Cosmopolitanism in Europe. Idea and Reality
CEMES (Centre for Modern European Studies) and the PhD Programme in Cross-
Cultural and Regional Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen
are organizing an international PhD course on Cosmopolitanism in Europe. Idea and
Reality
Lecturers:
- Seyla Benhabib (Yale University)
- Gerard Delanty (University of Sussex)
- Richard Wolin (NY University and CEMES Honorary Professor at KU)
- John Erik Fossum (ARENA, University of Oslo)
- Owen Parker (University of Warwick)
The course is designed to introduce PhD students in the humanities and the social
sciences to the idea and reality of cosmopolitanism in Europe. Cosmopolitan perspectives have become vital to the study of Europe’s historical emergence and ongoing cultural as well as socio-political transformation. However, cosmopolitanism, which relates to the idea and reality of a society that is open to the world, is by no means an unproblematic and uncontested concept. In contemporary Europe, the cosmopolitan vision of an open society of difference, rights and justice that is defended by supranational political arrangements is often identified as an elite project which meets popular resistances. Current developments in European integration linked to economic and monetary crisis, populist backlashes, Eurosceptcism, Islamophobia and most recently also rightwing fundamentalism and violence have challenged our understanding of cosmopolitanism as an irreversible process.
The PhD course critically revises cosmopolitan thinking. It offers students a double focus on cosmopolitan visions and cosmopolitan realism. This includes lectures on the history of ideas and critical social theory of cosmopolitanism as well as on the application of cosmopolitan perspectives in contemporary European politics, culture and society. The first part of the course will be structured around lectures and seminars with the possibility for students to present own research papers. In the second part of the course, participants meet with leading scholars in the field in a symposium to seek responses from critical social theory of cosmopolitanism in light of the current challenges to European democracy. This symposium will be co-organized by EURECO (University of Copenhagen) and ARENA (University of Oslo). It invites leading American scholars to enter a debate with their European colleagues on the future prospects of cosmopolitanism in Europe and the world. The keynote speakers are Professor Seyla Benhabib (Yale University) and Professor Gerald Delanty (University of Sussex), both internationally leading scholars in contemporary cosmopolitan thinking.
Venue: The Faculty of Humanities, Copenhagen University
Date: 2-3 May 2012
Requirements: Mandatory readings and active participation in seminar discussions.
Participants are further encouraged to present some of their work in the seminar (10-15
pages essays)
ECTS: 3 for preparation and participation and 1.5 for preparation and participation with
paper presentation.
The course is free of charge. Participants will be selected based on their background and
field of research. Participants are asked to pay their own travel and accommodation.
Meals and coffee will be provided free to all participants.
Deadline for submission of applications (letter of motivation, CV and paper/PhD
abstract) is 15 February 2012 to oluf@hum.ku.dk