2023
Missions, Maps & Mediators
Let's rewind to a magical exploration of Latin America in the Nottebohm Room. Mirela Altic took a close look at Jesuit maps from the seventeenth century. Francismar Alex Lopes de Carvalho examined the conversion of local people in the Amazon region and found that it was not a one-way street. This was followed by a panel discussion with our two guests led by Christiane Stallaert.Listen here...
Meet our new ELP fellow!
UCSIA welcomes Maria Cordero-Fernández from Nicaragua as the third fellow of the European Leadership Programme. She will join the UCSIA team for the coming year. UCSIA has supported this Jesuit Social Centre (JESC) programme since 2020. Maria obtained an international master’s degree in rural development in 2021 and will focus on the topic of food security.
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Scholarship Louis Bruyns
UCSIA finances a scholarship for a PhD student at a university in the Global South, who wants to spend a period at the University of Antwerp under the supervision of an entitled UAntwerp academic staff member. During his/her stay at UAntwerp, the student will also co-organize a public event on a topic of concern for the Global South!
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Last call for the European Leadership Programme!
The ELP is a fantastic opportunity for young professionals and leaders to gain experience in politics, to be part of a community and develop professional skills to become a better leader. It includes private conversations with high level speakers and leaders and a volunteer experience in marginalised communities in Brussels. Apply before 15 September 2023!Read more ...
2022
MYEurope debate
The students at the FUCE Summer School discussed their views on Europe and its future in the MYEurope panel debate moderated by Peter Hanenberg.Watch the recording...
A Propos Medea
Today, the world is coming in droves to Europe’s doorstep. This puts our European culture in a different perspective. In her talk at the FUCE Summer School, Isabel Capeloa Gil rereads Euripides’ 'Medea' in a new global and multicultural light. She takes us from global Europe to post-Europe and back.Watch the recording...
Applications for the European Leadership Programme are open!
The ELP is a fantastic opportunity for young professionals and leaders in Brussels to gain experience in politics, to be part of a community and develop professional skills to become a better leader. It includes private conversations with high level speakers and leaders and a volunteer experience in marginalised communities in Brussels. Apply before 15 September 2022, get started in October 2022Read more...
Islamic Religious Education in Europe
How do European countries organize the education of Islam? Scholars from different academic backgrounds and from different European contexts shared their insights at the conference ‘Education of Islam – Islam in Education in Europe’ in Antwerp.Watch the keynotes...
European Solidarity and Just Financing
call for papers for an international academic workshop in March 2023. Which place does solidarity have within the European Union? New and existing support mechanisms along with new financing instruments entail further steps in the creation of a ‘Social Europe’. It makes the question ever more pressing which place the EU actually holds in the domain of social policy. Extended submission deadline: 24 October 2022
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Meet our ELP-Fellow Divin-Luc Bikubanya
UCSIA welcomes Divin-Luc Bikubanya who joins the team for the coming year as Fellow of the European Leadership Programme. You can meet Divin-Luc at the event organized by USOS and 11.11.11 in De Cinema in Antwerp on 4 May where he will share his insights in a panel discussion following the screening of the film ‘L’empire du silence’.
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Graduation ELP Fellows
The European Leadership Programme is a fellowship for master students who want to develop their leadership skills in international policy and advocacy. The programme aims to help reform the spiritual, social and political life in Europe, reorienting it towards a quest for the common good, in line with the long Jesuit tradition in forming leaders to change the world. For this sixth graduation ceremony Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ presented the keynote address.Watch the graduation...
2021
HDCA 2022 Call for Papers: Capabilities and Transformative Institutions
The annual conference of the Human Development and Capability Association brings together people from all over the world from different disciplines and fields interested in human development and the capabilities approach. The 2022 edition take place in Antwerp on 19-22 September. As co-host, we cordially invite submissions of proposals. In addition to papers on the conference theme, papers on all core HDCA topics are welcome. Submission deadline: 15 February 22
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Alliance and Alignments in Times of Strategic Uncertainty
Is the traditional military defense pact becoming obsolete, or will it make a comeback in times of new strategic danger and uncertainty? Thomas Wilkins and Tanguy Struye de Swielande shared their views on this topic in our series on the geostrategic security relations between Europe, the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region.Watch the webinar...
MYEurope
Once again, Europe seems to be in a crisis. More than ever, it is necessary to share experiences, fears and hopes concerning Europe, trying to find out what will be the future of a project in which unity and diversity come together. In this debate moderator Peter Hanenberg invites students from all over the continent to present and discuss their views on Europe in the making. These young people might not be experts in a technical sense. However, without them and without their commitments, any future project necessarily has to fail.Watch the webinar...
Waning Europeanness
Historian José Miguel Sardica takes us on a journey through European history. The European founding fathers built a ‘safe haven’ to oppose and avoid more wars and totalitarian regimes (1914-1945). As the memory of the darkest European period is fading, Europe seems to drift apart once again. What are the current threats and how can we cope with them?Watch the webinar...
Environmental Mobility and Solidarity
Climate change affects the most vulnerable people the most. They are not the primary contributors, but suffer the most adverse effects. Josianne Gauthier (CIDSE), Lore Van Praag and Loubna Ou-Salah (CeMIS), Alberto Ares SJ (IUEM) and Peter Rožič SJ (JESC) explored how we can organize solidarity.Watch the webinar...
Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region
The Asia-Pacific region is challenged with several security concerns, such as the rising power of China. Which security alliances are at play? And what security architecture is needed to cope with the current threats? We welcome Yoichiro Sato (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University) as keynote speaker, Bryce Wakefield (Australian Institute of International Affairs) as respondent and Elena Atanassova-Cornelis (University of Antwerp) as moderator.Watch the webinar...
Colonialism Shaping European Citizenship
Gurminder K. Bhambra (University of Sussex) and Tomaso Ferrando (University of Antwerp) discussed European values and the memory of colonialism in the last webinar of our series on European values.Watch the webinar...
Citizenship Regimes in Europe and Beyond
How has the pandemic shifted the meanings of certain social behaviours, such as shaking hands and wearing face coverings? How can these insights help us shape post-pandemic citizenship? Watch the webinar with Jo Shaw (Edinburgh Law School) and Eva Brems (Human Rights Centre, Ghent University).Watch the webinar...
Tribalization of Europe in the World
Tribalization is a global megatrend in today’s world. The election of Donald Trump, the Brexit vote, populist movements like Catalan separatism and democratic backsliding in Central and Eastern Europe are all examples of tribalization. Political scientist Marlene Wind (University of Copenhagen) and historian Koert Debeuf (EUObserver) discussed the tribalization of Europe in the world.Watch the webinar...
Masculinities in Times of Crisis
In times of conflict or crisis, political actors often return to the concept of the traditional family and the classical gender roles. In this webinar Brandon Hamber, Catherine Baker, Uğur Ümit Üngör and Philipp Schulz dove into the social construction of gender and explored the alternatives with regard to citizenship.
Read and watch more...
Microfinance as a Lever against Poverty
While the COVID-19 pandemic is especially weakening economies in developing countries, microfinance players are taking action to support their most vulnerable clients. Experts Cecile Lapenu (CERISE), Loïc De Cannière (INCOFIN) and Johan Bastiaensen (Institute of Development Policy of the University of Antwerp) discuss the impact of the global corona crisis on poverty and microfinance in developing countries.Watch the webinar...
Security Cooperation Europe & the United States
This webinar with Stephen G. Brooks (Dartmouth), Sven Biscop (Egmont Royal Institute) and Tom Sauer (University of Antwerp) analyses of EU-U.S. relations in the light of the recent presidential elections in the United States.Watch the webinar...
2020
UCSIA Fellowship European Leadership Programme
The ELP is a five month formation where the Fellows are required to do full time traineeship in EU institutions or in the EU ecosystem, like UCSIA. Besides the work experience, they receive leadership formation, take part at fireside chat with decision-makers and are offered personal coaching and mentoring time to support them in their vocation discernment. UCSIA offers a full stipend Fellowship.
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Seeking Asylum in Europe: ‘European Values’ and Queer Claims
Nuno Ferreira (University of Sussex) and Alexander Dhoest (University of Antwerp) concluded the series on European values, citizenship and belonging with a webinar on gender identity and human rights.Watch the webinar...
HDCA 2021 Conference “Capabilities and Transformative Institutions”
How can we organize for the world of tomorrow? Covid-19 has taught us that we are not ready. We have re-discovered our common vulnerability – not only to a virus, but also to policy mismatch, institutional hiccups and authoritarian backlash. Divided we stood, unable to act in concert, lacking real opportunities for deliberation. How can we improve the structures of living together and face the challenges ahead to build a more just and sustainable world? The HDCA Conference 2021 puts this question center stage. It will take place on 13-15 September 2021 at the University of Antwerp.
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Intersectionality, Inequality and the Challenge of European Values
Sociologist Akwugo Emejulu and historian Heleen Debeuckelaere discussed 'Intersectionality, Inequality and the Challenge of European Values' in the sixth webinar in our series on 'European Values, Citizenship & Belonging'.Watch the webinar...
The Role of Nationalism in European Community Building
In this session of the series European Values, Citizenship and Belonging, Cynthia Miller-Idriss (American University, Washington, DC) talked about belonging, exclusion and national space. Noel Clycq (University of Antwerp) responded to her talk.Watch the webinar...
The role of war recollection in European integration
In this session of the series European Values, Citizenship and Belonging, Peter Verovšek (University of Sheffield) talked about rupture and integration in the wake of total war. Historian Herman Van Goethem, rector of the University of Antwerp, responded to his talk.Watch the webinar...
The Refugee Crisis, Solidarity and Values
In this session of the series European Values, Citizenship and Belonging, Lilian Tsourdy (Maastricht University) talked about EU’s ‘Refugee Crisis’ as a Crisis of EU Values and Governance. Philippe De Bruycker, a lawyer specialised in European Immigration and Asylum Law, Free movement of European citizens and comparative aliens law, responded to her talk.Watch the webinar...
European Values in Pandemic Times
The coronavirus pandemic has deepened the crisis of European values. The European Values lecture series, organized in collaboration with the Chair of European Values of the University of Antwerp, digs deeper into this with analyses by François Foret, Katlijn Malfliet and Peter Verovšek.
Watch the lectures and read more...
Mining and Sustainable Development Goals
The lecture series Debating Development, organized by IOB and USOS, is part of the subprogramme Europe and Worldwide Solidarity. We revisit last year’s edition on the role of the private sector in the development of the Global South and focus on the session on mining and SDGs.
Watch the lecture and read more...
Good read: Zero Point 1945
'Zero Point 1945. The Low Countries a Generation Later', recently published by Ons Erfdeel vzw, starts from the question whether we could consider 1945 as point zero for the world we live in today and how political constructions that emanated at the time, such as the welfare state and security cooperation, can be transformed to meet contemporary needs.
Read the article...
Call for papers - The Broken Umbrella
for the academic workshop
on shifting security architectures in Europe and the Asia-Pacific
on 9-11 December 2020
at the University of Antwerp
submission deadline:
1 June 2020
Read more...
UCSIA supports Jesuit Formation for European Leadership
What the European Union needs today, are leaders of change. Now is the time for the next generation of leaders to step up, the same way Adenauer, Schuman, Spaak or Gasperi did in the aftermath of a shattering war, designing a structure for the coming generations. The European Leadership Programme hopes to contribute to this goal.
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New vision statement 'Europe and Solidarity'
What does the UCSIA theme ‘Europe and Solidarity’ embrace? What topics are selected and why? What will we highlight in the coming years?
Read the new vision statement.....
Revisiting the workshop on epidemiology and world health
In historic times of COVID-19, a scientific analysis of the way to combat epidemics and ensure basic health, leads us to revisit the conclusions of a workshop we organized three years ago. The content is remarkably topical for the times we are living in today.
Read and listen...
Corona virus
Due to the outbreak of the corona virus, we decided to cancel all UCSIA events in March. Our coworkers will be working from home as much as possibe, so our opening hours will be limited.
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Call for papers - Leadership Education for Social Transformation
for the Scribani conference
on social inclusion of vulnerable groups in Europe
on 16-19 September 2020
at the Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Poland
submission deadline:
15 April 2020
Read more...
Call for papers - The Broken Umbrella
for the academic workshop
on shifting security architectures in Europe and the Asia-Pacific
on 9-11 December 2020
at the University of Antwerp
submission deadline:
1 June 2020
Read more...
2019
Call for Papers
for an international workshop
on 18-20 March 2020
at the University of Antwerp
submission deadline:
25 November 2019
Read more…
From our partners
Are Belgium’s institutions fit for the job of tackling poverty? Re-Bel inititative investigates this question on June 20th at the University Foundation (Brussels). Read more…
From our partners
A conversation with Luuk van Middelaar about European Values after the elections on the 5th of June, 6 p.m. in BOZAR (Brussels). Read more…
Report, presentations and photos online!
On 16 and 17 May 2019, UCSIA organized two debates on European Humanism in the Making. The report, presentations and photos are now online!
UCSIA
Koningstraat 2
B-2000 Antwerpen
info@ucsia.be
Tel. +32 (0)3 265 49 60
Voorlopige locatie tijdens de renovatiewerken:
Blindestraat 14, 2000 Antwerpen
