VII Nida Forum „Breaks of the European Identity“
6-7 September 2024
Curonian Spit History Museum, Nida
At the 6th Nida Forum, we suggested the topic Strong Together: The Diagnosis of the European Unity, and two of our speakers responded to it by presenting their reflections on the identity of their nations. This encouraged us to consider the shifts that the identity of not just individual nations, but also Europe as a whole has undergone over the past few decades. We mean a huge variety of aspects of such shifts. We could begin with an obvious fact that forgotten (?) states like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania up and reappeared in the map of Europe. But other countries of East and Central Europe, maybe less forgotten, had been separated from the normal development of Europe for a long time and just three decades ago reconnected with the rest. Not to mention the challenges of the last decades: throngs of refugees like Europe had not seen for a long time, the pandemic, and eventually, the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the war that Hamas is waging on Israel, or even the growing, threatening power of China.
All of those things have their effect on each of us, and through us, the current politics. The effect is slow and hard to observe, but unavoidable. We failed to properly appreciate the fall of the communist ideology, we are hard pressed to deal with the dangers of nationalisms, and we may ask if Europe today still remains an essentially Christian continent.
The Nida Forum is the place where questions like these may be pondered over more calmly, taking at least two days to remove ourselves from the constant and distressing flow of everyday events.
6 September (Friday)
9.45 a.m. Opening
Morning session, moderated by Dr. Jogilė Ulinskaitė
10.00 a.m. - 11.30 a.m. Hanna Suchocka, PL (former Polish Prime Minister, Minister, Ambassador to the Holy See)
"The changing concept of constitutional identity"
11.45 a.m. - 1.15 p.m. Eglė Murauskaitė (Senior Research Fellow of University of Maryland, textual writer)
"Geopolitical shifts in the face of identity crises: the faces of insecurity"
Afternoon session, moderated by Antanas Gailius
3.00 p. m. - 4.30 p. m. Marius Burokas (poet)
„Transformations of the European Identity in Literature: Writers’ Deliberations and Discoveries“
7 September (Saturday)
Morning session, moderated by Antanas Gailius and Nikodem Szczyglowski
10-11.30 a. m. Prof. Philippe Capelle-Dumont, FRA (Professor of Catholic Theology, Strasbourg University, President of the French Catholic Academy)
„Jean Monet, Charles de Gaulle, Raymond Aron: Three Inspirations of Present-Day Europe? Contemporary Interpretation and Questions“
(moderated by Antanas Gailius)
11.45 a. m. - 1.15 p. m. Christian Eccher, RS (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Novi Sad University, essayist, writer and traveler)
TBA
(moderated by Nikodem Szczyglowski)
Afternoon session, moderated by Dr. Jogilė Ulinskaitė
3.00-4.30 p. m. Dr. Marcin Kędzierski, PL (Assistant Professor, Cracow University of Economics, collaborator, Cracow Centre for Public Policy)
„What Does Europe Mean? Lessons Learned from the Long History of the European Integration“
8 September (Sunday)
8.45 St. Mass in Nida. Donated by Philippe Capelle-Dumont
Organiser:
Thomas Mann Cultural Centre
Partners:
Neringa Municipality
Neringa Museums
Funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Municipality of Neringa
