations, development policy, international relations theory, peacebuilding, fragile states, the link between research, policy, and practice, higher education policy, and global affairs. Regarding his geographic focus, Stefan is primarily concerned with Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, the European Union, and transatlantic relations.
Stefan is an Executive Committee member of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and is a member of the International Studies Association, European International Studies Association, Central and Eastern Europe International Studies Association, and UACES. Stefan also focuses on civil society development in CEE. He is the President of ARCADIA – The Romanian Association for International Cooperation and Development and GRASP, and a Board Member with Țara Făgărașului Community Foundation (FCTF), UiPath Foundation, the Association for the Practice of Transformation, and the Romanian Federation of Community Foundations. Stefan is a member of the following networks: Bosch Alumni Network, BMW Responsible Leaders’ Network, and Mercator Foundation TEFF Alumni Network.
Stefan received his Ph.D. in political science and international relations (2012) and his M.A. in public policy (2006) from Central European University. He holds a B.A. in political science (2004) from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and a B.A. in law (2005) from the 1st of December 1918 University, Alba Iulia, Romania. Stefan also studied or conducted research at Salzburg University, the University of Ljubljana, and UCLA.
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Central & Eastern Europe and EU-Africa Relations after 2020 (Chatham House Research Paper, 2020)
Central and Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa: Prospects for Sustained Re-engagement (Chatham House Research Paper, 2017)
Analyzing the European Development Fund: An English School Account of How Presumed Statehood Undermines (Development in) Sub-Saharan Africa (Ph.D. Thesis, Central European University, 2012)
