Between November 2-4, 2023, the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest puts on festive clothes, celebrating 160 years of existence through a series of scientific and cultural events, which bring together the academic milieu and the public, interested in the field of social sciences.
The colloquium organized on this occasion marks a double anniversary: 160 years since the establishment of the institution and three decades since the creation of the first Romanian bachelor’s program in Communication and Public Relations. Thus, between November 2-4, 2023, there will be a series of events that reflect the diversity of research directions and fields of study (philology, cultural studies, communication sciences, administrative sciences), included today in the Faculty of Letters: conferences plenaries, scientific communication sessions, round tables, book launches, workshops and photography exhibitions.
A concert by the Anton Pann early music ensemble will symbolically mark, on the evening of November 3, in the Reading Room of the Faculty of Letters Library, the completion of three centuries since the death of Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, whose personality is honored in the Old Romanian Literature panel of the colloquium. The events will take place in Bucharest, at the Faculty of Letters headquarters in Edgar Quinet street 5-7, at the Carol I Central University Library (entrance from Calea Victoriei 88) and at the Holy Synod Library (Mitropolit Antim Ivireanu street 29).
The Letters 160 Anniversary Colloquium will open with a series of plenary conferences, supported by three personalities, professor emeritus of the institutions where they worked: Toma Pavel (University of Chicago), Oana Chelaru-Muraruș (the first lady dean in the history of the Faculty of Letters) and Mircea Cărtărescu (the best-known contemporary Romanian writer).
The scientific communication sessions, which will take place on November 3 and 4, 2023, attest, through their variety and diversity, to the dynamics of the fields of knowledge explored within the research and study programs of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Bucharest. In general terms, the topics address current research directions in Romanian linguistics, the Romanian language as a heritage language, old Romanian literature, tradition and development in literary research, current theoretical trends and perspectives in Romanian literary studies, the history and dynamics of cultural studies and critical studies on visual culture, Jewish contributions to the development of philology, the profile of public relations and advertising in Romania, the personalities and specifics of bibliology and autochthonous librarianship, the relationship between the citizen, institution and community, from the perspective of the administrative sciences.
The celebration of 30 years since the creation of the bachelor’s program in Communication and Public Relations includes, among other things, two round tables dedicated to outstanding figures for the appearance and course of this study program: the linguist Cezar Tabarcea, its founder, and professor Adela Rogojinaru, the director of the Department of Communication and Public Relations, whose contribution to the internationalization of the public relations school in Romania proved remarkable.The two photography exhibitions (Messages carved in stone and Ion Cucu – Professors and writers of the Faculty of Letters), which will be admired in the Marble Hall of the celebrated institution, complete the discourse on the importance of preserving memory and preserving traces, intended to attest the becoming a cultural milieu and the significant figures who shaped it.A landmark of academic excellence for 160 years, the Faculty of Letters continues to train great names, thus honoring its slogan and heritage. The event enjoys the support of the University of Bucharest, the Museum of the Municipality of Bucharest, the Central University Library Carol I, the Library of the Holy Synod. The main sponsors are Aqua Carpatica, Domeniile Sâmburești, Kaufland, Lugera, L’Oreal and Metaxa. Media partners: Observator Cultural magazines, Fictionia Optm, Cultura and the B-critic platform; the radio stations Romania Cultural, Romania International, Romania Actualitati, as well as TV Channel 33. The full program of the Letters 160 Anniversary Colloquium can be consulted here.