EUSTORY Academies in 2007
28 July - 04 August in Berlin / Germany
“Shared values for Europe – The Impact of Islam, Judaism, Christianity on the Identity of Europe”
In cooperation with: wannseeFORUM, Berlin
EUSTORY Youth Academy Berlin 2007: Scene of the final presentation
Photo: David Ausserhofer
The EUSTORY Academy addressed the connections between the great world religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity and European identity. What role does religion play, if any, as an aspect of European identity? Are secular principles, such as „freedom, equality and brotherhood" much more important for a future catalogue of European values? These were the major questions that the students focused on during their work at the wannseeFORUM in Berlin.
The German capital turned out to be a good place to start seeking answers to these questions. Berlin is home to people from many areas of Europe and the world. Its Jewish community is gaining strength, and the number of mosques also is on the rise. A dialog on shared values is essential to coexistence in the city.
Meetings with members and official representatives of the three religions, as well as with experts were thus at the core of this EUSTORY Academy. In small groups the students spoke with altogether six Berlin citizens and had thus the possibility to look at the topic of the academy from different points of view. The young Europeans wanted to find out how their interviewees perceive the influence of the differents faiths on Europe's cultural heritage and on the actual situation in Berlin itself, how they look at the coexistence of different religious groups in Berlin and what they think could or should be done to foster mutual understanding between members of these different religions.
Historical sources on religious conflicts in European history gave the background for the students’ joint work. Evaluating these texts, the students found out about different perspectives on the common past of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Europe. The results of this research were the basis for the interviews that were thoroughly prepared in groups.
As a third step, the students worked with different media to show the results of the interviews and the reading. The students wrote their own newspaper, shot short films and recorded a radio show. All these different contributions found expression in a staged collage.
Photo: David Ausserhofer
Last but not least, the students brought with them posters to illustrate the topics of their individual research papers that had been awarded at EUSTORY history competitions. These posters were shown in the entrance hall of the wannseeFORUM and gave an impressive insight into the young researchers’ work in the different European countries.
