In keeping with our two central aims, each year HEIRS invites doctoral or post-doctoral researchers to conceptualise and organise our annual conference. The point of these conferences is to allow for younger researchers to come together in an informal yet professional environment, to disseminate their research, and gain useful feedback from peers and more established academics. 

This page contains information on forthcoming and previous conferences. 

Eighth HEIRS Conference, Humboldt University, Berlin, on 30-31 March 2012

Since the 1990s and in direct connection with the low turnouts of the European elections the so-called “democratic deficit” of the EU became an increasingly discussed topic in both academic and political circles. In this context, the (apparently insufficient) communication of European politics to its citizens and the lack of identification with European institutions have been of especially great importance. Academic research has invested considerable efforts in trying to analyse and explain these problematic relationships. However, because this still growing area of research is still dominated by social scientists, historical approaches seem to be somewhat underrepresented.The conference aims to foster interdisciplinary exchange in historical research on this crucial aspect of the history of European integration. 

For the full programme please see the attached document:

Seventh HEIRS Conference, Forli, Italy, on 11-12 March 2011

The goal of the Seventh HEIRS Conference was to promote the study of the international dimension of the EC/EU, the direct and indirect impact of its common policies on a worldwide scale, as well as the link between its international self-representation and the more general discourse of identity. 

For the conference programme, please see the following document:

A conference report will appear shortly. 

Sixth HEIRS Conference, University of Reading, 15-16 April 2010

The Sixth HEIRS Conference, arranged by Christian Salm and Matthew Broad, took place at the University of Reading, UK. The central aim of the conference was to link the often unconnected research on European integration with that of Cold War studies, and visa versa. 

For a full report of the Sixth HEIRS Conference, please see the following document:   

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Fifth HEIRS Conference, European University Institute (EUI), Florence, 6-7 March 2009

The Fifth HEIRS Conference, arranged by Cristina Blanco Sío-López, took place at the EUI in Florence. This conference discussed European integration through a 'cultural lens'. Its starting point was that, while approaches and methodologies associated with a turn towards 'New Cultural History' have become increasingly prominent in historical research, this has not tended to be utilised through integration research. 

For the programme for the Fifth HEIRS Conference, please see the following document:  

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Fourth HEIRS Conference, Institut d’Etudes européennes, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 11-12 April 2008  

The Fourth HEIRS Conference was arranged by Flavia Cumoli, Mazyar Khoojinian and Nicolas Verschueren and took place in Brussels in April 2008. It aimed to discuss problem posed by the apparent lack of the integration of European societies as part of the broader European integration process.

For the conference proceedings of the Fourth HEIRS Conference, please see the following document:  

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Third HEIRS Conference, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, 16-17 March 2007

The Third HEIRS Conference, which was arranged by Sophie Huber and Katrin Milzow, took place in Geneva in March 2007. The conference discussed the various actors and witnessess to the European integration process.

For the conference report of the Third HEIRS Conference, please see the following document:  

 

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Second HEIRS Conference, Centre for European and International Studies Research, University of Portsmouth, 4-5 November 2005

The Second HEIRS Conference took place in late November 2005, organised by two of HEIRS's original committee members, Brigitte Leucht and Katja Seidel. The conference assessed the EU's first fifty years, and specifically examined interdisciplinary and methodological issues relating to European integration history. 

The report of the Second HEIRS Conference can be found here:  

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First HEIRS Conference, University of Cambridge, 6-7 November 2004

The First HEIRS Conference took place at the University of Cambridge in November 2004. It was arranged by a number of the original HEIRS committee and their colleagues, including Linda Risso, George Wilkes, Brigitte Leucht, Lucia Faltin and Marion Gurial. 

For the report of the First HEIRS Conference, please see the report: