Europe’s unity throughout history has been a unity of ideas and the arts. But the marginalisation of intellectuals and artists in the creation of the European states has stirred up controversy, including a petition by 20,000 intellectuals in France accusing the centre-right government of "waging war on intelligence" and instituting "a new state anti-intellectualism". This shift in power will be the subject of the final seminar in the ‘Future of Europe’ series, taking place at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Law.
Europe’s unity throughout history has been a unity of ideas and the arts. But the marginalisation of intellectuals and artists in the creation of the European states has stirred up controversy, including a petition by 20,000 intellectuals in France accusing the centre-right government of "waging war on intelligence" and instituting "a new state anti-intellectualism". This shift in power will be the subject of the final seminar in the ‘Future of Europe’ series, taking place at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Law.
The seminar will be held on Wednesday 25 February 2004 from 5-7 pm at the Faculty of Law. It will discuss the issues of intellectuals and artists being marginalised as influential actors in national societies that are becoming increasingly dominated by material values, and whether they can take on a civilising mission within a new kind of European integration.
The seminar will be chaired by Baroness O’Neill, philosopher and Principal, Newnham College, Cambridge. Speakers will include Baroness (Susan) Greenfield (Professor of Physiology, Oxford University; Director of the Royal Institution); George Steiner (Churchill College, Cambridge; formerly Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of Geneva); and Peter Sutherland (Chairman, Goldman Sachs International; formerly Director-General, The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organisation (WTO); formerly European Commissioner).
The ‘Future of Europe Seminars’, which began in October 2003, address the uncertainties that now beset the project of European integration, with the proposal to adopt a written Constitution for Europe and the addition of ten new member states in May 2004.
With panels of leading specialists from Europe, the United States and beyond, the seminars will provide a unique opportunity to share a wide range of knowledge and experience in understanding European integration and in thinking about its possible futures.
The focus of the seminars is not the familiar political debate about Europe. The seminars are designed to debate Europe in a new and different way, as a constitutional, historical and cultural challenge.
The seminar will be held from 5-7 pm in the Faculty of Law, 10 West Road, Cambridge.
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