The Collaborative Seminar Cultures of Hate and Oppression was coordinated to address the complexities of these topics that are of urgent global importance in our era of continuing discrimination, forced migration, socially sanctioned violence, and war. This podcast gives insights into the work of the students.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in Holocaust museums established worldwide, prompting numerous studies examining how they portray the Holocaust. Some researchers have emphasized the dominant roles of Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in creating a canon and universalizing the Holocaust narrative. Others have highlighted the variations in Holocaust commemoration around the world. Additional studies have explored various aspects, including pedagogy and education, politics and nationalism, museum design and architecture, ethics, survivor testimonies, and more. This podcast delves into ongoing research funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, investigating the role nationalism plays in shaping Holocaust narratives across seven countries within the European Union and beyond. The study, titled "When Nationalism Fails: A Comparative Study of Holocaust Museums," specifically focuses on Nazi collaboration, examining whether and how Holocaust museum exhibits address this subject and if nationalism affects the portrayal. As the research is still underway, this podcast serves as an initial platform for discussing the research rather than presenting its findings.

In this interview Emir Filipovic, Associate Professor of Medieval History at Sarajevo University, discusses his research into conflict, collusion, and diplomacy in 14th century Balkans.  This was a period and region of great change, with competing powers, shifting alliances, and much political and military complexity.  The Byzantium empire was in slow decline and emerging powers were competing for a slice of the Byzantine cake; there were shifting alliances; two Popes were both bidding for influence, and the phrase ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ had true meaning.  Amongst all of this, an alliance was formed between a Christian king and the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid, potentially to be confirmed by a marriage which, if it had taken place, would have placed a member of the Ottoman ruling family in a significant position in a European, Christian, royal dynasty.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

In this interview, Orsolya Lang, the Director of the Aquincum Museum in Budapest, Hungary, talks about her work in the town of Aquincum on the Roman Limes, and its legacy on the early medieval period.  Orsolya discusses Aquincum, which at its height had a population of around 60,000, including a legionary fortress, administrative centre and civil town, and the settlement was an important part of the global Roman world.  Aquincum initially absorbed and ‘Romanised’ settlers from outside the empire, but with the gradual decline of the empire, semi-nomadic ‘barbarian’ tribes from regions north and east of the Limes slowly replaced the settled, urban, Roman population.  These people brought new cultures and new life styles, and with them the early middle-ages emerged. This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the early and medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

What is the difference between altar and altarpiece? How were the altarpieces produced and used in medieval churches? How did medieval people see and understand them? In this interview, Chris Mielke talks with Emese Sarkadi Nagy, an art historian from the Christian Museum in Esztergom, Hungary, about the manufacturing and symbolism of Transylvanian altarpieces and their place in medieval society. The researcher speaks about the meaning of Transylvanian altarpieces for the local communities, the people who stood behind their manufacturing, and the unusual iconography on the altarpieces. The discussion reveals that these objects of Christian art can show the connections between art and local saints venerations, the economic situation of the community, and the transition of styles and schools. Emese Sarkadi Nagy also speaks about her work and recent projects in Christian Museum and how its catalogs and collections can help us understand medieval Christian culture. Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture, where Christopher Mielke casually discusses with his guests various issues from the crusades to archeo-zoology to medieval urine sampling. The discussions are made with the aim to popularize medieval and early modern studies with the help of experts such as early musicians, historians, philologists and archeologists.This episode was first recorded and broadcast in 2013.

In this episode, Chris Mielke has an exciting conversation about medieval forests and the woodcutting economy with the researcher Péter Szabó. The doctor explains how to study medieval landscapes, shows the difference between forests and woodlands, and talks about woodcutting's technologies and economic benefits in the Middle Ages and Early Modern times. He also tells where to find medieval forests in Central Europe and how to compare the source descriptions with the landscapes that we see now. Péter Szabó's research is a good example of interdisciplinarity, which involves specialists from various fields and contributes to substantial European environmental projects. During the episode, you will also discover whether the movies about Robin Hood show the proper medieval forests, what to do with a medieval tree for prolonging its life, and why the small forests are more interesting for historians than the big ones. Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture, where Christopher Mielke casually discusses with his guests various issues from the crusades to archeo-zoology to medieval urine sampling. The discussions are made with the aim to popularize medieval and early modern studies with the help of experts such as early musicians, historians, philologists and archeologists.This episode was first recorded and broadcast in 2013.

Why was it important for the regent of the Netherlands to be unmarried? What is the connection between a Hungarian Queen and Luther? Why did Mary of Austria sign herself as Mary of Hungary? And why is it possible to create an exhibition about these queens full of empty glass boxes? In this interview, Chris Mielke speaks with Orsolya Réthelyi, a specialist in Early Modern Queenship, and explores unexpected facts from the lives of queens in Hungary and the Netherlands. The central person of the discussion is Mary of Austria, a Hungarian Queen, who was also a regent of Law Countries and an important figure in Habsburg politics. Orsolya Réthelyi tells how the queen dealt with wars, lack of money, and Reformation, and which unique personal documents can be found about her. Then, the discussion reveals the general patterns of queenship in the sixteenth century and the cultural transformations, which were the consequences of queens moving from one country to another. In addition, the professor reveals her recent research of songs about dying queens and how they show the personalities of these famous women and the acceptance of queens among subjects. Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture, where Christopher Mielke casually discusses with his guests various issues from the crusades to archeo-zoology to medieval urine sampling. The discussions are made with the aim to popularize medieval and early modern studies with the help of experts such as early musicians, historians, philologists and archeologists.This episode was first recorded and broadcast in 2012.

What do Faust and John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I's official magician, have in common? How to speak the language of angels and use magic crystals? What did Renaissance occultism look like, and how did it affect the modern understanding of magic? Christopher Melke discusses all these issues with György Szőnyi, a specialist in Renaissance and modern literature, whose academic interests include occultism and cultural transfers.Professor Szőnyi talks about occult practices in the Renaissance, the connection between magic and clergy, and how Renaissance occultism was used by modern writers such as Umberto Eco. Also, he describes various challenges of finding and interpreting sources, and the impact of digitalization, copyright policies, and postmodern reality on the historian's work.  Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture, where Christopher Mielke casually discusses with his guests various issues from the crusades to archeo-zoology to medieval urine sampling. The discussions are made with the aim to popularize medieval and early modern studies with the help of experts such as early musicians, historians, philologists and archeologists.This episode was first recorded and broadcast in 2012.

After the graduation from CEU, doctor Magdolna Szilágyi talks about her dissertation about road systems in Western Hungary during the Arpad period. While the stereotypes say that medieval people lived in isolated societies and traveled a little, the research proved that the long journeys to the pilgrim locations, annual fairs, and other destinations were common. The doctor also claims that the road systems were not homogenous, describing eight main categories of the routes from her research and their hierarchy. She focuses on the county of Vas, the border territory with both the old Roman roads and medieval paths.From this episode, you may also learn what the illegal routes were and how they appeared, what was the difference between “ecclesiastical,” “corpse,” and “king” road, and why salt was transported only on the Roman roads. In the conclusions, Magdolna Szilágyi gives the insight into recent innovations in medieval archaeology and the international digital projects on roads and communication in Central Europe. Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture, where Christopher Mielke casually discusses with his guests various issues from the crusades to archeo-zoology to medieval urine sampling. The discussions are made with the aim to popularize medieval and early modern studies with the help of experts such as early musicians, historians, philologists and archeologists.This episode was first recorded and broadcast in 2013.

Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368-1437) was king of Hungary, king of Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor at the same time. However, he was popular neither in Germany nor in Hungary or Bohemia, and long-abandoned in historiography. In this interview, Chris Mielke and his guest, Attila Bárány, talk about mysterious king Sigismund and Hungarian diplomacy of his age.The first part of the interview is about King Sigismund's personality and its perception in the historiography, the international contacts of Hungary with England, Germany, and France, and the royal visit of Sigismund to England. In the second part, doctor Bárány continues the topic of Hungarian diplomacy speaking about Anne of Foix-Candale, a Hungarian Queen with French and English roots. He also explains past and new cooperations between international scholars in royal diplomacy and their shared projects.Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture, where various issues from the crusades to archeo-zoology to medieval urine sampling are discussed. The discussions are made with the aim to popularize medieval and early modern studies with the help of experts such as early musicians, historians, philologists and archeologists.This episode was recorded in 2013.