Central European University

The vera and donald blinken open society archives (osa) at central european university is a complex archival institution. osa is both a repository of important collections, primarily related to the history of the cold war and grave international human rights violations, and a laboratory of archival experiments on new ways of assessing, contextualizing, presenting, and making use of archival documents. osa is a research institute dealing with archival, taxonomical, informational and historical problems related to its holdings, and also reflecting on the role, obligations, and limits (as well as on overcoming these) of repositories that preserve important historical sources. osa, its holdings, and the research based on our collections, are the basis of an expanding teaching program. osa receives students from the ceu and institutions around the globe, who come here to study the role and use of archival evidence, the changing functions of the archives, how to build trust in new types of archival institutions, and the special methodological problems of studying the sources of the fantasies on which the cold war was constructed. osa is an archive of the copy, meaning that we are primarily interested in the content, rather than the materiality of our documents; we actively seek outnon-traditional documents material previously marginalized based on its content, social origin, or form. osa is also "an archive of last resort," helping important organizations and institutions whose holdings are in danger for organizational, ideological or political reasons, to find a secure and professional archive for their endangered documents. one of osa's aims is to broaden access to primary sources by overcoming technical, legal, geographic, and socio-cultural barriers.

Through its 11 research centers, ceu promotes an environment where high-quality research can take place, where readiness for intellectual risk-taking and for radical rethinking of foundations is strongly encouraged, and where values of open society, democracy and critical, reflective thinking are cultivated. ceu research centers complement research and teaching activities in ceu departments, enhancing interdisciplinary connections among different academic areas and interfacing academic and policy relevant activities. the centers support ceu's mission by raising the university's international visibility and deepening its regional embeddedness. building international partnerships with research institutes, corporations, ngos and governmental agencies, ceu research centers operate large-scale research projects, organize outstanding public events, workshops and conferences, as well as offer fellowships in their respective research areas. the research centers are: center for cognitive computation, center for eastern mediterranean studies, center for ethics and law in biomedicine, center for religious studies, cognitive development center, institute for advanced study, vera and donald blinken open society archives, pasts inc., shattuck center for human rights, social mind center, ceu democracy institute.

Ceu is committed to making tangible contributions to society. it does so by sharing its knowledge and by collaborating with diverse partners in academia and across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. collaboration projects include direct faculty support to organizations requiring expert assistance and partnerships within the region and worldwide. ceu also attracts internationally distinguished speakers to vienna and budapest, hosting more than 500 events a year where participants discuss solutions to diverse political, social and economic challenges, as well as emergent questions in social sciences and the humanities.