All-Day Seminar
Croatia: Crossroads of Culture
With Evening Reception at the Embassy of Croatia
Reception: Fri., Oct 19, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 20, 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Heir to a long and tangled history that stretches back to the first millennium A.D., Croatia stands at the intersection of several cultures: those of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, of Central Europe, and of the Danubian basin. In this illustrated seminar, two experts explore the history and arts of this picturesque country whose geographic position has made it a coveted object of imperial control.
OCT 19 (FRI) - 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Food-and-wine embassy reception hosted by Ambassador Neven Jurica
OCT 20 (SAT) - 10 to 11:15 a.m. The Ebb and Flow Empires
From the Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, and Ottomans, to Napoleon and the Habsburgs. Hugh Agnew.
11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Monuments from an Illostrious Past
Amphitheater of Pula, the mosaics in the Porec Cathedral, the Palace of the Roman emperor Diocletian in Split, and the cathedrals in šibenik and Zadar. Aneta Georgievska-Shine.
12:45 to 2 p.m. Lunch
Participants provide their own lunch
2 to 3 p.m. Intersecting Rivalries, Dawning Hopes
The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; the first Yugoslavia; the re-establishing of communist Yugoslavia after World War II; independence, Croatia, once more amidst conflict. Today's Croatia is negotiating its entry into the European Union (target date 2009). Agnew.
3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Dubrovnik and Beyond: A Legacy of Cultural Dialogues
Dubrovnik, a famed city-state of the Renaissance; Hvar, Mljet, and Korcula; contributions of Croatian artists from the Renaissance through modern times. Georgievska-Shine.
Agnew is the associate dean of faculty and student affairs for the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Georgievska-Shine is an adjuct lecturer in the department of art history and archaeology at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Reception: Embassy of Croatia, 2343 Massachusetts Ave, N.W. (Dupont Circle Metro, Red Line); Ticket and photo ID required. Business attire
Seminar: Ripley Center, Smithsonian; Resident Members $98, Gen. Admission $133; Advance registration required; no tickets sold at the reception. Participants must bring a valid government-issues photo ID to the program
Press releases
