The conference, entitled “Beyond the Borders,” was held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 27-29, 2016. It was attended by more than 40 scholars from the United States, Canada, and Bulgaria. The meeting was organized by the Bulgarian Studies Association (US) and the Council for Foreign Bulgarian Studies, BAS. Along with additional sponsors (the Fulbright Commission – Sofia and the US Embassy in Bulgaria), the American Research Center in Sofia was able to contribute to the realization of the conference by funding one of the cocktail parties at the event. In addition, ARCS’ member Dr. Dilyana Ivanova gave a presentation on “The Immigrant’s Suitcase: Virtual Museum of the Bulgarians in North America”, an online project by ARCS which is digitizing the cultural heritage of the Bulgarian diaspora living in the US and Canada. Finally, Dr. Ivanova introduced the audience to the most recent publications sponsored by ARCS and invited the participants to approach the Center with  for collaborative projects and initiatives to further develop Bulgarian-American ties in the field of humanities.