The Cleveland Agreement, signed 110 years ago, was one of the most significant steppingstones toward the formation of Czechoslovakia. In October 1915, Slovak and Czech national organizations in the U.S., the Bohemian National Alliance, and the Slovak League of America signed the document at the Bohemian National Hall in Cleveland, Ohio. Join the discussion about this memorandum and the profound debated around it during the Voices from the Homelands Webinar October 1.
Meet the Guests:
Dagmar Hájková is a senior researcher in Masaryk Institute and Archive of the Czech Academy of Sciences. She specializes in Czech modern history in the broader Central European context, particularly the period of World War I and interwar Czechoslovakia, with a special focus on the figure of T. G. Masaryk. She is the author and editor of studies and monographs published in the Czech Republic and abroad. Her most recent publications include Republika československá: 1918–1939 (2018), Sláva republice! Oficiální svátky a oslavy v meziválečném Československu (2018) and the editions Korespondence TGM a Velká Británie (2021, 2022). She is co-author of a monograph on post-war food supplies to the Czech lands and Slovenia after World War I, Nourishing Victory, which will be published this year by Central European Press.
Michal Kšiňan defended his PhD in history, summa cum laude, in 2011, en cotutelle between the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, where he later lectured, and the Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, where he currently works. He is the author of Milan Rastislav Štefánik: The Slovak National Hero and Co-Founder of Czechoslovakia, which is available in French, Slovak, Czech, and soon in Romanian. His research interests include historiography, military history, memory studies, and international relations within the broader European context. Kšiňan is the recipient of several prestigious scholarships and awards, including the Prize of the President of the Slovak Republic for Best Student of Slovakia (2011) and a Fulbright Scholarship (2014). In 2024, he was named a knight in the Order of Palmes Académiques. He was a member of the Presidium of the Slovak Academy of Sciences from 2021 to 2025.
Paul Burik hails from the Czech Republic, arriving in Cleveland after the country was invaded by Soviet forces in 1968. Receiving his degree in architecture from Kent State University, he spent most of his career with the City of Cleveland. Now retired, Paul serves on numerous boards including Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation – past president, Cleveland-Bratislava Sister Cities, Friends of Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Garden, and of course as a president of Sokol Greater Cleveland, a.k.a. Bohemian National Hall.
Meet the Hosts:
Miroslav (Mirek) Konvalina is a seasoned public diplomacy professional with extensive experience in the Czech Republic and the U.S. He served as director of Czech Center New York and led the American Center at the U.S. Embassy in Prague for seven years. Konvalina studied journalism in both countries and holds a degree in economics. He has worked in government communications, as a Czech Radio correspondent in Washington, D.C., and as director of Czech Radiojournal. He also held a marketing leadership role at Newton Media. An author, documentarian, and curator, Konvalina has hosted a talk show in Prague and is fluent in Czech, English, Russian, and basic German.
Pavol Demeš is an independent foreign policy analyst, civil society expert, photographer, and TV anchor based in Bratislava, Slovakia. Before the 1989 Velvet Revolution, he was a biomedical researcher at Comenius University. He later served as executive director of the Slovak Academic Information Agency, Slovakia’s minister of international relations (1991–1992), and foreign policy adviser to the president (1993–1997). From 2000 to 2010, he directed Central and Eastern Europe programs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He hosted a TV program on international relations for TASR and has authored numerous works on civil society and diplomacy.
About the Series:
Voices of the Homelands Webinar is presented by the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library with hosts Dr. Pavol Demeš and Miroslav Konvalina. The bi-monthly webinar is available free to the public on Zoom. Future topics include the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Czech Parliamentary elections, the Cleveland Agreement, and International Students’ Day. The webinar is free and open to the public. During the virtual discussion, viewers are encouraged to participate in the conversation by submitting questions.
To watch previous webinars, visit https://ncsml.org/voices-homelands
