Antigypsyism and Critical Whiteness - Winter School
Dates: 5–7 December, 2025
Venue: Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF)
The Winter School is hostet by the Research Uni Antiziganismus und ICES. It aims to ethically engage in critical discussion of Sinti and Roma agency and reparation, including self-representation, self-articulation, and emancipation, which often confront structural antigypsyism in academia and public perception. This transhistorical and transnational phenomenon manifests as structural racism, cultural appropriation, and scholarly denial of Sinti and Roma lived experiences, knowledge production, and collective memories.
At the Winter School, participants will learn from internationally recognized scholars from Europe and the United States about eugenics, racism, Orientalism, Gypsyloeism, and theories on Whiteness, intersectionality, and queer feminism. By bridging temporal and epistemic gaps, the Winter School adopts an interdisciplinary approach, including history, sociology, anthropology, pedagogy, and cultural studies.
The second focus examines representations of Sinti and Roma, challenging dominant cultural narratives that have perpetuated harmful stereotypes. Here, Critical Whiteness serves as a lens to scrutinize how Eurocentric perspectives and unacknowledged privileges shape historical knowledge, social hierarchies, and public perception. By centering Sinti and Roma agency and lived experiences, the Winter School aims to recognize suppressed memories, neglected past events, and emancipatory actions that are integral to European cultural heritage, values, and collective memory.
Day 1 – Friday, 5 December 2025 — 16:00–19:15
16:00 – 17:30
Introduction, Opening Lecture and Discussion
Prof. Dr. Iulia-Karin Patrut
Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF)
Vice President for Research & Knowledge Transfer; Professor of German Studies
Dr. Dezso Mate
Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF)
Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies (ICES); Research Associate
Opening Lecture: Antigypsyism and the Triangulation of White Fascination, Elimination, and Romani Emancipation
Prof. Dr Iulia-Karin Patrut
Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF)
Vice President for Research & Knowledge Transfer; Professor of German Studies
17:30 – 17:45
Break
17:45 – 19:15
Orientalism, Gypsylorism and the Indian Connection.
“Romantic And Colourful” but “Religiously Unreliable” and “Perpetual Beggars”
Prof. Dr. Jan Selling
Södertörn University – Stockholm, Sweden
Head of the Department of Critical Romani Studies; Professor of Critical Romani Studies; Associate Professor of History
Day 2 – Saturday, 6 December 2025 — 09:30–17:00
09:30 – 11:00
From Tackling Antigypsyism to Remedying Racial Injustice
Prof. Dr. Márton Rövid
Central European University (CEU) – Vienna, Austria
Romani Studies Program, Visiting Professor
11:00 – 11:15
Break
11:15 – 12:45
Gypsyloreism and Romani Agency
Dr. Dezso Mate
Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF)
Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies (ICES), Research Associate
12:45 – 13:30
Lunch Break
13:30 – 15:00
New Perspectives on the Recognition of Sinti and Roma as Victims of Fascism in the Soviet Occupied Zone and GDR
Verena Meier (online)
Heidelberg University
Department of History, Research Center on Antigypsyism, Postdoctoral Researcher
15:00 – 15:15
Break
15:15 – 16:45
Understanding Anti-Roma Racism: Theory and Praxis
Dr. Magda Matache (online)
Harvard University
FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Director of Roma Program
16:45 – 17:00
Reflections, Q&A
Day 3 – Sunday, 7 December 2025 — 09:30–16:00
09:30 – 11:00
Filling Up the Gaps: Intersectionality in Queer Research and Its Limits
Dr. Ramona Dima
Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden
Gender Studies Department; Associate Senior Lecturer
11:00 – 11:15
Break
11:15 – 12:45
The Long Shadow of Our Ancestry: How White Non-Roma Can Understand Our
Effective History in Central and Eastern Europe
Dr. Violeta Vajda
Phiren Amenca International Network, Budapest, Hungary
Executive Director
12:45 – 13:30
Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:30
Closing Remarks and Questions
Prof. Dr. Iulia-Karin Patrut
Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF)
Vice President for Research & Knowledge Transfer; Professor of German Studies
Dr. Dezso Mate
Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF)
Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies (ICES); Research Associate