Is peace in Europe endangered?

Great Britain's exit from the European Union, the rise of right-wing populism in Europe, the debate about the possible closure of the Central European University (CEU) in Hungary and the war in the Ukraine show how European integration as a peace project is endangered and highly controversial. Further challenges such as the financial crisis or the flow of migrants toward Europe have also been perceived as imperiling trends and have led to nationalistic movements and tendencies in parts of Europe. The perception around the „Threats to Peace in Europe " raises questions that have resulted in a most unique seminar format: despite the hundreds of kilometers separating them, researchers and students from 13 different universities are working together every week through a digital video platform and e-learning format for an intercollegiate lecture series. Input presentations from various researchers from Germany, Greece, Hungary, the United Kingdom and Canada will serve as the basis for discussion.

What makes the seminar particularly special is the direct student interaction through live video contact and virtual work rooms. The students in intercollegiate working groups develop questions, break down issues and create assessments about the crises they address and submit them for debate. Methodically speaking, the concept of the seminar will be rounded out through numerous opportunities to work both scientifically and journalistically, for instance, in the form of newspaper articles, video and radio programming.
The goal of the intercollegiate exchange and multimedia work is to provide students a more sustainable and future-oriented approach to dealing with seminar material that moves well beyond the classic lecture environment in seminar rooms – both in terms of the subject matter as well as the methods applied. In order to ensure the concept has a long shelf life, the course content will be reconstructed into e-learning units and made available to the broader public.

Around 150 students from six universities will participate in the seminar. It is being conducted under the aegis of the task force „Curriculum and Didactics" within the German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies (AFK).

Project homepage, including seminar program

Pre-registered members of the media are invited to partake in the following meetings for photographs or video-in addition to interviews with instructors or student quotes: May 30, June 13, June 26 and July 4 from 2pm-4pm.

Participating locations
• University of Freiburg
• University of Tübingen
• University of Düsseldorf
• University of Mainz
• University of Marburg
• University of Hamburg

Cooperation partners
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Central European University, Hungary
• Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg
• Institute for East and Southeast European Studies Regensburg
• London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom
• University of Ottawa, Canada
• University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Contact:
Ingo Henneberg
Department of Political Science
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-67854
E-Mail: ingo.henneberg@politik.uni-freiburg.de