Round Table - The Politics of Religion in Southern Europe - December 2021
The EUROSUD students on Dr Myrto Tsakatika's course, Politics and Society in Southern Europe, were invited to an organised Round Table discussing 'The Politics of Religion in Southern Europe' as part of their Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programme.
The experts involved were Dr Xabier Itcaina (University of Bordeaux), Dr Stratos Patrikios (University of Strathclyde) and Dr Ates Altinordu (Sabanci University), Sabanci University is an Associate Partner of the EUROSUD programme. Discussing topics; the social role of the Catholic Church in Italy, Spain and France; religiosity, political attitudes and the modernisation of the Greek Orthodox Church; political Islam in Turkey from the 1970s until today.
Dr Itçaina, focused on the general argument of his book Catholic mediations in Southern Europe. The invisible politics of religion (Routledge, 2019). The presentation aimed at proposing a comparative analytical framework on religion and politics in Southern Europe, here focused on Catholic countries, to the EUROSUD students. As a whole, the composition of the panel, with three papers on different religions (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Islam) and countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey) was very insightful and gave the floor to an interesting discussion, which kept the students engaged.
European Migration Management - Seminar
On 10 November 2021, EUROSUD hosted a Seminar on ‘European Migration Management’, held in Glasgow city centre, with participation of distinguished guest speakers, over zoom.
Lefteris Papagianakis is the Director of the Greek Council for Refugees, with extensive policy, advocacy and research experience on migrant and refugee affairs. Among others, he served as Vice Mayor of Athens (2016-19), responsible for Migrants, Refugees and Municipal Decentralization. Short Bio.
Steffen Lüdke is a journalist at Der SPIEGEL and prominent researcher on the failures of Frontex in securing human rights for migrants. Here are some of his articles, translated to English: 23 October 2020; 5 February 2021; 29 April 2021, and an article summarising recent investigations: "Our Orders Are Clear. Nobody Gets Through."
Contributing to the fascinating discussion, along with our students, was Dr Gerasimos Tsourapas, a leading academic expert on refugee politics and migration diplomacy and our newest EUROSUD (and Glasgow University) staff member.
Participants explored the challenges and contradictions of European migration policy and its implications for crisis management, international human rights and European integration.
Conflict Resolution (Cyprus) Seminar - October 2021
The Conflict Resolution seminar took place in October 2021 via zoom. We were in the fortunate position to have two outstanding guest speakers for this session who were invited to the EUROSUD class of Southern Europe in International Affairs taught by Prof Georgios Karyotis. Professor Ahmet Sözen (Eastern Mediterranean University ) and Professor Costas Constantinou (University of Cyprus). Both shared their professional and personal experiences of navigating this conflict with the students.
Professor Sözen commented: "EUROSUD students, by far, have been one of the most active and engaged students compared to the other groups to whom I give seminars several times a year.
Indeed, as Costa put it, it is always a pleasure and easier to do this seminar with students who have prior knowledge and have special interest in the region."
Prof Sözen returns to University of Glasgow
Prof Georgios Karyotis welcomed Prof Ahmet Sözen, Eastern Mediterranean University for a return visit to his online seminar, remarking that both he and his students really enjoyed his unique insights and wealth of knowledge about the conflict in Cyprus and the broader lessons that emerge from it in relation to the challenges and opportunities for conflict resolution. Prof Sözen commented that the EUROSUD students were very attentive!
@TheAhmetSozen
Introductory guest lecture on "Recent Developments in the Eastern Mediterranean: Challenges and Prospects" in Athens
