I submitted a paper for a Romanian journal. This paper was rejected being considered propaganda for cremation. Initially, I was angry with this but now I'm thinking this is a honor for me. It's about the Romanian version of my paper presented at CBCE 2009 conference in Bournemouth, UK. I hope my friend Cosmin Bodrean will succeed with his plans... I will do my best for helping him. It's time for a big change! How many Romanians are prepared for this?

Victor Tudor Rosu, one of the member of our team, will attend at "Remember for the Future", Regional Conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 2-5 July 2009. He will have a paper, presenting the National Museum of Unification, Alba Iulia.

My abstract for CBCE 2009 conference:

Between Two Fires: Cremation in the 20th-21st Centuries, Romania


Presentation Description:

This paper brings into the light aspects of cremation in Romania. At the beginning it is presented a short history of cremation in 19th-21st centuries Romania, pointing out the main moments of this practice. As regard of the problem of cremation after 1989 there are emphasized six possible key-term moments: the echoes in Romanian society of Vama (Customs en.) Operation, during the Romanian anti-communist revolution from December 1989, when, at Cenuşa Crematoria in Bucharest, 43 dead bodies of the some people from Timişoara, killed during the riots in this town were burnt; the opening of the second crematoria in Bucharest in 1994 Vitan Bârzeşti; the strike of the employers of Vitan-Bârzeşti crematoria between 3-10 of February 1997; the closing of Cenuşa Crematoria in Bucharest in 2003; the issues of lack of places for burial in Romanian urban area and the alternative of this represented by the cremation; the “Panteonul României” project made by Romanian Academy which being realized in 2010 would mean the demolition of the Cenuşa Crematoria’s building. Also, the paper emphasized the legal status of cremation in Romania, the strong rejection of the cremation by Romania Orthodox Church, and the reverberations of this practice in Romanian mass-media after 1989. Finally, in the author’s opinion there are few chances for the cremation development in Romania, in the future, especially due to the Romanian Orthodox Church opposition and the lack of a real debate upon the topic and its public utility in Romanian society of nowadays.

Event:
Cremation & Burial Conference & Exhibition 2009
Conference and Exhibition Venue:
Royal Bath HotelBath RoadBournemouthDorsetBH1 2EW
Dates:
Monday 6th, Tuesday 7th & Wednesday 8th July 2009

I will present a paper being the first romanian attending at this conference (http://www.tcp-events.co.uk/cbce2009/speakers.html) . I confess I'm very excited by this event! I hope I will manage with this.

Confirmed chairmen at the conferences:

Hasso Spode *Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, Dan Malleck *Alcohol and Drugs History Society, Canada- for Alcoholism:Historical and Social Issues International Conference;

Peter C. Jupp *University of Durham, UK, Tony Walter *University of Bath, UK - for Dying and Death in 18th-21srt centuries Europe International Conference, second edition.

usefull websites

Here there are some usefull websites focused on dying and death issues:
http://www.fondazionefabretti.it/
http://www.bath.ac.uk/cdas/
http://www.ru.nl/rdr/general/news/
Some reseachers from these universities attended at the Conference's first edition: Marina Sozzi (co-organizer and co-editor of the Conference's proceedings), Luca Prestia, Peter C. Jupp, Gleynns Howarth, Tony Walter, Joanna Wojtkowiak.

poster

This was the poster of conference's first edition.

website

Also, some informations about the conference can be found on http://www.uab.ro/sesiuni_2009/dying_and_death/

Dying and Death in 18th-21st century Europe, International Conference, first edition

This is the content of the proceedings of the Dying and Death in 18th-21st Centuries Europe, International Conference, first edition which took place between 5-7 of September 2008 in Alba Iulia, Romania, published at the Accent Publishing House, Cluj Napoca, 2009:

SUMMARY
DIALOGUE AND FRIENDSHIP 9
LA VISIBILITE DES MORTS DANS LA SOCIETE MODERNE
Tony Walter 11
DEUIL ET CULTURE OCCIDENTALE AU XXE SIECLE
Marina Sozzi 19
CONSTRUCTING THE SELF IN A WORLD OF SUFFERING: NURSING WORK IN ITALIAN ONCOLOGY
Marco Marzano 31
THE POSTSELF AND THE BODY IN THE PROCESS OF DYING
Joanna Wojtkowiak 40
LAST RITES IN A POST-COMMUNIST COUNTRY. THE INTRODUCTION OF CIVIL FUNERAL RITES DURING THE COMMUNIST ERA AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR CONTEMPORARY CZECH SOCIETY
Olga Nešporová 50
PALIMPSESTE. ELEMENTS D'UNE HISTOIRE DES REGARDS SUR L'ICONOGRAPHIE ROUMAINE DE LA MORT
Cristina Bogdan 67
L'EXILE ET LA MORT: L'HISTOIRE DE CELUI QUI EST PARTI DANS L'IMAGINAIRE DE CEUX QUI SONT RESTES
Andi Mihalache 79
REFIGURING FUNERAL RITUALS WITHOUT THE CORPSE. THE CASE OF POLAND 67
Emilie Jaworski 89
WAKE GAMES FROM THE VALLEY OF THE SUPERIOR MURES
Adriana Ţuţuianu, Adina Goşa 100
PERCEPTIONS ABOUT DEATH OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE BENEFICIARIES
Codrina Şandru, Raluca Zanca 109
CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT ATTITUDES TO CREMATION: ISOLATING THE RELIGIOUS FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREMATION IN MODERN WESTERN EUROPE
Revd Dr Peter C. Jupp 118
FROM CONFESSIONAL CEMETERIES TO ASHES AT HOME: FUNERAL RITES IN THE CZECH LANDS, 18TH - 20TH CENTURIES
Zdeněk R. Nešpor 129
ON CREMATION IN INTERWAR ROMANIA
Marius Rotar 145
LA MORT DANS L'ESPACE HISTORIOGRAPHIQUE ROUMAIN CONTEMPORAIN
Toader Nicoară 159
AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH OF PSYCHOTHERAPY OF BEREAVED TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS
Enikő Školka 168
LA PLACE DU MORT
Paul Nanu 176
HEROISM AND HEROIC DEATH IN INTER-WAR ROMANIA
Tudor Roşu 181
"GRAVES WITHOUT CROSSES". THE DEAD AND THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN POST-SOVIET MOLDOVA
Gabriela Popa 198
BODY, CULTURE, AND PLACE: TOWARDS AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE CEMETERY
Alessandro Gusman, Cristina Vargas 210
ENHANCING THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH NETWORK IN PALLIATIVE CARE: A PHD PROGRAM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AIMED AT DEVELOPING A NEW PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICE FOR NEUROLOGICAL PATIENTS IN ITALY.
Simone Veronese 234
SUICIDE IN THE MASS-MEDIA
Claudiu Stefani 248
EUTHANASIA IN CONTEMPORARY ROMANIA
Ioana Todor 266
DES MALADIES INCURABLES ET LA PEUR DE LA MORT DANS LA PREMIERE MOITIE DU XX-EME SIECLE LITTERAIRE
Ioana-Daniela Trif 273
PALLIATIVE CARE IN ROMANIA
Răzvan Curcă 280
OMILETICA FUNEBRALA ROMANEASCA DIN TRANSILVANIA SECOLELOR XVII - XVIII PANA IN SECOLUL XX. O MICRO-ISTORIE (ROMANIAN FUNERAL HOMILIES FROM TRANSYLVANIA OF XVII-XVIIITH CENTURY UNTIL THE XXTH CENTURY. AN OVERVIEW)
Nicolae Jan 286

The editors of these proceedings are Marius Rotar and Marina Sozzi.

Call for papers

National Museum of Unification, Alba Iulia, „Iuliu Maniu” Center for Political and Historical Studies, University of Alba Iulia, is pleased to announce the organizing of „Alcoholism – historical and social issues” conference.
The aim of this conference is to discuss the different aspects of alcoholism in worldwide and, also, to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue between different branches of science (history, anthropology, sociology, psychology or medicine). On the other hand the conference will aim to encourage the improvement of alcoholism studies in Romania. Furthermore we try to promote the comparative analysis between eastern and western European patterns of alcoholism.
The conference will be held on 28th -29th of August 2009 at the National Museum of Unification, Alba Iulia, Romania.


Selected papers from the conference will be revised for publication in the form of an edited volume.
The cost of accommodations (all the meals, hotel rooms, official reception of the conference) will be covered by the organizers, excepting the travel expenses for participants.

Please send an abstract not exceeding 250 words with your paper proposal at mrotar2000@yahoo.com
Deadline: 15th of May 2009

http://www.apulum.ro/index-en.htm
http://www.muzeuluniriialba.ro/
http://www.uab.ro/index_.php

call for papers

Call for Papers

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, we are pleased to invite you to attend the second edition of Dying and Death in 18th-21srt centuries Europe, to be held between 25 – 27th of September 2009, in Alba Iulia, Romania.

The organizers are: National Museum of Unification, Alba Iulia, Romania, “1 Decembrie 1918" University of Alba Iulia, Romania, Ariodante Fabretti Foundation, Turin, Historical Anthropology Seminar, “Babes-Boylai” University of Cluj Napoca.

The aim of the conference is to bring together historians, sociologists, psychologists, and physicians from all over the Europe and to attract original papers on the following topics:
1. History of death
2. Suicide and euthanasia. Legal Aspects of Death
3. End of life and palliative cares
4. Definitions of Death and the problems of the biomedicine
5. Practice of commemorations and the place of the dead
6. Practices of Mourning in modern and post-modern society
7. The issues of cremation and scattering of ashes.
8. The cemeteries and their destiny.
9. Culture and Death
10. Atheism

Scientific Committee:
Tony Walter (UK)
Marina Sozzi (Italy)
Enrico Cazzaniga (Italy)
Glennys Howarth (UK)
Peter C. Jupp (UK)
Marco Marzano (Italy)
Marius Rotar (Romania)
Toader Nicoara (Romania)
Victor Tudor Rosu (Romania)

Organizing Committee:
Marius Rotar
Victor Tudor Rosu
Corina Rotar
Liviu Zgarciu
Paul Nanu
Luca Prestia
Authors should submit an abstract before April 15, 2009 at the following addresses: crotar@uab.ro or mrotar2000@yahoo.com . Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings.
The cost of accommodations will be covered by the organizers, excepting the travel expenses.