A New International Seminar Program Is Inaugurated at BNRU

The seminar was organised by the Centre in conjunction with the editorial staff of the 'Tractus Aevorum' Scientific Journal. The seminar involved historians and researchers from BNRU, the University of Bremen and the University of Oldenburg in Germany, the University of Cergy-Pontoise in France, Uppsala University in Sweden, and Moscow State University. The seminar was conducted in English.

Before the seminar, our guests took a tour of historical monuments located in Belgorod Region. Of particular interest were the buildings that had survived from the 17^th century frontier days, and the reconstruction, currently under-way, of the Yablonov Fortified Town in Korochansky District. The tour of the construction site was conducted by Nikolai Nesterov, the Governor of Korochansky District.
During the seminar, participants will discuss the problems of international interaction, the assimilation and education of ethnic minority communities, as well as issues around identity and self-identification of a population involved in the process of the emergence of a special border zone, with its own history and mentality.

The first day was devoted to material on the Late Antiquity period. A lecture by Professor Gregory Simons was organised for university students on contemporary international political issues. The second day of the seminar will be devoted to the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. The seminar will also contain elements of Linguistics and Political Science.

A special English-language issue of 'Tractus Aevorum' is planned for publication of articles introduced at the seminar, and a format for future international cooperation on this area of research will be outlined.