The 2026 Europaeum History Seminar took place at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich from 15 to 17 September. The event theme was “Decolonising Europe’s Past” and students were invited to reflect critically on how scholars might rethink methodologies, boundaries, categories, and periodisation to recover lost voices in our historical narratives. Of particular concern were the questions of what decolonising might mean and whether the acts of decolonising erases the complex entanglements of Europe’s many differing pasts.
Prof. Dr Roland Wenzelhuemer (Director of the Käte Hamburger Centre Global Dis:connect, LMU) and Dr Clemens Finkelstein (Research Coordinator) opened the seminar with an introduction to the different lenses of global and ‘planetary’ history, and how they can shape decolonisation debates. Later that day, students heard from Dr Pratinav Anil (St Edmund Hall, Oxford), who gave a lecture ‘Decolonising the Decolonial Turn’, which made special reference to the historiography of the British Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries.
On Day Two, the Ideas Programme Director presented a seminar discussion on ‘Race in the Middle Ages’ and students benefitted from a field trip to the Museum of Five Continents, where Dr Richard Hölzl, a senior historical researcher on the museum’s staff, explained the history and provenance of the collections, as well as how the Museum is applying decolonising approaches in practice.
On the third day, the students heard from Prof. Dr Bénédicte Savoy (Technische Universität Berlin) who explained her new work on histories of ‘extractivism’ and the need to read maps carefully as historical evidence of colonial regimes.
In between these sessions, twelve students presented their own research into a wide variety of colonial and postcolonial contexts in ancient and modern history. 16 students from 10 member universities participated in the event.
Student Beatrice Spengou (St Andrews) writes:
“Attending the Europaeum History and Classics Seminar in Munich, Summer School 2026, has been a formative experience. I found myself in the company of highly motivated, astute scholars debating issues around the decolonisation of Europe’s past in ways that stretched my understanding and challenged my own developing theories. Coming together from different universities, each bringing our own perspectives from our individual but varied disciplines we found common ground on which to debate the fundamentals of global history and decolonisation but also to build on our own viewpoints, informing each other’s research in history, literature, art history and social anthropology. A visit to the Museum Fünf Kontinente and the curator Dr. Richard Hölzl’s inspiring and insightful talk brought the realities of decolonisation to the fore, with its political uses and repercussions, providing practical approaches to accompany our intellectual debates. As an admirer of Bénédicte Savoy’s work on restitution and the mobility of cultural capital, I was very pleased to have attended her talk at the end of the seminar. It was overall a stimulating few days, in the company of excellent researchers and scholars.”
Student Violetta Korsakova (Jagiellonian) writes:
“This year’s Europaeum Summer School, Decolonising Europe’s Past, gathered a variety of participants from different universities and academic backgrounds. Students from MA, postgraduate, and PhD programmes discussed their research projects and findings, which dealt with a range of topics, from history and literary studies to anthropology and politics, while focusing on decolonial theory, methodology, and practice. The papers and discussions were also complemented by insightful critical workshops on relevant literature. The seminar motivated me to think more broadly about decolonial practices in knowledge production and to reflect on the methodological frameworks of my own research. And all that while having a great time and making wonderful new acquaintances in beautiful Munich!”
The Europaeum extends very special thanks to all the speakers and to the event’s local host organisers, Prof. Dr Kiran Patel (Modern History) and Dr Brendan Röder (Early Modern History), and their support staff.
