REEESNe | 2026 Romani Studies Symposium
Keynote: Romeo Franz (2018-2024 German Alliance 90/The Greens European Parliament Member; Sinti jazz violinist; composer for the Memorial to Europe's Sinti and Roma Murdered Under Nazism)
The Yale Romani Studies Symposium brings together researchers, activists and artists to present on diverse topics in the field of Romani studies. This year, the event will be held on April 12th at Yale's Luce Hall, New Haven, CT. Submissions were encouraged for 40-minute talks (including question period) in any area related to Romani studies including (but not limited to) art, music, politics, sociology, literature, languages and public health.
The symposium is free and open to the public; attendees who are not Yale community members should arrive between 8:45 and 9:00 am and/or between 1:30 and 1:45 pm, when there will be someone on hand to open the doors of Luce Hall, which remain locked.
The program is as follows:
9:00-10:10am Session 1 – Literature
"The Image of the Roma in Yiddish Literature" - Iveta Leitane
"Representations of Collectivity and Sororidad in Romnja Literature" - Mamen Rodriguez Galindo
10:30am-12:30pm Session 2 – Politics and Justice
"Climate Change Impacts on Roma: Cases from Bulgaria" - Maria Atanasova
"Romani Political Representation in the European Parliament" - Jakub Haluska
"When Community Investments Fail: How Trust Shapes Community Welfare for Roma in Romania" - Julia Dan
12:30-1:45pm Break: Recommended self-guided visit to the Yale University Art Gallery’s exhibition August Sander’s People of the 20th Century (during this or another time). There are photographs of early-20th-Century German citizens from many backgrounds and walks of life, including pictures of "Zigeuner" from the 1930s
1:45-3:00pm Keynote talk: Romeo Franz (2018-2024 Member of European Parliament, Sinti jazz violinist, and composer for Berlin's Memorial to Europe's Sinti and Roma Murdered Under Nazism)
3:10-5:10pm Session 3 – Holocaust
"Safeguarding oral history of the genocide of Roma in Ukraine History" - Verena Meier and Nataliia Tomenko
"Did Romani Resistance in Auschwitz Exist? Evidence, Memory, and the Meaning of Romani Resistance Day" - Justyna Matkowska
"Di Klezmer Flute Nisht Fargesn" - Adrianne Greenbaum
Zingaresca Residency 2026
The Romani Studies Group has organized, in conjunction with the April 12th Symposium, a two-day residency with the Romani and East European Jewish Music Ensemble Zingaresca. All events are free and open to the public (non-Yale attendees should arrive 15 minutes early to be granted access, as doors lock automatically on campus).
Event 1: "Romany Vengerka" Documentary Film Screening (April 13th, 7:30-9:30 pm)
Event 2: Lecture on Romani Culture and History (April 14th, 10:45-11:45 am)
Event 3: Zingaresca Performance (April 14th, 7:00-8:30 pm)
Sponsors
Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies Northeast (REEESNe) Network
Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism
Genocide Studies Program
European Studies Council
Program in Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies
Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration (RITM)