Cultural Foundations of Europe

Which historically grown ideas, texts, images and discourses on Europe influence our current cultural, political and social actions? This is the question that is explored in research and teaching within the core area of Cultural Foundations of Europe.

Since the winter semester of 2017/18, the interdisciplinary cross-sectional module, Cultural Foundations of Europe, offers students of the Bachelor's programmes the opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary focus in the elective area. Within the framework of interdisciplinary and historically oriented courses, students reflect on discourses, texts, images and other media that have shaped and changed European thinking and self-understanding.

The Cultural Foundations of Europe will be analysed in international cooperation with our European and non-European partner universities. Thus, for example, a joint lecture series with the Université de Strasbourg on the topic of "Charlemagne and the Reception in Germany and France - Charlemagne et la réception en France et en Allemagne" is being held for the first time in the summer semester of 2020.

Furthermore, collaborative research on the cultural fundaments of Europe represents a profile focus of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Currently, an interdisciplinary research project entitled "The Rhine: Cultural Landscape and Cultural Space for European Identity Constructions" is in preparation.