This coming Friday, 3 May, the Institute will host a day-long conference in honour of the distinguished career of Professor of International History and Politics Andre Liebich. At the event Professor Liebich’s former doctoral students will review the themes of his many-faceted career as well as demonstrate the impact his teaching and guidance has had on new generations.

Professor Andre Liebich came to Institute from his position of Professor at the Université du Quebec à Montréal in 1989 as a specialist on Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and communism. Since arriving at the Institute almost a quarter of a century ago, he has made a significant impact in both academic and policy circles. Former students, colleagues and friends of Professor Liebich have organised this event to pay homage to the man and his areas of interest which evolved over the course of his career and influenced their own work.

The first panel, “Balkans,” honours Professor Liebich’s work on minorities and shifting borders in both an academic and policy perspective. On the academic side, his work "Les Minorités nationales en Europe centrale et orientale" (1997), and in the broader world his examination of the status of the Roma people, including with the European Commission.

The second panel, “ex-USSR,” pays tribute to Professor Liebich’s initial field of interest as a young Political Scientist, continued with the award winning monograph "From the Other Shore: Russian Social Democracy after 1921" (1997), and his many courses taught on Russian history, foreign policy, ideologies, and identities.

The third panel, “Ideas,” pays homage to a key theme of Professor Liebich’s work, from his doctoral dissertation on August Cieszkowski (published as "Between Ideology and Utopia: The Politics and Philosophy of August Cieszkowski", 1979), to his collected volume on "Le libéralisme classique" (1985), not to mention his long-standing Graduate Institute course on “Political Ideas.”

The final panel, “Identities,” ties together many of Professor Liebich’s interests over the years, demonstrated by his edited volumes, "Construire l'Europe" (2008, with Basil Germond) and "Citizenship, East and West" (1995, with Daniel Warner); his current project on "Must Nations Become States? The Birth of Self-Determination"; and his longstanding Graduate Institute course on “Nationalism.”

The event will conclude with remarks by Professor Liebich and a tribute by his current and former students.

More information on the event "Ideas and Identities".

Other news on Andre Liebich

• La «nouvelle Europe» et la Palestine
• La Russie à l'OMC
• Elargissement de l’OTAN
• What is Europe doing about the Roma?
• Prof. Liebich completes authoritative Soviet era research
• Citizenship, ethnicity and nationality in the new Europe
• Professor on sabbatical at prestigious Oxford University