Radmila Slabáková, born in Přerov, Czech Republic, in 1970. Ph.D. from Palacký University, Olomouc, and from the Université Pierre Mendes France, Grenoble. Senior Research Fellow at the History Department at Palacký University, Olomouc.
Visiting Grant Scholar (1 September 2004 – 30 November 2004)
NOBILITY OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND THEIR EXILE AFTER 1945
My initial plan, while at NIAS, was to investigate the link between the three phenomena I wanted to research in my project – nobility, exile and oral history, in order to answer several crucial questions regarding nobility in exile. I found that memory is the connection, – particularly the relationship between personal and collective memory in the sense that individual memories are created in a social context. Memory and identity are processes, constantly changing in the changing world. When trying to discover the meaning of ‘being noble’ for nobility, one of my research questions, it is important to realise that the notion of ‘being noble’ is created by the nobility themselves and those who consent to see them as noble.
I analysed interviews with (former) members of aristocracy in former Czechoslovakia, to produce several articles on this topic. I gave two lectures, one in France, another in the Czech Republic, and met colleagues to discuss further cooperation.
I also worked on a number of other projects including: preparing a Nineteenth-century History and Modern Historiography Sourcebook (with its original documents in Czech) for the web to serve history students and teachers; setting up a new M.A. programme “Euroculture” at the Palacky University; signing Socrates-Erasmus agreements with universities and finally, working on an application for the project CEEPUS (Central European Exchange Programme for University Studies)