18th DRC Summer School 2023

Date/Time
July 16, 2023 - July 22, 2023
00:00 CEST/CET

Discuss the most up-to-date issues with leading experts in the beautiful city of Cluj-Napoca
Participate in scientific seminars hosted by three Universities of Cluj-Napoca
Engage in interactive workshops and lectures
Take part in cultural programmes including a field trip in Salina Turda
No registration fee, accomodation is provided!
Travel is covered up to 200€

General Topics of the Summer School:

Democratic recovery in wartime Europe

The nature of populist, illiberal, autocratic and stabilocratic regimes has become exposed in recent months as Europe mobilized its efforts to support Ukraine. The ongoing conflict continues to reveal democratic shortcomings and anti-democratic tendencies in some European countries. Against the backdrop of military operations and trench warfare, conflict of values and different understandings of governance and societies enter the front line of political discourse across Europe. In addition to scrutinizing concrete examples of democratic backsliding, we take a look at the ways in which political unity and democratic solidarity in Europe can be achieved through education.

Inclusion and diversity in times of war

The devastating war in Ukraine has forced a large number of people to leave their homes and find refuge in other European countries. Although many of them have been traumatized by their brutal displacement, they have been engaged in a slow process of rebuilding their lives in the host countries. We examine how host societies establish smooth integration of fleeing Ukrainians and explore how these societies accept the diversity of the newcomers by allowing them to exert their agency and actively participate in their new environment instead of being seen as passive and muted recipients of external help.

Digital is taking over – threat or opportunity?

The social transformation of our age is significantly shaped by the digital transition and technological innovation. All-encompassing changes affect private lives as well as public processes. The impact of digitalization is also highly evident in the field of higher education, particularly the Covid-19 pandemic gave momentum to the virtual relocation. We investigate what areas of research require our attention to unlock the full potential of technological advancements and how does digital conversion and artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT, impact education and its future.

Towards European strategic autonomy

The Russian invasion of Ukraine not only destroyed the security architecture in Europe, but also exposed the sensitive areas of European strategic sovereignty. Strong energy subordination to nonrenewable resources, dependencies in the supply chains and their disruptions or insufficient technological innovations are just some of the existing limitations of emerging strategic autonomy of Europe. We take a look at the role of universities in the efforts in achieving European sovereignty and what research is still needed to bring about green and independence transformation of the European continent.