The European Histories of HIV/AIDS
The European Histories of HIV/AIDS symposium is an international gathering focused on exploring diverse national responses to the AIDS epidemic across Europe, contrasting them with the US-centric historical narratives. Hosted by the University of Copenhagen, this two-day event brings together scholars to present research on various European approaches to the AIDS crisis from the 1980s to the 1990s, highlighting both cultural, activist, and political responses to the crisis.
The symposium aims to develop a collaborative network of researchers to pursue future projects and publications that deepen understanding of HIV/AIDS's societal impact and historical significance in Europe. By examining different strategies employed by European nations, it promotes a nuanced understanding of the epidemic’s cultural, social, and policy dimensions, aiming to inform more inclusive public health responses. This initiative broadens HIV/AIDS historical research beyond a US focus, fostering academic and societal insights into the complex relationships between minorities, majorities, and state authorities during health crises.
Supported by the Independent Research Fund Denmark, Centre for Gender, Sexuality and Difference, and Centre for Modern European Studies.
The symposium is hybrid; online participation will be made possible.
Wednesday 10 September
|
13:30-14:00 |
Michael Nebeling |
Welcome |
|
14:00-16:00 |
AIDS and the transformation to post-socialist societies |
|
|
|
Siobhan Hearne (University of Manchester) |
Fighting AIDS and Returning to Europe: AIDS Activism and the Latvian Independence Movement in the Late Soviet Union |
|
|
Maja Lukanc (Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana) |
Unknowns, misunderstandings, and politicization in the early response to HIV and AIDS in socialist Slovenia and Yugoslavia |
|
|
Ekaterina Suverina (Universität Konstanz) |
The Voices We Can’t Hear: Archiving HIV and Drug Activism in Post-Soviet Spaces |
|
|
Dorota Sosnowska (Uniwersytet Warszawski) |
The (non)representation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Polish culture |
|
16:30-18:00 |
|
|
|
|
Camilla Bruun Eriksen (University of Copenhagen) |
Women and AIDS |
|
|
Lola Dickinson (Birkbeck, University of London) |
Title TBA |
|
|
Jesse van Amelsvoort (University of Amsterdam) |
The Curious Disappearance of Dutch AIDS Fiction |
Thursday 11 September
|
9:00-11:00 |
|
|
|
|
George Severs (Geneva Graduate Institute) |
Title TBA |
|
|
Christophe Broqua (Institut des mondes africains) |
Title TBA |
|
|
Michael Nebeling (University of Copenhagen) |
Welfare homosexualities: HIV/AIDS, Racialization, and the Roots of Scandinavian Homonationalism |
|
|
Ketil Slagsted (Institute of the History of Medicine and Ethics in Medicine, Charité Berlin) |
Amphibious Activism |
|
11:15-12:45 |
AIDS, literature and memoirs |
|
|
|
Alexander Meienberger (University of St. Gallen) |
Sickness and Silence: HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and the Limits of Cultural Representation in Russia |
|
|
Mons Bissenbakker (University of Copenhagen) |
Danish AIDS literature |
|
Alvaro Gonzalez Montero (University of Leeeds) |
Making history through life-writing: the early years of HIV/AIDS in Spain (1985-1993) |
|
|
Lunch |
|
|
|
13:30-15:00 |
|
|
|
|
Nikolaos Papadogiannis (University of Stirling) |
HIV and AIDS campaigns, religious practices and Black African communities in the UK, 1996-2008 |
|
|
Agata Dziuban (University in Krakow) and Todd Sekuler (Universität Zürich) |
The Politics of Absence: Withholding and withdrawing stories from the European HIV/AIDS Archive |
|
|
Marco Rovinello (Professor of Contemporary History, Università della Calabria) |
A Media Epidemic: HIV/AIDS Coverage in Italy, 1980s-2010s |
|
16:00-18:00 |
Panel conversation with stake holders: Why do we need research in AIDS histories? What do we need to study? (hosted at Kafé Knud) |
Conversation with Danish activists and HIV/AIDS organisations (to be arranged) Confirmed participants: Ole Morten Nygård (activist) and Gitte Kronborg (Doctor at Hvidovre Hospital) |
|
19:00 |
|
Dinner in Copenhagen |
Friday 12 September: Workshop on funding
|
10.00-11.15 |
Presentations on current and earlier HIV/AIDS projects as inspiration to think about funding |
|
|
|
Agata Dziuban (University in Krakow) and Todd Sekuler (Universität Zürich) |
Disentangling European HIV/AIDS Policies: Activism, Citizenship and Health (HERA funded) |
|
|
Nikolaos Papadogiannis and Moises Fernandez Cano (University of Stirling) |
AIDS Campaigning between the Global South and Western Europe since the 1980s (Medical Research Council, UK research and innovation) |
|
|
Michael Nebeling Petersen |
The Cultural History of AIDS in Denmark (Independent Research Fund Denmark) |
|
11.30-12:15 |
Paths to funding |
Presentation and discussions with person from administrative funding support unit |
|
12:15-13:00 |
Michael Nebeling |
What and where from here? |
|
13:00 |
|
Lunch (on the go) and goodbyes. |
Map of South Campus
View directions.
View on map of the Faculty of Humanities - South Campus.
View map of South Campus (pdf).