The Historical Theory Research Network at the Lithuanian Institute of History is dedicated to addressing the most pressing history-related issues of contemporary societies. It aims to develop a profound understanding of how history – both as a broader idea of change over time and as a scholarly discipline – is experienced, practiced, used and abused in the societal space as well as in scholarly environments. In the long run, the network’s goal is to establish Vilnius and the Lithuanian Institute of History as a central hub of theoretical research in history.
The research network brings together theoretically oriented historians and historically oriented theorists from the regions of East Central Europe and Scandinavia, and initiates larger conversations with the leading historians and theorists of global academia in a newly established event series, the Vilnius Convention in Historical Theory. The convention takes place each August, organized around a yearly shifting theme, and discussed by twelve participants invited on the basis of their shared expertise in the theme of the given year.
The 1st Vilnius Convention in Historical Theory took place on 29-31 August 2025, at the Sapieha Palace, organized by the network’s initiators, Zoltán Boldizsár Simon and Aurimas Švedas, on the theme “Directionless Times and the Question of History.” The twelve invited participants of the first event were (in alphabetical order): Shahzad Bashir, Ewa Domańska, Blake Ewing, Javier Fernández Sebastián, François Hartog, Ethan Kleinberg, Iryna Klymenko, María Inés Mudrovcic, Alexandra Paulin-Booth, Eglė Rindzevičiūtė, Priya Satia, and Balázs Trencsényi. The second half of the 2020s are expected to witness the expansion of the network and the consolidation of the convention as its flagship event.
Contact: Zoltán Boldizsár Simon zoltan.simon@istorija.lt
