FERBOPO ERA ChairIntroducing Sober Thought: A FERBOPO Forum
The FERBOPO ERA Chair project at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu is pleased to announce the launch of Sober Thought: A FERBOPO Forum, a new series of free online talks bringing together leading scholars to present their work on the intersections of state, religion, and body politics in Romania and Central and Eastern Europe.
The series will start on 13 May 2026. Sessions last approximately 60–75 minutes, including a 30–40 minute presentation followed by a live Q&A. All talks are free and open to academics, students, policymakers, and the general public. Presentations are delivered in Romanian or English.
📅 Sessions take place on Wednesdays at 14:00 EEST (Bucharest time), unless otherwise noted.
💻 Join online via Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/xvj-ogxd-woc
✅ Register here: https://forms.gle/JgtMY8w8vnEGSkgx7
About the Series
A rich body of scholarship explores the interaction between state institutions, religious communities, and the politics of the body — in Romania, across Central and Eastern Europe, and beyond. Sober Thought invites well-known authors to present their work to the FERBOPO team and a broader audience of faculty members, graduate students, and interested participants from within and outside Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu.
The series reflects FERBOPO’s commitment to open science and public engagement with research — making high-quality academic scholarship freely accessible to all.
We welcome you to register and participate in the following sessions:
Spring – Summer 2026
13 May 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Feminism în România după 1989
Ionela Băluță · Universitatea din București
27 May 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Religion and Nation
Sabrina P. Ramet · Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Professor Emerita)
18 June 2026 · 15:00 EEST
Church and Sexual Exploitation
Radu Cinpoes · University of Greenwich
Note: this session begins at 15:00 EEST
24 June 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Religie și Migrație în Spatiul Ortodox Răsăritean
Lucian N. Leuștean · Aston University
8 July 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Orthodox Churches in Post-Communist Romania
Giuseppe Tateo · Univerzita Karlova
22 July 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Relația stat–Biserică în România comunistă
Cristian Vasile · Institutul de Istorie „Nicolae Iorga”
Autumn – Winter 2026–27
3 September 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Gendering Far-Right Apocalyptic Imaginaries
Cristian Norocel · Lund University
16 September 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Gender and Ergopolitics: Roma Women in Securitate Archives
Delia Popescu · Le Moyne College
30 September 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Did the Orthodox Church Collaborate with, Resist or Oppose the Communists?
Lavinia Stan · Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu / St. Francis Xavier University
25 November 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Biserica Greco-Catolică în perioada comunistă
Cristian Vasile
9 December 2026 · 14:00 EEST
Orthodoxy and Sexuality: Reading Church Fathers
Lavinia Stan · Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu / St. Francis Xavier University
More details on these sessions
Stay updated on all upcoming sessions via the FERBOPO Events page for Sober Thought: A FERBOPO Forum, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Sober Thought: A FERBOPO Forum is part of the dissemination activities of the FERBOPO ERA Chair project (Grant Agreement No. 101184092), funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme. Views expressed during the sessions are those of the speakers only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency.
