The Faculty of Arts, UPJŠ hosted the international symposium Black on White 2. Borders and Intersections in Language and Culture on 27–28 November 2025. The event was opened by the UPJŠ Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Associate Professor Silvia Ručinská, and the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts for Research and Doctoral Studies, Professor Marián Andričík.
The symposium, organized by the Department of Germanic Studies at the Faculty of Arts and supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency, brought together experts from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The event focused on exploring cultural and linguistic interactions in the border regions of Central Europe and highlighting the fact that the periphery is not a marginal space, but an active zone where languages and cultures interact. Historical regional newspapers, such as the Karpathen-Post and the Kaschauer Zeitung were presented as important cultural archives that captured the everyday life of the multi-ethnic environment of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Discussions focused on identity formation in border regions, cultural and social discourses, and the differences between the various parts of the monarchy, as reflected in media life.
Researchers emphasized that historical press allows us to delve into the past “between the lines”- into the spaces of contact, conflict, and cooperation that shaped modern society, while often offering insights that are still relevant today.
Text: M. Gladiš, Faculty of Arts, UPJŠ
Translation: Natália Rubeljová
