Graduate Student Panel Discussion, ‘Who Is European? Analyzing European Identity in Subnational Contexts’

What does it mean to be ‘European?’ In light of the 2016 Brexit referendum, the 2017 referendum for an independent Catalonia and other popular demands for changes in governance structures, it has become clear that European identity (as a part of self, as an instrument for gaining the benefits of EU citizenship and as a means of unifying a continent following World War II) is a concept with different meanings for different groups of Europeans. In this first Center for European Studies graduate student panel, students will share their research and experiences with European identity in subnational contexts. Students Santiago Giron Gesteira and Amaia Valparis will discuss European identity in the context of two regions in Spain with historically strong regional identities, and student Stephanie Shady will examine the impact of Brexit on identity and citizenship in Northern Ireland. Student David Attewell will moderate the panel as graduate students discuss the ways in which these cases speak to broader patterns for the future of the European project.