11-12 March 2011 - York University

The Europe of today is starkly opposite of its former self. Conflict, conquest and disunity were once perennial features of the continent, most notably during its imperial heyday. The fluidity of borders and its changeability because of territorial and monarchal ambitions was a normalcy. By the middle of the 20th century, however, there would materialize an abrupt digression. Two afflictive wars, an intermediate recession and the mechanization of death by one despotic leader would irrevocably change the very ethos of the continent, and for the first time in history, Europe would unite. Ever since, conflict has been repudiated in favour of conciliation and war in favour of peace, and it has, many say, been relatively successful. A semblance of divisive rivalries from a bygone era remains in the Balkan region, but otherwise the continent has been at peace, and collective prosperity has resulted. Modernity, it appears, has been kind to Europe, more so than history. Yet now, pundits say, an ominous storm looms in the distance. Security inadequacies, economic defaults and unsustainable welfare policies, to name a few, are besieging and eroding the European Union and its cohesion. Uncharted and dangerous waters are where Europe finds itself today. How it decides to proceed will determine the success or failure, and the future or end of its political experiment.

No longer can it subordinately rely on the United States, as it has previously done, to remedy the disparities which it now confronts:  the new Europe demands a new way.

All students attending graduate faculties across North America and beyond are cordially invited to participate in a bilingual student conference on the following theme: Europe in Uncharted Waters: Cohering European Politics with New Realities. This multidisciplinary conference which is organized by York students and faculty, and hosted by the European Union Centre of Excellence at York (EUCE) and the Canadian Centre for European and German Studies (CCGES), will take place on the scenic Glendon Campus, York University, in Toronto, Ontario.  The conference will be held on March 11 and 12, 2011. Students are encouraged to submit abstracts of no more than 250 words and brief biographical statement by January 7, 2011. Selected students will be contacted shortly after. Papers should be no longer than 6,000 words. Full papers are due at the conference. Students whose papers are selected will be partly reimbursed for their travel expenses.

Accommodation and some meals included. Conference organizers will consider publishing the proceedings in a volume shortly thereafter.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

- The future of European security

- Questioning European federalism and confederation

- European economic and political fissures

- The future of Europe’s social welfare state

- Triad relations between Canada, the U.S., and Europe

- Europe’s demise of ‘Machtpolitiks’ and its subscription to a ‘Kantian order’

- Europeans come from Venus, Americans from Mars

- The United States and Europe: In search of a new transatlantic pact

- Towards a European foreign policy concerning energy

- The EU and China: Is it an equal partnership or is it dependence?

- What type of international actor is the EU?

- What is the future for the European Neighbourhood Policy?

Please click here to submit your paper abstracts along with contact information.

Click here for bilingual flyer.