'Conversations On Europe' Videoconferences | European Union Center of Excellence/ European Studies Center

University Center for International Studies | myPittGlobal

Conversations On Europe connects top experts from around the United States and Europe to discuss contemporary issues facing Europe and the Transatlantic relationship. Using both personal and institutional videoconference technology, panelists take questions and interact with audiences at Pitt and at remote sites in the US and Europe. Conversations On Europe is free and open to the public. All sessions will be held from 12-1:30 PM (EST) in Posvar Hall, Room 4217, unless otherwise stated. A complete library of video resources to enhance transatlantic conversations is also now available.

See the AY20-21 Schedule

Borders and Contested Memory in Northern Ireland

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Conversations on Europe: Discussion explores borders and contested memory in Northern Ireland. Our panel of experts explores the conflict over territory and identity in Northern Ireland and how that has played out at the border and in other spaces. We will discuss what has changed since the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and what may happen as a result of Brexit and the recent elections in the Republic of Ireland.

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Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Jonathan Blake, RAND

Contentious Rituals: Parading the Nation in Northern Ireland

Katy Hayward, Queen's University Belfast

Jennifer Keating, Carnegie Mellon University

Language, Identity and Liberation in Contemporary Irish Literature

Connal Parr, Northumbria University

Inventing the Myth Political Passions and the Ulster Protestant Imagination

Additional Books and Articles

Ghosts of the Somme: Commemoration and Culture War in Northern Ireland, Notre Dame Press
Brexit: border talk stirs up bad memories in Northern Ireland, The Guardian
Irish border residents watch for Brexit fallout, Associated Press
The Northern Ireland Peace Process, Center on Foreign Relations

Podcasts and Videos

George Mitchell: Building Peace in Northern Ireland, United States Institute of Peace, Short Documentary
50 Years on from the Troubles – many fear a return to violence, Channel 4 (UK), Report
The Invisible Border, NPR, Podcast: “Throughline”
How the Irish Border Keeps Derailing Brexit, The New Yorker, Podcast: “The New Yorker Radio Hour”

Monuments and Contested Memory in Europe

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Conversations on Europe: A discussion on contested monuments in the U.S. and Europe - some which have generated lots of public notice, while others may be less familiar. Our panel of experts consider and compare recent controversies over Confederate and Communist statues, colonial monuments, and memorials to WWII and the Holocaust. What is the role of public art in creating a shared history and whose history is being displayed?

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Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Brian Kwoba, University of Memphis

Rhodes Must Fall: The Struggle to Decolonise the Racist Heart of Empire

Kirk Savage, University of Pittsburgh

Jennifer Sessions, University of Virginia

Katja Wezel, University of Göttingen

Additional Books and Articles

Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy, Southern Poverty Law Center
History, Memory, and Politics in Post-Communist Eastern Europe, Centre for International Policy Studies
The Second World War in European Memory: Calamity, Loss of Power and a New Beginning, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
'Stumbling stones': a different vision of Holocaust remembrance, The Guardian

Podcasts and Videos

Monuments and Power: Memory vs. History, Smithsonian, Discussion Series: Mascots, Myths, Monuments, and Memory
Contested Landscape: The Battle over Confederate Monuments, Virginia Humanities, Podcast: BackStory
Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil, University of California Television, Discussion Series: Holocaust Living History Workshop
“Social Memory: Contested or Consensual?”, European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, Panel Discussion

An Update on Brexit

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The British withdrawal from the EU deadline is scheduled for January 31, 2020, but after so many postponements and delays, it is anyone's guess whether or not that will happen.

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Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Pablo Fernandez-Vazquez, University of Pittsburgh

The Informational Role of Party Leader Changes on Voter Perceptions of Party Positions

Timothy G. McMahon, Marquette University

Ireland in an Imperial World: Citizenship, Opportunism, and Subversion

Anand Menon, King’s College London

Additional Books and Articles

“Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU”, BBC
“Brexit’s Finish Line Is Only the ‘End of the Beginning’ for Britain and the EU”, World Politics Review
“Brexit Still Looms Over Northern Ireland’s New Government”, Foreign Policy
“Brexit: What Everyone Needs to Know”, Oxford University Press

Podcasts and Videos

“Brexit – A Complicated Transition”, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Podcast: “Smart Women, Smart Power”
“What Led to Brexit?”, Al-Jazeera English, Informational Discussion
“Bongs for Brexitcast!”, BBC, Podcast: “Brexitcast”
“What does Boris Johnson's election win mean for Brexit?”, Channel 4 News (UK), Informational Discussion

Democratic Backsliding: Poland and Hungary

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Conversations on Europe: Discussion about how Poland and Hungary transitioned to democracy nearly 30 years ago and the evidence that the actions of their leaders are working to erode democracy in their respective countries.

PANELISTS: Iza Ding, University of Pittsburgh Zsolt Enyedi, Central European University Milada Vachudova, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University

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Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Iza Deng, University of Pittsburgh

“Right” Choice: Restorative Nationalism and Right-Wing Populism in Central and Eastern Europe

Zsolt Enyedi, Central European University

Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University

Thy Will Be Done?: Religious Nationalism and Its Effects in East-Central Europe

Milada Vachudova, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage, and Integration After Communism

Additional Books and Articles

“Eastern Europe’s Illiberal Revolution: The Long Road to Democratic Decline”, Foreign Affairs
“The Big Question: What Is the Root Cause of Rising Illiberalism in Central and Eastern Europe?”, National Endowment for Democracy
“The Nature of Democratic Backsliding in Europe”, Carnegie Europe
“The Rise of ‘Illiberal Democracy’”, Freedom House

Podcasts and Videos

“Democracies Under Duress: Are We Losing Central Europe?”, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Panel Discussion
“The Rise of Illiberal Democracies”, Council on Foreign Relations, Panel Discussion
“Central Europe | Article 7: The Cases of Hungary and Poland”, Carnegie Europe, Interview/Informational Discussion
“Inside Hungary's Far-Right Movement”, Euronews, Report

Germany Since 1989: Do Differences Persist After Reunification?

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Conversations on Europe: Discussion of the legacies of the two Germanies that existed between 1949 and 1990, thirty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

PANELISTS:

Hope M. Harrison, George Washington University

Jonathan Olsen, Texas Woman's University

Jan Musekamp, University of Pittsburgh

Consul General David Gill, German Consulate General New York

Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Hope M. Harrison, George Washington University

Jonathan Olsen, Texas Woman's University

The European Union: Politics and Policies

Jan Musekamp, University of Pittsburgh

Migration and Mobility in the Modern Age

Additional Books and Articles

"Germans still don’t agree on what reunification meant", The Economist
"How the attitudes of West and East Germans compare, 30 years after the fall of Berlin Wall", Pew Research Center
"Lingering divide: why east and west Germany are drifting apart", Financial Times
"Brookings experts’ reading list on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War", Brookings Institute

Podcasts and Videos

"'Less than a third of East Germans consider reunification to have been a success'—after the Berlin Wall", The Economist, Podcast: Economist Radio
"German Reunification and the Berlin Wall", Newstalk (Ireland), Podcast: Taking Stock with Vincent Wall
"Why German divisions remain, 30 years after fall of the Berlin Wall", PBS News Hour, Report
"German reunification - a short history", Deutsche Welle, Documentary

EP Elections: What's At Stake?

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Conversations on Europe

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Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Andrea S. Aldrich, Yale University

National Political Parties and Career Paths to the European Parliament

Catherine de Vries, Free University Amsterdam

Euroscepticism and the Future of European Integration

Matthijs Rooduijn, University of Amsterdam

Additional Books and Articles

European Parliamentary Elections 2019, Politico Europe
2019 European Parliament Elections Will Change the EU’s Political Dynamics, Carnegie Europe
What to Make of the European Elections, The Atlantic
European Elections 2019: what will the new Parliament's composition be?, Robert Schuman Foundation

Podcasts and Videos

European Parliament Elections Panel 2019, London School of Economics and Political Science, Panel Discussion
Populism and the European Parliament election, The Hertie School, Discussion
European Parliament elections 2019: all you need to know about how they work, EuroNews, Informational Video
Highlights from the 2019 European elections, European Parliament, Report

40 Years of Democracy in Spain

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Conversations on Europe

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Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Pablo Fernandez-Vazquez, University of Pittsburgh

Projection Bias in the Survey Placement of Spanish Political Parties: Differences between National and Regional Parties

Carolyn Dudek, Hofstra University

EU Accession and Spanish Regional Development: Winners and Losers

Robert M. Fishman, Carlos III University

Democratic Practice: Origins of the Iberian Divide in Political Inclusion

Additional Books and Articles

Spain’s 40-year itch, Politico Europe
Forty years of democratic Spain Political, economic, foreign policy and social change, 1978-2018, Real Instituto Elcano
Spain’s democracy is about to turn 40. How well has it worn?, The Economist
After Franco: The painful evolution of Spanish democracy, The Times Literary Supplement

Podcasts and Videos

The Silence of Others, POV, Documentary
Spain: 1959 – 1992, University of Oxford, Podcast and Lecture Series
The strain in Spain, The Economist, Podcast: “The Intelligence”
Ten Minute History - The Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco, History Matters, Short Documentary

The Finnish Education Model: What Can We Learn?

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Finland’s education system consistently ranks high in the OECD’s annual Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, prompting U.S. educators and education reformers to ask “What can the U.S. learn from Finland?” The ESC invited education experts to discuss this question and explore issues impacting student achievement in both countries.

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Relevant Publications from the Panelists

Anneli Rautiainen, Finnish National Agency for Education

Jyri Linden, University of Tampere

Cassie Faye Quigley, University of Pittsburgh