In recent years, research outputs and knowledge transfer to society at large via teaching and public outreach have come up against various challenges: 1) inter-, multi- and cross-disciplinarity, resulting in a range of perspectives and critical apparatuses to grasp the complexity of topics under study (Klein 2010; Klein 2004); 2) technological innovation, accelerated by digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI), enhances 鈥榢nowledge intensity鈥�, giving rise to new research methods and tools and unconventional lenses for analysing and interpreting results that transcend the human (Edvardson & Durst 2017); 3) the deeply collaborative nature of these processes, which involve multiple stakeholders and are driven by interactivity, exchange and co-creation in a network-based environment (Okamura 2023); 4) the gender dimension, which encourages us to address not only biases and gaps in knowledge but also broader issues related to the right to equality, non-discrimination and inclusion in society (Owen et al., 2021). These insights and intricacies underpin the frameworks of both the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Research Area (ERA), aiming to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and collaboration in a more inclusive society (EC 2007).

The conference 鈥淲omen and Europe 鈥� Interdisciplinary approaches, innovative prospects, new sources鈥� 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 (Beltr谩n & Szo艂tysek 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; M眉ller & T枚mmel 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 & Th茅baud 2019), women in power relations and institutions (Carbonell 2019; D茅n茅ch猫re 2016) and in international relations and diplomacy (Badel 2024; Seidel 2023), as well as women鈥檚 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 鈥渇ounding fathers,鈥� 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鈥檚 visibility and acceptance in leadership across various sectors progressively expanded, alongside growing scholarly, educational, and societal interest鈥攑articularly 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).

Programme

The conference  is funded by the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History at the 成人头条, the Alcide de Gasperi Research Centre, the Historical Archives of the European 成人头条on and the EUI Robert Schuman Centre, with the support of the Robert Schuman Initiative for European Affairs at the 成人头条.

The Conference is organized within the framework of the research projects 鈥�The Role of Women in European and International Relations in Luxembourg鈥欌赌� (after the Second World War) (成人头条, C虏DH) and 鈥�The female face of the EU: hidden histories, transnational dynamics, new approaches鈥� (HER-EUROPE) (C虏DH, EUI/Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies 2024-2025).

Delivered by Dr Viviane Reding (Luxembourg), a distinguished voice in European integration, this Ursula Hirschmann Lecture traces the trajectory of women in the European 成人头条on, drawing upon personal experience to illuminate the progress achieved, the barriers surmounted, and the pivotal objectives that remain to be met.

Jointly organised by the Robert Schuman Centre and the EUI Department of History, in partnership with the C虏DH/ 成人头条.

In recent years, research outputs and knowledge transfer to society at large via teaching and public outreach have come up against various challenges: 1) inter-, multi- and cross-disciplinarity, resulting in a range of perspectives and critical apparatuses to grasp the complexity of topics under study (Klein 2010; Klein 2004); 2) technological innovation, accelerated by digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI), enhances 鈥榢nowledge intensity鈥�, giving rise to new research methods and tools and unconventional lenses for analysing and interpreting results that transcend the human (Edvardson & Durst 2017); 3) the deeply collaborative nature of these processes, which involve multiple stakeholders and are driven by interactivity, exchange and co-creation in a network-based environment (Okamura 2023); 4) the gender dimension, which encourages us to address not only biases and gaps in knowledge but also broader issues related to the right to equality, non-discrimination and inclusion in society (Owen et al., 2021). These insights and intricacies underpin the frameworks of both the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Research Area (ERA), aiming to strengthen competitiveness, innovation, and collaboration in a more inclusive society (EC 2007).

The conference 鈥淲omen and Europe 鈥� Interdisciplinary approaches, innovative prospects, new sources鈥� 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 (Beltr谩n & Szo艂tysek 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 聽(Buss et al. 2025; M眉ller & T枚mmel 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 & Th茅baud 2019), women in power relations and institutions (Carbonell 2019; D茅n茅ch猫re 2016) and in international relations and diplomacy (Badel 2024; Seidel 2023), as well as women鈥檚 engagement in intellectual arenas (Farina et al. 2023; Schelkle, 2023; Owens & Rietzler 2021) 聽聽聽聽聽 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 鈥渇ounding fathers,鈥� 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鈥檚 visibility and acceptance in leadership across various sectors progressively expanded, alongside growing scholarly, educational, and societal interest鈥攑articularly 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).

Grounded in these insights and aligned with their strategic priorities in research, teaching/learning pedagogy, and societal engagement, the Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre (ADG) at the European 成人头条versity Institute (EUI) and the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History at the 成人头条 (C虏DH), with the support of the Robert Schuman Initiative at the 成人头条 (co-funded by the European 成人头条on, 2025-2028) will organise the conference 鈥淲omen and Europe 鈥� Interdisciplinary approaches, innovative prospects, new sources鈥� scheduled on 10 and 11 November 2025 at the EUI Florence.

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 鈥� as an inherent aspect of research, teaching, learning, knowledge dissemination 鈥� 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 鈥�Women and Europe.鈥�

Applicants should submit an abstract of no more than 500 words outlining their proposal and a short CV by 19 August 2025 via the in this announcement.

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

Funding details

The Conference on 鈥�Women and Europe 鈥� Interdisciplinary approaches, innovative prospects, new sources鈥�聽is financially supported by the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History, the Alcide de Gasperi Research Centre, the Historical Archives of the European 成人头条on and the EUI Robert Schuman Centre with the support of the Robert Schuman Initiative for European Affairs at the 成人头条.

Scientific committee (by alphabetical order)

• (成人头条/C²DH, Jean Monnet Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, EUI Florence)
• (European 成人头条versity Institute)
• (European 成人头条versity Institute)
• (Historical Archives of the European 成人头条on)
• (European 成人头条versity Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies)

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Beltr谩n Tapia, F. J., & Szo艂tysek, M. (2022). 鈥楳issing girls鈥� in historical Europe: reopening the debate. The History of the Family, 27(4), 619鈥�657. DOI (Retrieved 6 June 2025).

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Buss, Martin; Andler Sophie; Tiberius Victor (2025). 鈥楩emale leadership: An integrative review and research framework.鈥�  Leadership Quarterly, 36(3), 3-28.

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