CICSA was founded in 1997 as the result of the initiative of a group of teaching staff in the Ancient History and Archaeology Department. Its objectives are twofold: research and teaching. The centre aims to create an intellectual environment favourable to comparative research in various areas of the field. Its research projects involve members of the Faculty of History and researchers from the Institutes of the Romanian Academy, together with undergraduates and doctoral students in History.
The results of their work are published in a series of thematic volumes and in the centre’s own journal bearing the title of Time for History. Two volumes of the thematic series were published in 1997 and in 1998. The third is being prepared and will be dedicated to the issue of limits (real and imaginary) in the ancient and medieval world. The journal has appeared once a year since 1998. These publications include studies by well-known names in the field, such as Professor Alexandru VULPE—a correspondent member of the Romanian Academy, Professor Alexandru BARNEA, Professor Andrei PIPPIDI and Professor Alexandru SUCEVEANU. The number of contributions of young researchers is also very impressive, and the magazine has published some of the best papers of the undergraduates in the terminal years.
Another project currently under way concerns The Hypostases of Barbarism. This will end in the publication of a volume of studies volume and of a collection of historical sources. It obtained a NCRHE (National Council for Research in Higher Education) research grant in 1999.
Teaching wise, CICSA seeks to create study groups dealing with themes that do not have a place in the regular courses syllabus because of their specialised nature. In addition, a greater accent is placed on students’ contributions and involvement than is the case in regular teaching activities. There are two such groups functioning at present: one dedicated to the classical Antiquity and the other dealing with the Oriental world
