EUCA Cambridge Summer School
It's again time for EUCA Cambridge Summer School at Newnham College.
From 30 August to 14 September 2011, EUCA organizes once again the two-week seminar devoted to an exploration of topics of interest in the future development of the European Union and its neighbours, including the evolution of the European legal system to present, the future of the euro and European economic governance, the relevance of the Arab spring for Europe, etc. The course is entitled "The European Political Identity and its New Challenges" and will be attended by 25 selected Collegiate students.
Three seminars per day will be given by faculty who are specialists in political theory, European affairs, sociology, law, moral philosophy, Islamic affairs, and economics (topics and faculty that have confirmed so far are listed below).
There will also be a number of broader liberal arts offerings, with talks by a leading young British composer on classical composition and its challenges at the beginning of the 21st century, a talk by one of Europe’s venerable conductors and music historians on the history of orchestral conducting, and a concert by a world-class Russian-American piano trio on September 11.
Students and faculty will be housed on the stately grounds of Newnham College, where the seminars will be given and meals will be taken in common. There will be opportunities on the weekends to tour the University of Cambridge and its many historical Colleges and the chance for cultural trips to London’s museum, galleries, and many historical sights.
The seminar will conclude with a Formal Dinner in Newnham’s famous Victorian Dining Hall.
In his first State of the Union 2010 before the European Parliament, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, said
“Over the last year, the economic and financial crisis has put our Union before one of its greatest challenge ever. Our interdependence was highlighted and our solidarity was tested like never before.” Mr. Barroso continues saying that the EU has withstood the test, but warns that “we either swim together, or sink
separately. We will only succeed if, whether acting nationally, regionally or locally we think European.”
This recognition of the monetary and economic interdependence of the European states and at the same time of the weakness of the solidarity that
keeps them together in the Union, brings into question what are the foundations on which to build and rely on for a truly European Union capable of
swimming with or against, if necessary, the tide of challenges that lie ahead.
If we cannot rely only on economic calculations to build the Union, how can we develop our identity to naturally think across borders?
