2 DECEMBER — A basic historical knowledge of key events and processes in Europe during the last 200 years is indispensable to understand many of the current political, economic and social discussions that are taking place in the continent and beyond its borders.
This is the view that Dr Daniel Siemens, from University College London, will suggest in his open lecture “The Creation of Modern Europe: From the French Revolution to the European Union, 1789-today” at Peking University on 6 December.
Dr Siemens will provide an overview over the last two centuries of European history taking political, social, cultural and religious developments into account.
Starting with the French Revolution in 1789, the lecture will analyse the rise of modern nationalism in the 19th century and the transformation from monarchic Empires into nation states structured along ethnicity and religion. It will also look at the rise of modern political ideologies like liberalism, socialism and fascism as well as at the impact both world wars in the first half of the 20th century had on the creation of the European Union.
The importance of the last 200 years in understanding many of the current debates in the continent will be proved, while Europe’s possible roles in a global 21st century will also be discussed.
6 December, Peking University, Leo KoGuan Building, room 515, 15:10-18:00
The event is open to the public.
This activity is part of the course in European Studies for Peking University’s Master and PhD students given in collaboration between the European University Centre, the School of Government and the Centre for European Studies at Peking University, with lecturers coming from Peking University, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Autonomous University of Madrid, Lund University, University College Dublin and University College London.
The next open lecture will take place on Friday, 13 December, with Dr Alexander Wilkinson from University College Dublin looking at “The Communications Revolution in Early-Modern Europe”.
Dr. Daniel Siemens is an historian of Modern Central Europe and DAAD Francis L. Carsten Lecturer in Modern German History at the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies (SSEES), University College London. He is also a faculty member of the History Department at the University of Bielefeld. He has published widely on the history of Europe and the United States in the 19th and 20th century, most notably Metropole und Verbrechen. Die Gerichtsreportage in Berlin, Paris und Chicago, 1919-1933 (Stuttgart: Steiner 2007) and Horst Wessel. Tod und Verkl？rung eines Nationalsozialisten (Munich: Siedler 2009, published in English as The Making of a Nazi Hero. The Murder and Myth of Horst Wessel by I.B.Tauris/London in February 2013. He recently co-edited an issue of InterDisciplines. Journal of History and Sociology on ‘Law and Historiography’ (with Daniel Hedinger). Siemens is currently working on a comprehensive history of the Nazi SA, under contract with Yale University Press.
European University Centre at Peking University (EUCPU)
Room 204, Wei-Li Building, Tan Siu Lin Centre for International Studies
Peking University, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871
Tel: +86(0)10 6275 5387
Email: euc2009@pku.edu.cn
Website: www.lu.se/pkueuc
