Featured
My Life Without A National Identity
All over Europe and the world, nationalism is on the rise and the debates about how the respective national culture should be defined are getting shriller by the day. Our author Maria wonders whether all this hostility is necessary at all as she lives perfectly happy without a national identity.
A Map of Friendship
During international seminars and History Camps you can meet people from all over Europe and form intense friendships. After these events distance and new circumstances sometimes present a challenge, even for the closest friendships. In his MEMORY SUITCASE Phillip shares his experience in making cross-border friendships and reconnecting with them years later. A hand-made paper map became a symbol of this friendship.
Music in the service of patriotism: Can songs divide us?
“Music unites people of different cultural backgrounds” is a phrase that one can often hear in speeches. Yes, music connects people. It can enrich a person and provide confidence, motivation and a sense of belonging. But what happens if you combine songs, collective memory and national identity? Milena from Serbia describes how the question about patriotism and music can lit up a burning discussion.
Polish-Czech relations: Stereotypes, mistrust and misunderstandings put into practise
Last year Polish historian Michal Przeperski published his first book Unbearable Burden of Brotherhood. The book deals with Polish-Czech conflicts in the 20th century but takes also a more thorough look on the background of the troublesome relations of these two nations. The conflicts between Poles and Czechs are numerous, but in the name of learning from the past we wanted to ask Michal, is there something to learn from this quarrelsome history. In his opinion there is – and it’s a quite simple one.
What can we learn from Singapore? Lessons on Multiculturalism
A state system based on the classification of race actually works? Martin from Bulgaria studied for one year in multicultural Singapore and discovered the key to its social cohesion. Find out how the country benefits from its diversity, but also consider: are there disadvantages? Could a similar approach work in Europe?
