In the framework of the second Summer school of the European Federation of Catholic Universities FUCE, two online public sessions are scheduled.

Waning Europeanness?

From the Warring Totalitarian Shadows of the Past to the Illiberal Threats of the Present – webinar on Monday 5 July 2021 (7 p.m.- 8.30 p.m.)

Lecture by José Miguel Sardica, Associate Professor of History at the Faculty of Human Sciences and the Institute for Political Studies of the Catholic University of Portugal.

Various civilizational problems that Europe struggles with stem primarily from a lack of memory. The ‘safe haven’ that the European founding fathers built to oppose and avoid the darkest period (1914-1945) ever lived by our fissile continent has withered away, replaced by a present day much disunited Europe, cherished by sceptics and inflated by radical adversaries. In a world where the (so-called) ‘rest’ is challenging the ‘West’, Europe’s moral, religious, ethical and civilizational legacy and way of living face discontents everywhere. To re-boost Europhilia against widespread Europhobia, Europeans have to reconsider anew those structural ingredients and conquests that have been the driving pillars of European life, one such pillar being humanism. However, and throughout various historical periods, it was that same humanism that succumbed before inhumane existential immorality, collective nihilism, extremism, violence, war, genocide, dictatorship, political and diplomatic unilateralism, crisis, poverty and desperation.

The lecture will be introduced by Sarah Durelle-Marc, Associate Professor at the Law Faculty of the Catholic University of Lille and coordinator of the first course of the summer school program on the contribution of history to European consciousness.

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MYEurope

Online panel debate on Thursday 8 July 2021 (7 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.)

With students participating in the summer school moderated by Peter Hanenberg, Professor for German and Culture Studies at the Catholic University of Portugal, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation and Director of the CADOS Doctoral School, who coordinates the second course of the summer school program on literature, the arts, translation and European identity.

Once again, Europe and mainly the European Union seem to be in a crisis. In a certain sense, Europe has always been in crisis. Europe’s crisis seems to be Europe´s mode of being. More than ever, it is necessary to debate experiences, fears and hopes concerning Europe, trying to find out which will be the future of a project in which unity and diversity come together.

Bringing in perspectives from very different angles and backgrounds, the panel joins young students from all over the continent who will present and discuss their view on Europe in the making. These young people might not be experts in a technical sense. However, without these young people and without their commitment any future project necessarily has to fail. In the end, we all have to think and consider what would be MyEurope.

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