European Projects

This section of the report attempts to capture some of the pioneering research taking place in, on and with Europe in the humanities. To do so, it focuses on two overarching themes. The first has to do with working across borders. The second engages with what it means to be European, how the European continent is defined from within and how it is perceived from other regions across the globe.

European Connections also addresses questions regarding how we define Europe and what it means to be European, especially in these challenging times of resurgent nationalism and the closing of borders. European Connections engages critically with Europe’s historical, cultural, political and economic role within the frames of colonialism, decolonisation, and migration policies. In line with decolonial approaches to the continent, it conceives Europe as a province of the world, approaching what being European means from different locations within the continent alongside a variety of perspectives from elsewhere.

With this in mind, our case studies have been organised according to four threads that work across the overarching themes of working across borders and engaging with the question of European identities.

1. Intercultural translation and the transnational.
2. Trans-Atlantic perspectives: Europe and the colonial, the anti-colonial and the decolonial.
3. Cultural heritage, collective memory and collective identities, particularly in relation to post-conflict.
4. Public space, place and community.