On May 19, 2026, the Department of Linguistic Studies and Cultural Comparative Studies at Ca' Foscari University in Venice and the MEMPOP project team organized a short symposium at Ca' Foscari titled "Memory and Popular Culture". 

At the event, Natalija Majsova spoke about video games as a medium of memory work, MEMPOP associate Aljoša Pužar discussed the melodramatic structure of feeling and pop star bereavement in the post-Yugoslav space, Jernej Kaluža addressed the glocal dimensions of Balkan trap, and Mitja Velikonja outlined the history and current state of cultural studies in Slovenia.

Here is the republished seminar program:

• Welcome & Opening Remarks: Francesca Santulli (Director of DSLCC) & Stefano Petrungaro (Ca’ Foscari).
• Cultural Studies in Slovenia – A Short Overview: Mitja Velikonja.
• (Re-)Playing Yugoslavia – Memory Mediation in Independent Video Games: Natalija Majsova (with inputs by Chiara Bonfiglioli).
• Melodramatic Structures of Feeling and Mass Bereavements of Celebrity Folk Heroes: Aljoša Pužar (with inputs by Stefano Petrungaro).
• Money Over Love – Balkan Trap and the Glocalisation of Everyday Neoliberalism: Jernej Kaluža (with inputs by Matteo Benussi).