Kaleidoscoping Europes – Summer School 2025
When?
August 04 – 08, 2025
Where?
Submission Deadline
31 January, 2025
Notification Date
17 February, 2025
Summer School 2025
Questioning a continent from within and without
We are excited to announce that the application deadline for the Summer School 2025: "Kaleidoscoping Europes - Questioning a Continent from Within and Without" has been extended! Submit your abstract until 31 January 2025 via the form below!
Kaleidoscoping Europes – Questioning a continent from within and without
Europe can be seen through a kaleidoscope of perspectives: as a former colonial power with a legacy that continues to shape its global relationships; as a continent of vast regional diversity, with numerous regions striving for recognition; as a political and economic powerhouse confronted with the internal disparities among EU member states; and as a cultural entity with a rich artistic history, yet with many of its artists and thinkers struggling to define or redefine their (non-)European identity. Much like a kaleidoscope, Europe is one object fragmented into many interrelated parts—each view is shaped by the position of the observer and the angle from which it is seen. And yet, the question of one European identity persists.
At a time when Eurocentrism is being critically questioned, and global perspectives are becoming ever more significant, it is crucial to explore Europe not as a monolithic entity but as a diverse, contested, and evolving concept. Questioning the very notion of Europe, as well as what it means to be European, has become a key concern across various academic disciplines. An increasing number of scholars now challenge established definitions of European and non-European identity, while historians seek to reframe Europe’s role in global history, often reshaping their understanding of history itself in the process.
This Summer School aims to critically exchange and develop modern approaches to understanding Europe’s histories, cultures, and politics in relation to and seen from within and beyond European borders. We seek to examine how non-European perspectives can provide new insights into challenges Europe faces—such as cultural tension, migration, public health crises, and economic asymmetries—issues that other regions of the world may have different perspectives on and more experience dealing with.
Viewing Europe as a multifaceted, shifting entity allows for the development of new methodologies that go beyond traditional, Eurocentric narratives. By turning the kaleidoscope, we want to acknowledge that the subject, the viewer, and the instrument through which the viewer perceives the subject all play vital parts in the image they create. This reveals the multiple facets of Europe’s identity and history and enables us to piece together a more complete, dynamic understanding of the continent and its place in the global structure.
The Summer School will adopt an interdisciplinary framework, bringing together scholars from history, literary and cultural studies, political science, sociology, and the history of science. Participants will interrogate Europe’s identity, political and cultural narratives, and complex entanglements with non-European regions. Recent developments in postcolonial theory, global history, and transnational studies provide vital frameworks for this interrogation, as do newer methodological approaches such as the „material turn“, which shift focus toward objects, emotions, and their roles in shaping historical and cultural narratives.
It will allow the participants to present their own research projects and exchange during discussion sessions and networking breaks. Furthermore, it will feature master classes in the history of science and knowledge, literature studies, and political studies by renowned scholars, as well as workshops, keynotes, a public reading, and an exhibition at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, The Völklingen Ironworks. We aim to foster the dialogue between European and non-European-based scholars to support their crucial projects on developing more inclusive concepts of identity.
Literary and Cultural Representations of Europe
Colonial Legacies and Medial Approaches
Euroscepticism and Political Polarisation
This Summer School follows an interdisciplinary approach, blending broad, transdisciplinary sessions like lectures and discussion groups with specialised workshops based on research questions from various disciplines. You will have the flexibility to join the sessions closest to your research interest. This format nurtures collective growth through cross-discipline dialogue and personal development within your area of expertise, offering an enriching environment where collaboration and specialization go hand in hand.
In the following months, we will introduce the workshop topics, lectures, and speakers.
Contemporary literary texts often engage critically with concepts of Europe, challenging conventional ideas and assumptions. This workshop will bring together scholars of comparative literature to explore the question: “How do literary texts irritate traditional notions of Europe?” Centered on the post-colonial concept of “irritating Europe,” we will examine how literary texts construct alternative European topographies by uncovering deep entanglements with the non-European world. Drawing upon concepts of memory studies, we will also investigate how texts critically rewrite European archives and histories, exposing blind spots and drawing unexpected connections between marginalized groups and overlooked historical narratives.
European narratives of superiority and idealised knowledge movements, such as that of the Enlightenment, have shaped the continent’s past and present understanding of science. The 19th century saw a rise in colonialism and the birth of public exhibitions housed in impressive museum buildings, opulent World Fairs, and private entertainment events as well as in print and academia. With the professionalisation of natural history, Europe invented „science“, based on its traditions as well as its construction of knowledge superiority over other systems of knowledge-gaining. Two workshops will examine narratives of scientific cultures specifically in intercontinental collections and their displays through the lens of colonial knowledge, to discuss the challenges of decolonising heritage and science.
Group identities are deeply embedded within nation-building theories, questions of political support and legitimacy.
The field of research benefits from the intertwined nature of approaches to political and social psychology. In light of this, two workshops have been specifically designed. The first workshop focuses on political science approaches to understanding the role of identity in nation-building, its relevance for the European Union, and the reflection on social science methods. The second workshop takes a closer look at the social psychological foundations of social identity, its development and evolution over the past years, and reflects on experimental ideas linked to the topic of Europe.
This Summer School aims to create a space for critical, open dialogue across disciplines and geographic boundaries. Participants will collaborate in thematic workshops, addressing the multi-facetted nature of Europe’s identity, history, and external relationships. Emphasis will be placed on decentering Eurocentric narratives and fostering a more pluralistic, globally inclusive understanding of the continent’s place in the world. Through these discussions, we hope to move beyond traditional, hierarchical approaches to knowledge production, creating an interactive and experimental space where participants can exchange ideas and build long-term research networks.
We particularly encourage applications from early career researchers outside Europe as well as from regions of the European periphery who are eager to contribute non-European perspectives to this conversation. Thanks to the generous support of the Ernst Röchling Foundation, we will provide free accommodation and the summer school is without fees.
We will also be able to provide limited support for travel grants for participants. To be considered for support, please provide a rough estimate of your travel costs when applying.
Dates: 4-8 August, 2025
Location: Saarbrücken, Germany
Deadline for Submissions: extended to 31 January, 2025
Funding: Accommodation will be provided for all participants who are not based in Saarbrücken. We will also support travel costs. Please enter your estimated travel costs into the submission form. An approximate cost will suffice. Please enter the sum in €.
Application Requirements: Please submit an abstract (max. 250 words) of your PhD project, a brief letter of motivation stating your interest in this Summer School (max. 200 words) and a short bio including your research interests and academic background (max. 100 words) via the website form below
Join us as we look through the kaleidoscope to explore the multifaceted identities, histories, and futures of Europe!
Learn more about our programme and speakers! Come back from time to time, as we will update this section regularly.
We will kick off our Summer School with an exciting keynote lecture by acclaimed historian and political scientist Anthony Pagden. Join us for a unique delve into Europe’s evolving identity through the lens of history and political science and explore how Europe’s past shapes its present and future, offering fresh perspectives on its potential roles in an interconnected world.
The lecture is scheduled for 4 August 2025, 5 pm. It is free and open to the public. Information on the location will follow.
Anthony Pagden is Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Political Science and History at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has held positions at Oxford, Cambridge, The European University Institute, Harvard and Johns Hopkins, the École des hautes études and the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. His research focuses on Europe and its overseas empires, federalism, international law and global governance. He is the author of over a dozen books that have been translated into a large number of European and Asian languages, including, The Idea of Europe from Antiquity to the European Union and most recently, The Pursuit of Europe. A History (2022) and Beyond States. Peoples, Powers and Global Order (2024)
Join us for a reading and discussion with Albanian-born polyglot author, journalist, and scholar Gazmend Kapllani. Kapllani’s literary works provide insightful perspectives on Europe from its periphery, exploring themes of identity, migration, and borders. Together, we’ll examine how literature can help conceptualize a dynamic Europe, placing the immigrant experience at its heart.
Gazmend Kapllani is an Albanian-born polyglot author, journalist, and scholar. He lived in Athens, Greece for over twenty years. He was graduated in Philosophy from The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and received his PhD in Political Science and History from Panteion University in Athens – where he also taught classes in Albanian modern history and culture. From 2001-2011 Kapllani contributed weekly columns and editorials to the Greece’s largest-circulation newspaper, TA NEA.
He is the author of two collections of poetry in Albanian and four published novels written in Greek and Albanian. His literary work centers on themes of borders, totalitarianism, identity, and how Balkan history has shaped public and private narratives and memories. Kapllani’s first novel A Short Border Handbook (2006) has been translated and published into ten languages. It has been adapted for the stage by Bornholm Theater in Denmark and The National Theater of the Deaf in Greece. In 2017 it won the International Literary Prize of the City of Cassino in Italy.
His other three novels, My Name is Europe, The Last Page and Wrongland have been published so far in French, Italian, Albanian, Greek and English; The Last Page was short-listed for the French Cezam Prix Litteraire Inter CE 2016 and awarded the literary prize of the Salon du Livre des Balkans in Paris, France. WRONGLAND, his second novel translated and published in English, was adapted for the stage by the Greek award-winning theater director Pantelis Flatsousis and performed in Athens, Greece in 2022.
Since 2012 Kapllani has been living in the US, where he was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and writer-in-residence at Brown University and Wellesley College. He taught creative writing and European history at Emerson College in Boston, MA (2013-2018). In 2021 he became an American citizen through naturalization. From 2019 he lives in Chicago where he directs the Hidai “Eddie” Bregu Endowment in Albanian Studies at DePaul University and The DePaul Albanian and Southeastern European Studies Program.
Our second keynote will focus on culture and politics from the point of view of literature. Join us for a thought-provoking exploration of the Mediterranean as a dynamic space of exchange and interaction, challenging traditional Eurocentric narratives. Dr. Ceyhun Arslan will guide us through innovative perspectives that reframe the Mediterranean in relation to European Studies and World Literature.
The lecture is scheduled for 7 August 2025. It is free and open to the public. Details on time and location will follow.
C. Ceyhun Arslan is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Koç University and co-editor of the journal Middle Eastern Literatures. He was also an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (Georg Forster Fellowship for Experienced Researchers) at Saarland University and Forum Transregionale Studien. His works have been published or are forthcoming in journals and edited volumes such as Comparative Literature Studies Utopian Studies, Cambridge History of Middle Eastern Modernism, Journal of Mediterranean Studies, Middle Eastern Literatures, Sea of Literatures: Towards a Theory of Mediterranean Literature, and Routledge Handbook of Arabic Poetry. His book, The Ottoman Canon and the Construction of Arabic and Turkish Literatures, has appeared in the Edinburgh Studies on the Ottoman Empire. He is currently working on the book project tentatively entitled Becoming Mediterranean: The Sea Reconfigured via Arabic, French, and Turkish Narratives.
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Part of the Summer School will be the opportunity to participate in two workshops to work on central questions in discuss in smaller groups. The workshops will have specific perspectives based on our key interests in comparative literature studies, political science, and history of science and knowledge. We will lead some of the workshops, while others will be hosted by renowned experts in their respective fields and on the topics of our Summer School.
You will find more details and an opportunity to select the workshops you want to attend after your acceptance.
Tijana studies social representations of Europe(anness) from a social-psychological perspective. She explores how their content varies across national groups, and how they relate to attitudes, e.g. towards policies or the EU, and intergroup dynamics. In her workshop, she invites you to critically reflect about who has the power to define Europe(anness) and the potential consequences this has for Europe and its diverse populations.
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Meet the organisers of the Summer School and discover more about European research and the unique strengths of Saarland University.
Evgenia’s dissertation focuses on contemporary literary texts that examine Europe from diverse vantage points. Drawing on memory studies and postcolonial theories, she explores how literature critically engages with European historical and literary archives. In our Summer School, she invites you to take up a kaleidoscopic lens with her to explore how literary texts irritate conventional ideas about Europe by amplifying hidden voices and revealing surprising solidarities and alliances.
Philipp’s dissertation focuses on quantitative and qualitative methods to unravel the complexity of individual identification with Europe, its differences, determinants and consequences. In particular, he is interested in their relationship to Eurosceptic and right-wing populist attitudes. With the Kaleidoscoping Europe Summer School, he is looking forward to diving into the cosmos of all the different meanings of Europe.
Alexander’s current postdoc project investigates how 19th-century European metropolitan museums constructed narratives of epistemic superiority by displaying objects from their colonies by analysing how museums acted and still act as multi-dimensional entities shaping our understanding of European ideals of scholarship today. Alexander is looking forward to discussing colonial practices and non-European epistemic concepts with you.
The Summer School’s key questions connect with the research conducted at the Cluster for European Research (CEUS) at Saarland University, where distinguished scholars from diverse fields and countries examine how concepts of Europe are projected, transformed, and reflected on the global stage.
Rooted in Saarland University’s specific location in a multi-national border region, its research traditions and expertise, the Cluster explores the reciprocal influences between Europe and the wider world across culture, literature, technology, science, economics, politics, law, and philosophy, among others. In an era where global political and economic attention is shifting rapidly, CEUS researchers foster fresh insights into Europe’s evolving international role. Through interdisciplinary, historical, and transcultural approaches, their work highlights Europe’s dynamic and ever-transforming position within the global context, setting the stage for the Summer School’s exploration of these vital themes.
No, there will be no participation fees.
Yes, we will provide you with accommodation options which will be free of charge for you.
The entire event will be held in English. You do not need to be able to speak German or French.
Unfortunately not. This summer school is intended for PhD students only. If you have an equivalent programme in the country you are based at and are uncertain whether this falls into the same category, please get in touch with us.
Yes, we will update the website regularly, including detailed information about the workshops, lectures, and locations. So, it’s worth checking regularly!