Newsletter Issue 144
Europainstitut der Universität Basel | Institute for European Global Studies

A few weeks ago, students, employees, and friends of the Institute gathered in the sunny garden of the Sandgrube for our traditional summer barbecue, which was generously supported, as always, by our Förder- und Alumniverein. The barbecue marks the end of a spring semester characterized by the lively exchange of knowledge and ideas through a wide variety of events, inputs and discussion formats. We were delighted to welcome a number of local and international scholars to the Institute over the past few months, who engaged us through salon discussions, lunch talks, and interactive workshops. I also had the pleasure of delivering my inaugural lecture as Director of the Institute for European Global Studies in March at the Natural History Museum Basel. 

In this issue, you will find details of these events and many more, as we wrap up what has been a busy spring semester at the Sandgrube. You will also find all the latest news from the Institute, including recent publications, media appearances and conference contributions by our members. 

We wish you an enjoyable read and a lovely summer!

Warm regards
Corey Ross and the team of the Institute for European Global Studies
University of Basel

News

Inaugural Lecture by Prof. Corey Ross

Prof. Corey Ross, Director of the Institute for European Global Studies and Professor of European Global Studies, delivered his inaugural lecture on 5 March 2024 at the Natural History Museum Basel. Titled "Water and Power in the Age of Empire – and Beyond", the lecture explored the legacies of 19th-century imperial water regimes into the present.

Among the distinguished guests were University President Prof. Andrea Schenker-Wicki, Vice President for Education Prof. Thomas Grob, the president of the Stiftung Europainstitut Dr. Thomas Staehelin, and the Chairman of the Förder- and Alumniverein Christian Egeler. The Dean of the faculty for Social Sciences and Humanities Prof. Martin Lengwiler opened the evening introducing the audience to Ross’s achievements in global environmental history.

Summer Barbecue

The Europainstitut hosted its annual barbecue in May. Around 70 students, employees, and friends of the Institute gathered in the garden of the Sandgrube to indulge in a lovely dinner and exchange with colleagues. The barbecue was sponsored by the Förder- und Alumniverein of the Europainstitut. As an association under Swiss law, it serves to promote the Institute through providing support for events such as the annual graduation ceremony of the MA program, or strengthening the network of former and current students of the Institute.

Workshop with Prof. Sven Beckert (Harvard)

The Europainstitut welcomed Sven Beckert (Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University) who led a workshop on "Writing the Global History of Capitalism" on 27 May 2024. Together with 20 participants, including Corey Ross, Ralph Weber, Susanna Burghartz, as well as many early-career researchers and doctoral students from Basel and beyond, Beckert explored the phenomenon of capitalism from a historian’s perspective.

Reviewing more Public Events

30 May 2024: Prof. Philippe Aghion (Collège de France, INSEAD and LSE): "The Power of Innovation and the Future of Capitalism", organised by the Center for International Economics and Business

12 March 2024: Prof. Sławomir Łukasiewicz (Catholic University of Lublin): "Ukraine in the EU? Lessons from the Case of Poland’s Accession"

Study Program

Interview with Visiting Student Srishti from India

From September 2023 to February 2024, the Institute welcomed Srishti, an MA student from India, who spent an exchange semester in Basel. In an interview, she talks about her experiences of the study program and her impressions of life in Switzerland, and gives some advice to other prospective exchange students.

More Events of the MA and PhD Programs

6 May 2024: Prof. Jutta Bakonyi, Professor of Development and Conflict at Durham University, gave a lecture on "Capitalism, Infrastructural Power and Modular Statecraft". She discussed the significance of infrastructure in facilitating capitalist expansion, shaping political boundaries, and the role of spatial technologies in reconfiguring state-society relations.

3 May 2024: During a PhD project lab, doctoral students Paul Blicke, Yen-Chi Lu and Dominika Geiger from the Institute for European Global Studies and the University of Bonn presented their research projects to an interdisciplinary audience. The event is a platform of the Graduate Program European Global Studies and organised by Corey Ross and Ralph Weber in context of the Katekisama Program.

23 April 2024: The student representatives of the MA European Global Studies invited Pouyan Dardashti, CEO of the Thommen Group, to the regularly organised fireplace conversations ("Kamingespräche"). The topic of the evening was the role of recycling and the circular economy on the path to climate neutrality.

2 April 2024: Prof. Elisa Sevilla (San Francisco de Quito University) gave a talk on “Moving Birds, Snails, and Tarantulas across the Atlantic in the 19^th Century: History of the South American Specimen Collections in Europe", organised in cooperation with the Department of History. She explored how animals were integrated into a comprehensive transnational scientific network that was characterized by the circulation of goods, knowledge, and a multitude of human and non-human agents.

Publications

Media Coverage

Interviews with Ralph Weber on China and Europe

German and Swiss media reported extensively on China's espionage strategy in Germany and Switzerland. Several TV and radio stations such as ZDF heute journal, ZDF heute live, Deutschlandfunk, SRF 4 News, Table China interviewed Ralph Weber on this topic. Together with historian Ariane Knüsel, he spoke with "The Wall Street Journal", Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS) and Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) about the suspected espionage case at a Swiss military airport.

Interviews with Christa Tobler on Switzerland and the EU

Christa Tobler's analyses of the negotiations between the EU and Switzerland were featured by various media in Germany and Switzerland, including TV program ARD Tagesschau, radio station Deutschlandfunk and national newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and Basel magazine Bajour.

Selected Interviews with Experts from the Europainstitut

23 May, SRF (von Rütte)
17 May, EU Law Live (Tobler)
14 May, swissinfo.ch (Korn)
2 May, Die Wochenzeitung (Korn)
14 March, 20 Minuten (Tobler)
9 March, Magazine Republik (von Rütte)
7 March, swissinfo.ch (von Rütte)
6 March, SRF (von Rütte)

Personalia

Researchers from the Europainstitut at Conferences

Researchers from the Europainstitut took part in conferences, specialist meetings and discussion panels. Find a selection here:

Christa Tobler gave a presentation at an online conference on “Legal Aspects of Gender Identity in Europe” organised by the Academy of European Law (ERA).

Barbara von Rütte participated in a panel at the "16^th Aarau Democracy Days" where she talked about constitutional and legal requirements of the federal government for naturalization. At the annual conference of the Federal Commission on Migration FCM she held a presentation on the protection of children in Swiss asylum and immigration law.

Thanushiyah Korn presented her dissertation project on relations between Switzerland and Rwanda before 1994 at the research center “Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland” (Dodis) in Bern.

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