Socio Umane
“Gheorghe Sincai” al
Academiei Romane
A. Papiu Ilarian, nr. 10A
Tirgu-Mures
Romania / Tel: 0040744797720
Dr. Anca Maria Şincan
Education / 2003 - 2011 Central European University, Budapest Hungary,Ph.D. in Comparative History
2006 – 2007 University of Oxford, Wolfson College, History Department, UK
Graduate Visiting Student
2002 - 2003 Central European University, Budapest Hungary,
MA in Comparative History
2000 – 2002Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
MA in European Comparative Studies
1996-2000Petru Maior University, Tîrgu-Mures, Romania
Double Major in History and English Language and Literature
Research grants / January 2011 – January 2015
Participant in the projectCrossing borders. Insights into the Cultural and Intellectual History of Transylvaniasupported by the National Research Council- CNCS, Project PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0841, Contract Nr. 220/31.10.2011with the research:For all to be one. Competing projects of integration and segregation in the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Transylvanian Intellectual Environments of interwar Romania
May 2011
Visiting fellowModern European History Research Centre, University of Oxford, grant from The Berendel Foundation, London, UK
May 2009
Research period: University of Oxford, UK, WolfsonCollege, undertaken with a grant from NewEuropeCollege, Bucharest, Romania
March – May 2009
Participant in the projectReligions and Values: Central and Eastern European Research Network(REVACERN), Project funded under the European Commission 6th Framework ProgrammeSocio-economic Sciences and Humanitieswith the research: State as “arbiter”: conflicts and solutions in the relationship between the Romanian Orthodox and Romanian Greek Catholic Churches in post-communist Romania
October 2008 – July 2009
Research fellow at New Europe College, Bucharest, Romania, Project: Re-writing their history – a new Orthodox interpretative canon for the history of the Greek Catholic Church during the communist period
September 2007 – June 2008
Research fellow at the Institut fur Europaische Geschichte, Mainz, Germany, Project:Kommunikation und Transformation in Religion und Gesellschaft
October 2007- October 2008
Participant in the project – Orthodoxy and the legacies of the Empires, conference co-organizer Eastern Christianity in Post-Imperial Societies (26-279-10September, 2008), Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
April – December 2006
Expert in the Presidential Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Romania: Research on the relationship between state and church in communist Romania
Conference talks and Seminaries / 2-4 July 2012
2012 International Congress on Romanian Studies, Sibiu Romania, with the paper: Silencing the archive – a methodological insight into the research for the study “A day in the life of an inspector for religious denomination”
31March - 2 April 2012
BASEES Annual Conference, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge with the paper:“Last rites:” Greek Catholic rituals preserved by religious communities after the forced union with the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1948
14-16 April 2011
16th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities Charting the Nation between State and Society, Columbia University, New York (Presentation: 1980s Transylvania – shifts in religious identity in Greek Catholic communities – case study Cerghizel village in Mures county)
5-7 May 2011
MaxPlanck Institute for the Study of Ethnic and Religious Diversity"Religion and Communism: Comparative Perspectives from Asia and Europe " (Presentation: Turning Greek Catholic into Orthodox: Church building in Transylvanian villages), Gottingen, Germany
27 June – 02 July 2009
Centre for Advanced StudiesYearly workshop Regimes of Historicity and Discourses of Modernity and Identity, 1900-1945, in East-Central, Southeastern and Northern Europe, presentation: “For all to be one.” Competing projects of integration and segregation in the Greek Catholic and Orthodox Transylvanian Environments of interwar Romania, Krapetz, Bulgaria
17 – 22 May 2009
Szeged, Hungary, conferinţă Religions And Values: Central And Eastern European Research, presentation: State as “arbiter”: conflicts and solutions in the relationship between the Romanian Orthodox and Romanian Greek Catholic Churches in post communist Romania
23-24 April 2009
14th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities Imagined Communities, Real Conflicts, and National Identities, Columbia University, New York, (Presentation: Reclaiming the Past: Recuperating the history of the Greek Catholic Church after 1989);
27-28 March 2009
Convener: Eastern Christianity in Post-Imperial Societies, CentralEuropeanUniversity, Religious Studies Program, Budapest (Presentation:The inheritance of loss: The transformation of the status of national church in communist Romania); Panel organizer: Imperial legacies: State and “NationalChurch”
10-12 April 2008
13th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of NationalitiesNation, Identity, Conflict, and the State, Columbia University, New York, US (Presentation: “So all could be one” Turning Greek Catholics into Orthodox: From central policy to local solutions in Communist Romania)
24 May 2007
Intellectuals and Political Regimes in Central Europe, Oxford University, Taylorian Institute (invited: presentation: “Old Wine in New Bottles:” the right wing ideologue turned communist policy maker – a look into the Ministry for Religious Denominations pre and post 1945)
7-12 May 2007
ECPR Workshop, 'Religion & Politics', Helsinki, (presentation: Managing Mischief. State control over the religious life in communist Romania)
25 – 28 January 2007
Revisiting South Eastern Europe: Comparative Social History of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Institut für soziale Bewegungen (invited: presentation: Building a church in 1980’s communist Romania )
12 – 13 January 2006
Workshop Repositioning of a Discipline – Religious Studies, East and West. Mellon Disciplinary Workshop, organized by NewEuropeCollege,Bucharest(presentation: Writing the history of the Church. Between Theology and History Departments)
17-18 June, 2005
New Perspectives on Sovietization and Modernity in Central and Eastern Europe 1945-1964, Sixth East European Regional Seminar in Recent History, Pasts Inc., Center for Historical Studies (Romania the exceptional case? Mechanisms of state control over the religious denominations, in the late 1940s and early 1950s)
6 – 10 June, 2005
Workshop: Christianity in Eastern Europe, organized by University of Michigan Ann Arbour, Calvin College, Grand Rapids
Professional Experience / January 2014 – April 2014
Central European University, History Department
- Guest lecturer, MA course The Orthodox Church and the Modern State in Eastern Europe
“Gheorghe Sincai” Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities of the Romanian Academy of Sciences, Tirgu-Mures
- Researcher
PetruMaiorUniversity, Tirgu-Mures, Romania (History and International Relations Departments)
- Recurrent visiting lecturer, MA course on Theory and Methods in Recent History
University of Bucharest, Romania (Faculty of Political Sciences)
- Guest lecturer for the course The Contemporary History of East Central Europe in Comparative Perspective (course director Dr Damiana Otoiu) – special lecture on The Relationship between Politics and Religion in East Central Europe
PetruMaiorUniversity, Tirgu-Mures, Romania (History and International Relations Departments)
- Recurrent visiting lecturer, MA course on Theory and Methods in Recent History
PetruMaiorUniversity, Tirgu-Mures, Romania (History and International Relations Departments)
- Recurrent visiting lecturer, course on Religion in InternationalRelations and Dictatorship in Comparison – European Fascism and Communism (organized together with Ionut Biliuta)
PetruMaiorUniversity, Tirgu-Mures, Romania (History and International Relations Departments)
- Invited lecturer, course on Theory and Methodology in Historical Studies
October 2008 - present
The Journal Anuarul Institutului de Cercetari Socio Umane Gheorghe Sincai, Tirgu Mures (The Yearbookof the Gheorghe Sincai Institute for Social Sciences and the Humanities)
- Editor
The Journal Studia Universitatis Petru Maior of the Petru Maior University Tirgu-Mures
- Editor English section
The Presidential Administration, The Commission for Analyzing the Communist Dictatorship
- Expert
The Romanian Cultural Institute, Bucharest, Romania
- Expert – The Romanian Cultural Institutes abroad
Future Continuous – Building Confidence in the Hungarian Romanian Relations through Multicultural Education and Comparative Research (East-East Program of the Open Society Foundation)
- Project manager, academic tutor
Pasts, Inc. Center for Historical Studies, CEU, Budapest ( )
- Project manager for the research project Religion and Other Worldviews
Languages / Romanian (native), English – Proficiency Level, French – Advanced Level, Italian – Advanced Level, Spanish – Intermediary Level.
Selected Publications:
Edited books
Nadia Al Bagdadi, Ionut Biliuta, Anca Sincan (Eds.). Transforming a Church: Eastern Christianities in Post-Imperial Societies, Budapest: Central European University, 2013 (in preparation)
Articles in Books
“The inheritance of Loss: the transformation of the status of national church in communist Romania,” in Nadia Al Bagdadi, Ionut Biliuta, Anca Sincan (Eds.). Transforming a Church: Eastern Christianities in Post-Imperial Societies, Budapest: Central European University, 2014 (in preparation)
“A Transylvanian Matter? From Provincial to National Church,”in Carmen Andras, Cornel Sigmirean (eds.), In-between difference and diversity: studies of cultural and intellectual history, Editura Astra Museum, Sibiu, 2013, pp. 207 – 218
“How many churches for one nation? Theoretical insights for a discussion on the concept of national church,” in Carmen Andraș, Cornel Sigmirean, Corina Teodor (Eds.), Itineraries beyond Borders of Cultures, Identities and Disciplines, Sibiu: Editura „ASTRA Museum”, 2012
“From Bottom to the Top and Back: On How to Build a Church in Communist Romania,” in Bruce R. Berglund, Brian Porter-Szűcs eds., Christianity and Modernity in Eastern Europe, Budapest: Central University Press, 2010, pp. 208-235
“Romania the exceptional case? Mechanisms of state control over the religious denominations, in the late 1940s and early 1950s” in The Sovietization of Eastern Europe: New Perspectives on the Postwar Period. Eds.: Balazs Apor, Peter Apor and Arfon Rees. Washington, DC: New Academia Publishers, 2008, pp. 201-212.
“Regimul comunist şi cultele religioase” (40pp) (The communist regime and the religious denominations) with Cristian Vasile and Dorin Dobrincu for the report of the PresidentialCommission for Analyzing the Communist Dictatorshipin Romania, December 2006 – (presidential act – resolution read by the President of Romania in the Common Parliamentary Session, December 18th, 2006. (printed Raport Final, eds. Vladimir Tismaneanu, Dorin Dobrincu, Cristian Vasile, Bucharest, Comisia Prezidentiala pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din Romania, Editura Humanitas, 2007)
“De la ce credeau bunicii la ce credem noi. Impactul perioadei comuniste şi post comuniste asupra identităţii religioase – câteva consideraţii teoretice” (What Our Grandparents and Us Believe in. The Impact of the communist and post communist period on religious identity - some theoretical insights) in Identitate crestina si dialog in noul context European, (Christian Identity and dialogue in the new European context) Alba Iulia, (Reîntregirea Editing House, 2006)
“Religia in Uniunea Europeana” (Religion in the European Union), “Istoria Uniunii Europene” (History of European Union), “Cronologia evenimentelor politice importante” (Chronology of major political events), in Enciclopedia Uniunii Europene (Encyclopaedia of the European Union) (co-autor), (Bucuresti: Meronia, 2005)
Articles
Relaţia dintre stat şi biserică. În apărarea excepţionalităţii cazului românesc, in Anuarul Institutului de Cercetari Socio Umane Gheorghe Sincai, nr. XVI/ 2013, pp. 181-193.
“Continuing the historiographical battle – Orthodox and Greek Catholic re-writing their history in post communism”, in Revista Istorica, nr 3-4/ 2012
“Silencing the Archive – a Methodological Insight into the Research for the Study “A Day in the Life of an Inspector for Religious Denomination”in Anuarul Institutului de Cercetari Socio Umane, vol XV, 2012, pp. 144 – 156.
“On the relationship of church and state in communist Romania. Theoretical and comparative framework” in Anuarul Institutului de Cercetari Socio Umane Gheorghe Sincai , vol XIII, 2010, pp. 185 – 200.
„DialoguesandMonologues: HowtoWritetheHistoryoftheGreekCatholicsunderCommunism, in Anuarul Colegiului Noua Europă, (New Europe College Yearbook), 2008-2009, in publishing.
The Romanian Orthodox Church, the state, and European Union. Steps towards integration” in Anuarul Institutului de Cercetari Socio Umane Gheorghe Sincai Vol. XI, 2008, pp. 210-221.
“Writing Their History. Trends in the Romanian Orthodox Church Historiography on the History of the Greek Catholic Church After 1948” in Studia Universitatis Petru Maior, Vol 6, 2007, pp. 217-229.
“O zi din viata unui Imputernicit. Aparatul represiv al Ministerului Cultelor in anii ‘50” (A day in the life of a state official for religious denominations. The Repressive Apparatus of the Department for Religious Denominations in the 1950s) in Anuarul Institutului de Cercetari Socio Umane Gheorghe Sincai Vol VII-VIII, 2006-2007, pp. .
“Debating the truth, history of the church in the hand of the lay historian?” in Studia Universitatis Petru Maior, vol 6, 2006, pp. 233-242
“Liviu Stan şi războiul dintre douǎ facţiuni ale Bisericii Ortodoxe Române” (Liviu Stan and the war between two factions of the Romanian Orthodox Church) in Studii şi materiale de istorie contemporană, vol. 5, 2006 , pp. 235-238.
“Şi eu joc pe cine-mi place... Pozitia Ministerului Cultelor in activitatea cultelor religioase” (I play whom I want… The Position of the Ministry for Religious Denominations in the activity of the religious denominations) in Revista Istorică, vol. XVII Issue 5/6 2006, pp 63-70.
“Inventing Ecumenism? Inter-confessional Dialogue in Transylvania, Romania in the 1960’s” in Religion in Eastern Europe, vol. XXVI, Issue 3, August 2006, pp. 1-16.
“Ecumenism as Politics, Patterns in the Solution of Romanian Orthodox Church – Romanian Greek Catholic Church Crisis in the Early 1990s,” in Studia Universitatis Petru Maior, vol 6, 2005, pp. 245-257.