| EUROPEAN IDENTITY FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE |
| Home | Greeting | Concept | Member | Activity | Newsletter | Link | Record | COE Top |
|
|
| The First International Conference for the Study of European Identity from
a Historical Perspective Material Culture, Mentality and Historical Identity in the Ancient World Understanding the Celts, Greeks, Romans and the Modern Europeans Date: September 20, 2003, 10:15 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. （6：00 p.m.-Reception） Place: Campus Plaza Kyoto www.consortium.or.jp/center/ (next to the main entrance of Kyoto Station) ＰＲＯＳＰＥＣＴＵＳ The rapid global changes noticeable since the final decades of the last century, in particular the development of the so-called “globalisation” in political, economic and social spheres, are having a great impact on the frameworks, objectives and values on which historians have premised their research. With respect to Europe, the integration and further enlargement of the European Union (EU) is urging a radical re-examination of the conventional paradigm of historical perceptions centred on the idea of nation states, which originated in the 19th century. The foundation and enlargement of the EU has greatly changed the geographical area as the object of studies in European history. At the same time, the appearance of a trans-national community has not only brought to surface the question of the complex of identities (of regions, nation states and the EU), but is also intensifying conflicts between European and non-European elements inside it. Concerning the questions of globalisation and the enlarging EU, numerous contemporary or spatial analyses are available from perspectives such as sociology or international politics; but to comprehend and consider in depth those questions about Europe with its long history, examinations from the viewpoint of the historians will be indispensable. From such awareness and interests, the teaching staff of the Department of European History, Graduate School of Letters at Kyoto University have organized a project team for the study of “European Identity from a Historical Perspective” as part of the 21st Century COE Program, which carries the title of “Towards a Centre of Excellence for the Study of Humanities in the Age of Globalisation”. As a project team we started research in the autumn of 2002. We aim to understand European identity, taking advantage of our non-European perspectives, while trying carefully to avoid the pitfall of naive Orientalism. Nonetheless, discussions with specialists from other parts of the world, including scholars from inside Europe, will make our attempt more profound and effective, by enabling us to verify continually that our approaches and directions are appropriate. For these purposes, we are organizing this international conference inviting prominent European scholars as guest speakers. Japanese scholars will also present their views in an endeavour to promote a better mutual understanding of the questions involved and their deeper inquiry. The first international conference on this theme will focus on the European antiquity. It aims to bring out effective results, not only for studies in Ancient History, but also for consideration of modern or contemporary images of Europe, by discussing those questions involved in European identity such as the self-identity of the Europeans. For example, recently in the field of Ancient History (more specifically, in the field of archaeology), the notion of the “Celts” has caused much controversy. For a long time it had been thought that before the Roman period, the “Celts” of Europe were a homogenous people with same art, language, religion and culture: but in the last fifteen years or so, some archaeologists (from Britain in particular) denied the existence of the “Celts” as a unitary group, which provoked a hot debate among those who believed in the existence of the “Celts”. The promotion of the unity and harmony of the EU and the progress of European integration has also been interwoven with claims of ancient European unity in the form of the “Celts”, who were, for a long time, seen as the identity of an ethnic minority group in Europe. The idea of “Romanization”, which took place during the process of the spread of the Roman rule to other parts of Europe, has also been criticised as an imperial discourse in the context of the British Imperial Colonialism; scholars (or archaeologists) are now more concerned with the realities of material culture and mentality from indigenous peoples’ perspectives. These moves, too, pose questions closely related to the current wave of discussions and studies concerning the “Britishness” or identity of Britain. As to the ancient Greece, which had been regarded as an important source of European culture, new discussions have been raised concerning the gap between its substance in the ancient world and its image established in the modern European mind, for instance, in relation to the understanding of the “Orient”, the idea always presented in contrast. The substance of Europe with its long history will never be fully understood solely by analysing the present. On the question of European identity, knowledge from studies in Ancient and Medieval History will be no less significant than contemporary analyses. In this conference, after keynote speeches by both European and Japanese scholars to pick up points at issue, we hope to discuss them with all the participants, and re-examine past studies in order to develop a new perspective. Ｃｏｎｆｅｒｅｎｃｅ Ｐｌａｎ 9:30 〜10:15 Registration 10:15〜10:25 Introduction and welcome : setting the scene Professor Takashi Minamikawa, D.Lit.(Kyoto University) Professor at Kyoto University, Kyoto 10:25〜12 :00 Papers & Comments ( Part 1. Ancient Greeks) " Quiet Athenian " and the Civic Identity Dr. Asako Kurihara, D.Lit.(Kyoto University) Lecturer at Nara University, Nara Embracing Defeat, Becoming Roman and Staying Greek : An Identity Crisis ? Dr. Alexis D’Hautcourt, Ph.D(Brussels) Lecturer at Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka Comments Mr. Daisuke Shoji, M.A.(Kyoto University) Doctoral Student, Kyoto University, Kyoto Questions 12:00〜12:50 Lunch 12:50〜2:25 Papers & Comments (Part 2. Celts) The Celts and the Gauls Mr. Takayasu Hikida, M.A.(Kyoto University) Doctoral Student, Kyoto University, Kyoto Killing the " Celts" : the Demise of a Paradigm Dr. Gillian Carr, Ph.D(Cambridge) Research Fellow in Archaeology, Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge Comments Professor Takashi Minamikawa, D.Lit.(Kyoto University) Professor at Kyoto University, Kyoto Questions 2:25〜2:35 Break Time 2:35〜4:10 Papers & Comments ( Part 3. Romans) Ever-increasing Circles : Constructing the World of the Roman Empire Dr. Katherine Clarke, Ph.D(Oxford) Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History, St Hilda’s College, Oxford Past Imperfect : the Formation of Christian Identity in Late Antiquity Dr. Christopher Kelly, Ph.D(Cambridge) Fellow and Senior Tutor, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University Lecturer at the University of Cambridge Comments Professor Neil McLynn, Ph.D(Oxford) Professor at Keio University, Tokyo 4:10〜5:10 General Discussion 5:10〜5: 15 Closing Address Professor Takashi Minamikawa ------------------------ 6:00〜8:00 Reception |
|
|
| 21th-century COE Program Towards a Center of Excellence for the Study of Humanities in the Age of Globalization 13th Research Group European Identity from a Historical Perspective |
Contact Address Dept. of European History, Graduate School of Letters Kyoto University, Kyoto-city, 606-8501, Japan Tel & Fax: 075-753-2791 |