Congratulations are in order for the winners of the second biennial Keith Hitchins Dissertation Prize: Keith Harrington (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and George Andrei (Indiana University, Bloomington, USA).
In 2021 Professor Keith Hitchins passed away after retiring from a long and rich career at University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Soon thereafter, the Society for Romanian Studies established a prize to honor his legacy for the study of Romania and Romanian related topics.
The selection committee comprised of Andrei Miroiu, Letiția Guran and Roland Clark unanimously decided to award the second biennial Keith Hitchins Prize for Best Dissertation in the field of Romanian Studies (academic years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024) to both Keith and George.
Keith Harrington, National University of Ireland, Maynooth: “Exploring the Internal Dynamics of the Transnistrian Separatist Movement, 1989-1992” (defended: September, 2023).
Keith Harrington’s doctoral dissertation provides a comprehensive and compelling overview of the Transnistrian separatist movement, focusing specifically on the contributions, disputes and voices of the rural population and of local Moldovan elites. This original and well-documented dissertation revisits the origin and evolution of the Transnistrian war, along with the emergence and dynamics of the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic in the context of Russia’s support for separatism in the region through a constant supply of free gas, subsidized pensions, humanitarian aid and assistance. While Harrington’s research is primarily focused on the creation of the T.M.R., it also provides valuable insights into the legacies and impact of competing nation-building projects, the rise and fall of pan-Romanian nationalism, the Gagauz separatist movement, and how open conflict was diffused in Moldova’s other Russian-speaking regions. It also develops a theoretical model for measuring resistance to secession that can be applied elsewhere. In the context of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which shares a border with Transnistria, Harrington’s study provides a scholarly reliable, much needed contextualization and understanding of the inter-ethnic conflicts and secessionist movements in the former Soviet republics.
George Andrei, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA: “Our Struggle for Existence: Negotiating Forestry, Rural Citizenship, and Statebuilding in Modern Romania” (defended: April 2024).
George Andrei’s dissertation makes an innovative contribution to understanding the modernization of Romania, and by extension, of Eastern Europe in terms of local socio-ecological systems by connecting the emergence of forestry in Romania to the rural state building accomplished by key local agents. Remarkably, the particular Transylvanian case studies he explores prove instrumental not only in interpreting past interactions between local communities and central state authorities, but in relating them to contemporary attempts to reconcile economic development and environmental justice to conservation and preservation efforts in and around some of Europe’s oldest forests. In the context of current environmental concerns, Andrei’s study joins cutting edge scholarly literature involved in redefining humans’ changing positionality and renewed responsibility toward nature in the age of the Anthropocene.
The SRS would like to thank the Selection Committee – Andrei, Letiția, and Roland – for their work and, of course, congratulate the winners!