The Europaeum History & Classics Seminar 2026: Decolonising Europe’s Past
September 15 @ 8:00 am - September 17 @ 5:00 pm BST
Europe’s histories have long been shaped by perspectives that marginalise the experiences and agency of colonised peoples. Scholars and institutions across Europe are now re-examining them critically to rethink methodologies, boundaries, categories, and periodisation to recover lost voices.
This Europaeum History and Classics Seminar will bring together master’s and PhD students to ask how historical narratives inform contemporary inequalities, cultural representations, and political debates.
The Europaeum invites applications from students at network member universities in all relevant disciplines. They may wish to join the discussions or to present a 15-minute paper based on their research. We especially welcome proposals for papers addressing the theme in relation to the following topics:
- Colonial histories and imperial legacies in Europe
- Classical reception and empire
- Race, ethnicity, and identity in ancient and modern contexts
- Archives, sources, and epistemic violence
- Museums, collections, and cultural restitution
- Memory, commemoration, and contested monuments
- Decolonising curricula and pedagogical approaches
- Slavery and its legacies in European societies
- Indigenous perspectives and knowledge systems
- Migration, diaspora, and postcolonial identities
- Language, translation, and power in historical texts
- Archaeological practice and colonial legacies
- Gender, sexuality, and intersectionality in postcolonial history
- Comparative colonialisms and decolonisation movements
- Environmental history and colonial extraction
- Public history and community engagement
- Counter-narratives and subaltern histories
- Reconciliation, reparations, and historical justice