The Chair hosted an international conference on The intellectuals and Europe, on Wednesday, 14 March 2018, in Louvain-la-Neuve, in collaboration with the Paul-Henri Spaak seminars.
After an introduction given by Prof Edoardo Traversa (President of the Interfaculties School in European studies, UCL), the morning session focused on 20th-century leading thinkers and Europe, with talks on Stefan Zweig (by Prof Antje Büssgen, UCL), Denis de Rougemont (by Prof Nicolas Stenger, University of Geneva), Jacques Maritain (by Dr Michel Fourcade, University Paul-Valéry-Montpellier), and Nikolai Berdyaev (by Dr Antoine Arjakovsky, Collège des Bernardins). Prof Walter Lesch (UCL) then responded to these interventions.
In the afternoon panel, a number of contemporary intellectuals expressed themselves on their view on Europe. Their discussion was structured around four values: plurality (by Prof Justine Lacroix, ULB), freedom (by Dr Christophe de Voogd, Sciences Po Paris), sovereignty (by Prof Luuk van Middelaar, UCL), and identity (by Ms Halina Walasek, European Commission).
Finally, Prof Bernard Snoy (UCL) concluded the conference.
We invite you to discover the full report of the conference (in French).
Speaking notes
Antje Büsten, ‘Stefan Zweig. L’actualité de son projet d’unification européenne sur la base de la culture'
Bernard Snoy, ‘Conclusions’
