MEMOROBIA Conference

Flier with graphic of iron punishment collar with lock and logos of Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society; FXB Center for Health & Human Rights; Amare Rromentza; The Research Council of Norway; HL-Senteret: The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies.

Date and Time

From November 24, 2025 to November 25, 2025

Location

Hybrid – Online and in-person

Slavery in Moldova and Wallachia: Silences, Memory, and Resistance

Dates: November 24–25, 2025
Location: The event will be held in a hybrid format to facilitate dialogue between in-person and remote participants. In-person location: MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society; the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo, Norway. Online on Zoom.
Time: The conference will take place from 3:00am-12:30pm EST (9:00am-6:30pm CET) on November 24 and from 3:00am-9:00am EST (9:00am-3:00pm CET) on November 25

On Monday, November 24, FXB Center Director, Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH, will deliver a keynote address on the topic of reparations. Later on the same day, Director of FXB’s Roma Program for Health and Human Rights, Margareta Matache, PhD, will present her newly published book, The Permanence of Anti-Roma Racism: (Un)uttered Sentences.

This event will mark the conclusion of the research project MEMOROBIA: Memorialization of Romani Enslavement in the Territories of Contemporary Romania which is co-led by Dr. Margareta Matache, PhD, the Director of the FXB Center’s Roma Program for Health and Human Rights.

The conference program features leading voices in the fields of history, education, memory, and arts. The agenda explores the role of the arts in memorialization and resistance and includes scientific presentations on the history, legacies, and memory of institutionalized slavery in the Romanian principalities, such as:

  • Panel discussions that will explore the history of Roma slavery, reflect on its legacy, memorialization, and past and present forms of resistance.
  • Panel discussion that will examine reparations for Roma from both a global and European perspective, including reparations for Roma slavery.
  • The launch of the Critical Romani Studies special issue “Racialized Slavery in Moldova and Wallachia: Legacies and Silences”
  • Panels and performances about the role of the arts in remembering the history of Roma slavery.
  • An exhibition about Roma slavery, curated by the MEMOROBIA research team and the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities.

This event is jointly organized by MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society, Amare Rromentza, the Roma Program for Health and Human Rights at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, and the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies. The conference is organized under the framework of the MEMOROBIA project, funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Agenda

Monday, November 24, 2025

In-person location: MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society, Oslo, Norway

3:00am-3:15am EST | 9:00am-9:15am CET | Welcome

Solvor Mjøberg Lauritzen, Professor, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society  

Trine Anker, Professor and Prorector Research/ Acting Rector MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society  

Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society   

3:15am-4:15am EST| 9:15am-10:15am CET | Keynote speech: Slavery, legacies, traumas 

Ian Hancock, Professor emeritus, University of Texas at Austin  

Moderator: Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society  

4:15am-4:30am EST | 10:15am-10:30am CET | Coffee Break

4:30am-5:45am EST | 10:30am-11:45am CET | The history of Roma slavery and forms of resistance 

Maria Dumitru, PhD Candidate, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society  

Adrian Furtuna, Researcher, National Center for Roma Culture, Romania  – Romano Kher 

Petre Petcut, PhD, Historian 

Moderator: Alma Dzafic Ferhatovic, MSc student in Sociology of Law, Lund University 

5:45am-6:45am EST | 11:45am-12:45pm CET | Lunch Break

6:45am-7:45am | 12:45pm-1:45pm CET | Keynote speech: Reparations 

Mary Bassett, Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights and FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights in the department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 

7:45am-8:00am EST | 1:45pm-2:00pm CET | Break

8:00am-9:00am EST | 2:00pm-3:00pm CET | Panel discussion: Reparations across geographies  

Mihai Neacsu, Director of the National Centre for Roma Culture, Romania 

Fernando Ruiz Molina, PhD Candidate at School of Law, Criminology and Government at the University of Plymouth 

Lillan Støen, Taternes Landsforening (National Association of Travellers, Norway) 

Solomia Karoli, Romas Menneskerettigheter – Roma Manushikane Cacimata, Norway 

Moderator: Margareta Matache, Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the co-founder and Director of the Roma program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University 

11:00am-12:30pm EST | 5:00pm-6:30pm CET | Book launch of The Permanence of Anti-Roma Racism: (Un)uttered Sentences

Margareta Matache, Lecturer on Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the co-founder and Director of the Roma program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University 

In-person location: Litteraturhuset  

1:00pm EST | 7:00pm CET | Dinner  

Performance by Salamanca Taikon Gonzalez, Athem – Romska teatern 


Tuesday, November 25, 2025

In-person location: The Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities, Oslo, Norway 

3:00am-3:15am EST | 9:00am-9:15am CET | Welcome

Jan Heiret, Director at The Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies  

Solvor Lauritzen, Professor, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society 

3:15am-4:00am EST| 9:15am-10:00am CET | Keynote speech: Contemporary activism and arts of resistance 

Delia Grigore, Associate Professor, University of Bucharest 

Moderator: Solvor Lauritzen, Professor, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society  

4:00am-4:45am EST | 10:00am-10:45am CET | Panel discussion: Roma history and education 

Alexandru Zamfir, PhD, University of Bucharest  

Luiza Medeleanu, PhD candidate University of Bucharest  

Elise Christensen, Educator, 22. Juli senteret 

Moderator: Solvor Lauritzen 

4:40am-5:00am EST | 10:45am-11:00am CET | Coffee Break

5:00am-5:30am | 11:00am-11:30am CET | Launch of Critical Romani Studies special issue “Racialized Slavery in Moldova and Wallachia: Legacies and Silences”

Moderator: Maria Bogdan, PhD, Central European University

5:30am-6:00am EST |11:30am-12:00pm CET | Launch of exhibition curated by the MEMOROBIA research team and the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities

Solvor Lauritzen, Professor, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society 

Emanuel Barica, artist  

6:00am-7:00am EST | 12:00pm-1:00pm CET | Lunch Break

7:00am-8:00am EST | 1:00pm-2:00pm CET | Panel discussion: The role of the arts in remembering the history of Roma slavery

Emanuel Barica, artist  

Oana Rusu, actor and PhD candidate, University of Arts, Târgu Mureș, and Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu. 

Cecilia Salinas, PhD, Anthropologist and artist  

Moderator: Alma Dzafic Ferhatovic, MSc student in Sociology of Law, Lund University  

8:00am-8:30am EST | 2:00pm-2:30pm CET | Documenting and remembering the Roma slavery: A conversation  

Agnes Lakatos, Journalist, Radio Sweden  

Ian Hancock, Professor emeritus, University of Texas at Austin  

8:30am-9:00am EST | 2:30pm-3:00pm CET | Screening: Letter of Forgiveness

A film by Alina Serban

9:00am EST | 3:00pm CET | Reception

Image used for cover art: Fernando Ruiz Molina

Speaker remarks are based on their own scholarship and experience. As such, they speak for themselves, not for Harvard University.