Culture, War, and Peace debated at the 1st T4EU Summer School

‘The reason why we’re talking about war is because we want to talk about peace.’ With these words, Isabel Capeloa Gil, Rector of Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), summarised the theme of the 1st Transform4Europe Summer School for Early-Stage Researchers.
The relationship between Culture and War was under debate from June 24 to 29 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the UCP in Lisbon, Portugal. The event had more than 130 participants from 24 countries and 5 continents.

At the opening session, the Rector mentioned the event aimed to promote ‘meaningful dialogues about the state of the world and the role that culture has to play to tackle the inequalities, the persistent issues, problems, and crisis affecting us.’
On the topic of this edition, Nelson Ribeiro, the Director of the Faculty of Human Sciences, said, ‘Unfortunately, there is no need to explain why this is a pressing topic. War has become central to most discussions on international and national affairs impacting directly or indirectly millions of people and creating anxieties about our common futures.’
Without forgetting the role of social media and artificial intelligence in wars, Nelson Ribeiro noted that ‘the media are not only mediators of wars but are also instruments of warfare or munitions of the mind.’

The Summer School included keynotes and masterclasses from speakers such as filmmaker Tonya Lewis Lee, artist Rosângela Rennó, and Professors Antonio Monegal and Christiane Solte-Gresser, among others. In addition, PhD and Masters students could present their ongoing research in paper sessions or poster presentations.

For Przemysław Kantorski, a 33-year-old PhD student from the University of Silesia who participated in the T4EU Summer School, it was his first time visiting Lisbon and also participating in a T4EU event.
Highlighting the networking experience during the event, he believes taking part in the summer school was ‘a great opportunity to present the results of research to other young scientists and specialists.’
‘Participation in the Summer School has significantly contributed to my development, not only because of the feedback I received but also because of the broadly understood inclusion in something that I perceive as an academic, international community. The event sensitised me to various problems and strengthened my belief in the agency of the work of scientists, including young ones. I believe that other young researchers would benefit greatly from experiencing something similar,’ he stated.
Regarding the T4EU Alliance, the young researcher thinks it ‘creates a space for productive cooperation not only between institutions but also between researchers involved in important problems of different scopes and nature.’

Anna Słania, also from the University of Silesia and in the 3rd year of her PhD in Social Communication and Media Studies, highlighted the paper sessions ‘oriented on the conversation about participants’ research’ since ‘constructive feedback and lively discussion are the best part of meetings like this.’
Also, in Lisbon and at a T4EU event for the first time, Anna stated it was her first scientific journey abroad and that it was ‘a great opportunity to exchange knowledge, scientific experience, and international contacts.’