photo Caterina Preda

Caterina Preda

Assistant Professor for the Department of Political Science, University of Bucharest


When did you first develop an interest in Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies?

I have been working on topics related to Eastern Europe since college, as an undergraduate in political science at the University of Bucharest in Romania. After investigating party politics in the region in relation to the European Union, I turned to art and politics in dictatorships in Eastern Europe and South America.

How have your interests changed since then?Caterina Preda's Book "Art & Politics Under Modern Dictatorships"

My scientific interests have developed to include issues related to art as remembrance, art of memorialization after the dictatorial experiences in Eastern Europe and South America. My comparative approach helps bring forward the specificity of memory practices that use artistic forms of expression in Eastern Europe. I would say that my interests have evolved in the sense that I now favor a comparative approach with the other countries of Eastern Europe besides Romania.

What is your current research/work project?

I am currently working on a two-year research project that deals with the Romanian Artists’ Union (Uniunea Artistilor Plastici), the mandatory visual artists creative union created by the communist state in 1950. My project has included the exploration of only partially studied archival funds of the Union and of the Ministry of Culture in Romania. We have published two volumes, one with archival documents and another including the papers presented at the international conference held in November 2016 at the University of Bucharest (The State Artist in Romania and Eastern Europe). We also published online a database with the members of the Union and a database with the public monuments they created in Bucharest in the period 1950 to 2010. You can see more details about our project on the dedicated webpage https://artistuldestatuap.wordpress.com/

What do you value about your ASEEES membership?

I think the ASEEES provides a very fruitful forum to exchange ideas with scholars working on similar topics in other countries of the region. ASEEES is perhaps the best meeting place of researchers dealing with the area I am investigating, and I value the opportunity to share my research results with other researchers and benefit from their insights.

Besides your professional work, what other interests and/or hobbies do you enjoy?

Since I have an art education, I like painting, drawing and taking pictures of what I see everyday, be it street art or the foreign countries I visit.