The conference “Women and Europe – Interdisciplinary approaches, innovative prospects, new sources” seeks to explore these multifarious challenges. While the role of women in Europe, considered from multiple perspectives, has begun to be studied more systematically by researchers, leading to a growing volume of scholarly literature since the mid-1970s, the subject nevertheless remains largely underexplored.

The Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre (ADG) at the European University Institute (EUI) and the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History at the University of Luxembourg (C²DH), with the support of the Robert Schuman Initiative at the University of Luxembourg (co-funded by the European Union, 2025-2028) will organise the conference “Women and Europe – Interdisciplinary approaches, innovative prospects, new sources” scheduled on 10 and 11 November 2025 at the EUI Florence.

Argument

The conference “Women and Europe – Interdisciplinary approaches, innovative prospects, new sources” seeks to explore these multifarious challenges. While the role of women in Europe, considered from multiple perspectives, has begun to be studied more systematically by researchers, leading to a growing volume of scholarly literature since the mid-1970s, the subject nevertheless remains largely underexplored (Beltrán & Szołtysek 2022; Sluga & James, 2016). Traditional disciplinary approaches in fields such as history, international relations, political studies and sociology have gradually broadened to include new perspectives such as the feminist movement, human rights issues (Rosenkranz & della Porta 2025; McLaren 2019; Deshormes 1991), gender-, sexuality- and intersectionality studies (Maes & Debusscher, 2024; Schaub 2022; Hubert 2022; Winslow 2008), and more recently also female leadership in international relations  (Buss et al. 2025; Müller & Tömmel 2023. But some topics have received less attention, including gender mainstreaming as a cross-sectoral approach (Caywood & Darmstadt 2024; Abels & Mushaben 2012), female networks and gender issues in the European integration process (Danescu & Klein 2025; Briatte, Gubin & Thébaud 2019), women in power relations and institutions (Carbonell 2019; Dénéchère 2016) and in international relations and diplomacy (Badel 2024; Seidel 2023), as well as women’s engagement in intellectual arenas (Farina et al. 2023; Schelkle, 2023; Owens & Rietzler 2021)

This gap in research is exacerbated by the lack or non-systematic nature of sources, especially archives, which have long been compiled, preserved and published/made available from the perspective and narrative of the “founding fathers,” even though women have played a key part in European history. This approach has led to women remaining in the shadows, despite the fact that they often held essential roles such as intellectuals, experts and technocrats, trade union activists and diplomats. Following the first direct universal suffrage elections to the European Parliament in 1979, and subsequently the appointment of the first female European Commissioner in 1989, women’s visibility and acceptance in leadership across various sectors progressively expanded, alongside growing scholarly, educational, and societal interest—particularly in sources documenting their contributions and preserving their memories (Schlenker, 2025). Hence, the incorporation of a gender perspective into European memory and history appears indispensable (Milosevic, 2018). This is illustrated by the growing compilation of private archives by women, alongside the emergence of oral history as a generative mode of source creation and memory preservation, has produced new materials that foreground embodied and affective dimensions of experience, thereby advancing groundbreaking methodologies for multimedia and multidimensional analysis attentive to voice, gesture, and emotion (Gammerl et.al, 2019).

Topics of papers presented at the conference may include, but are not limited to:

• critically assess the subject by addressing the theoretical and methodological challenges within an inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinary framework, while simultaneously emphasizing both advanced and collaborative synergies.
• investigate innovative initiatives and projects across research, teaching, learning, and the dissemination of knowledge within the field.
• examine how the transversal digital dimension — as an inherent aspect of research, teaching, learning, knowledge dissemination — shapes the agenda in academia and public engagement
• explore the interplay between archives and digital storytelling in producing new historical knowledge of the past via norms and practices in collecting, preserving, sharing and disseminating the memory of women.

The conference focuses on a period running from the end of the Second World War to the present.

Eligibility and how to apply

The workshop is aimed at scholars from different disciplinary horizons (e.g. history, , political science, gender and feminist studies, sociology, archival science, economics, digital humanities, etc) at various levels of their careers, who will critically share their work in research, teaching, learning and knowledge sharing (dissemination) related to “Women and Europe.” 

Applicants should submit an abstract of no more than 500 words outlining their proposal and a short CV via the registration form in this announcement

by 19th August 2025. 

Please note that should your institution be unable to do so, conference funds are available to support your accommodation and travel expenses. 

Selected applicants will be informed by 15 September 2025.

For any additional information, please contact: alcidedegasperi.rc@eui.eu

Scientific committee

(by alphabetical order)

• Dr Elena Danescu (University of Luxembourg/C2DH, Jean Monnet Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI Florence)
• Prof. Benno Gammerl (European University Institute)
• Prof. Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol (European University Institute)
• Dr Dieter Schlenker (Historical Archives of the European Union)
• Prof. Glenda Sluga (European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies)