CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A panel discussion on the geopolitics of Europe, prompted by current world events, will be held March 18 (Tuesday) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The discussion, titled "Old Europe/New Europe: A Panel on the Geopolitics of the Current Moment," will begin at 4 p.m. in the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities Building, 805 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana. It is free and open to the public.
Panelists, all faculty members at Illinois, include Peter Fritzsche, professor of history and chair of the history department; Edward Kolodziej, professor emeritus of political science; Jean-Philippe Mathy, professor of French and head of the French department; and Maria Todorova, professor of history.
The panel will consider a number of issues, including whether we are witnessing political, strategic and cultural realignments across the Atlantic; whether the prospect of war with Iraq has irrevocably transformed U.S.-European relations; whether U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is right in saying that there is an "old" Europe and a "new" Europe; and the implications of America's "new" anti-Europeanism.
The event is sponsored by the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. IPRH was established at Illinois in 1997 to promote interdisciplinary study in the humanities, arts and social sciences.