The historical changes that occurred after November 1989 were started by our students on 16 November 1989. After thirty years, Comenius University will commemorate this important milestone with many events, including conferences, debates, exhibitions, and film screenings. On 16 November 2019, a march of Bratislava university students will take place thirty years after the 1989 event.
14 to 15 November from 9:30 am (CU Auditorium)
The Thirty Years After November ’89 Conference
This international conference, organized by the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Comenius University, is being held with the support of the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová. Timothy Garton Ash, the well-known historian from the University of Oxford, will be the main guest at the conference.
17 November at 9:00 am (CU Auditorium)
TEDxUniverzitaKomenského
This daylong programme of short, powerful, and often entertaining presentations will take place in four sections: the planet, society, art, and technology. This year's theme is Changes: significant changes, revolutionary changes, and urgent changes. Thirty years later, this event takes place in the same place where students started political changes in November 1989.
18 November at 1:00 pm (CU Auditorium)
International Students‘ Day: awards and discussions
The presentation of awards to exceptional students and teachers of Comenius University. The CU rector will also present two CU Gold Medals. Awards will also be presented to participants in the events of November 1989. After that, there will be a discussion with the November participants, who were either students or teachers at that time.
Accompanying events at the CU Faculty of Arts
6 November at 9:00 am (9 Štúrova Street, Room Š214)
A conference on the transformations in Slovak journalism since November 1989: texts from the conference will be published in a special issue of
Otázky žurnalistiky/Questions of Journalism periodical (this event is organized by the Department of Journalism at the CU Faculty of Arts)
6 November at 4:00 pm (9 Štúrova Street, Room Š214)
A discussion with Milan Novotný, a member of the Students’ Strike Coordinating Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Mária Miková, a founding editor of the
Zmeny/Changes periodical (this event is organized by the Department of Journalism at the CU Faculty of Arts)
7 November at 5:30 pm (6 Šafárik Square, Room S424)
A discussion with participants in the students’ protest march of 16 November 1989 who were Faculty of Arts students (organized by the Department of Slovak History at the CU Faculty of Arts)
11 November at 4:00 pm (2 Gondova Street, the central stairs)
An exhibition of photographs and slogans from November 1989 (organized by the CU Faculty of Arts and the Universaal civic association)
11 November at 5:00 pm (2 Gondova Street, Room G20)
A Deaf Class: a performance by the Ján Palárik Theatre. Scriptwriting and dramatics: Michal Baláž; direction: Adriana Totiková (organized by the Universaal civic association)
11 November at 6:30 pm (2 Gondova Street, Universaal, in the small courtyard)
The story of the Czechoslovak underground as told by František “Čuňas” Stárek: a lecture and discussion (organized by the Universaal civic association)
12 November at 10:40 am (2 Gondova Street)
Be Quiet! – a performance and happening (organized by the Universaal civic association)
12 November at 11:00 am (2 Gondova Street, Room G127)
Scientific Atheism: a performative lecture (organized by the Universaal civic association)
12 November at 6:00 pm (2 Gondova Street, Room G127)
Amnesty: a film screening and discussion with the filmmakers (organized by the Universaal civic association)
13 November at 5:50 pm (6 Šafárik Square, Room S3)
Zuzana Maďarová: How to talk back to November 1989: Gender aspects of individual and collective memory. A lecture as a part of the Liberal Democracy: Perspectives and Trends course (organized by the CU Faculty of Arts and the Universaal civic association)
13 November at 7:30 pm (2 Gondova Street, Universaal, in the small courtyard)
At the scene of the crime: a staged reading from Fedor Gál’s
Z prvej ruky/First hand and Michal Horáček’s
Jak pukaly ledy/How the ice broke. Performed by the ActofKAA Student Theatre (organized by the Universaal civic association)
14 November at 9:00 am (2 Gondova Street, Universaal, in the small courtyard)
The screening of archival footage from 16 November, 20 November, and 21 November 1989 at the Faculty of Arts (organized by the CU Faculty of Arts) – until 21 November 2019
14 November at 10:30 am (2 Gondova Street)
The unveiling of a memorial plaque on the Faculty of Arts building (organized by the CU Faculty of Arts)
14 November at 11:30 am (6 Šafárik Square, the foyer)
A preview of the November 1989 exhibition (organized by the CU Faculty of Arts and the CU Archive)
14 November at 1:00 pm (6 Šafárik Square)
A commemorative event to honour the Bratislava university students of 16 November 1989 (organized by Comenius University in Bratislava and the Nation’s Memory Institute)
16 November at 5:00 pm (Hodžovo Square; before then Mierovo Square)
A march by Bratislava university students after thirty years (organized by graduates of the CU Faculty of Arts)
17 November at 7:00 pm (2 Gondova Street, building façade)
When you are together, you have no fear: a mapping and audio-visual projection (organized by the Universaal civic association)
21 November from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm (2 Gondova Street, Room G228)
The Turning Point ‘68/’89 cinema project: a screening of fifteen documentaries which were made by the Department of Russian and East European Studies of the Faculty of Arts alongside international partners as a part of the GACY project (organized by the Department of Russian and East European Studies of the CU Faculty of Arts)
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