Change and calls for change are constants in the region of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. The Bolshevik Revolution, the annus mirabilis of 1989, color revolutions and the drive towards EU membership - all were, at least in their time, viewed as massive upheavals which, for many, promised to bring better days. Today, public discourses throughout the region are replete with themes of change: Changes in existing values to more "progressive" ones, regime change in semi-authoritarian states, "modernization" of economies, bureaucracies, political parties, societies and social structures. Wherever one looks in the history of our region, change has come, change is underway, or change is on the horizon, and the promises of change slip ever so easily from the tongues of the status quo's latest opponents.

The theme for this year's conference challenges participants to consider how change, and its antipode stasis, is manifested and/or interpreted in our region. Such a broad theme can easily accommodate nearly any discipline and methodological approach. In addition to research dealing with specific examples of change, we also welcome work which critically examines how the concepts of change, progress, reform, transition and transformation (to name a few change-related terms) have been used in our part of the world. We invite graduate students from all academic and professional disciplines to submit their latest work on the topic of “change,” broadly defined.