Veronika M. Warzycha

Veronika M. Warzycha is a Researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) in the research focus area 'Economics and Civil Society' since April 2024. She is a doctoral student in the DFG-funded Emmy Noether Junior Research Group 'Borders and Memory', investigating border memory on the Polish-German border.

Education:

• MA in 'European Studies – Global Eastern Europe' from University of Leipzig
• BA in 'Political and Social Studies' from Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg
• Semester exchanges at St. Petersburg State University and University of Bologna

Research Focus: Her work examines socio-spatial memory of European borders through interdisciplinary lenses of political geography and collective memory. Current research analyzes how post-WWII border disruptions shape contemporary European identity, with emphasis on Polish-German border regions and Silesian migrant communities. Methodologically combines archival analysis with spatial theory to investigate remembering/forgetting dispositifs.

Project Leadership: Core contributor to the DFG-funded Emmy Noether project (2023-2026) 'The Social-Spatial Memory of European Borders: Dispositifs of Remembering and Forgetting', exploring geopolitical memory formations.

Scientific Engagement:

• 2025: Keynote 'Conflicting Memory and Space at the Polish-German Border' at Memory Studies Association Annual Meeting (Prague)
• 2024: Presentation 'The Socio-Spatial Memory of European Borders' at European University Viadrina conference

Professional Background: Former political education speaker for Network for Democracy and Courage, State Commissioner for SED Dictatorship Reappraisal, and German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). Master's thesis analyzed 'belongings' of Silesian migrants in Germany.