The RIAS, in collaboration with eleven other European institutions, is launching the European Forum on US History, a new monthly hybrid seminar series on US history. Our partnership consists of the following research centres:
- American Studies Center, University of Warsaw
- CEI-Iscte / Centre for International Studies of Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon
- Centre d’Histoire de Sciences Po
- Centro di Studi sugli Stati Uniti – Università di Bologna
- Heidelberg University
- Instituto Franklin-UAH – Alcalá University
- Roosevelt Institute for American Studies
- Rothermere American Institute – University of Oxford
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Glasgow
- University of Southern Denmark
Together, our eleven institutes will curate a rotating, hybrid seminar series that deepens historiographical and interdisciplinary exchange, broadens our geographic reach, diversifies scholarly voices, and creates new opportunities for joint workshops, doctoral mentoring, and collaborative publications. By fostering an inclusive platform for scholars and reaffirming our shared commitment to cutting-edge research on US history, we sustain vital cross-border collaboration at a moment when restrictions on academic freedom make such partnerships more essential than ever.
This series, one of the very few of its kind in Europe, intersects with various significant historiographical trends, continuing the move towards a more integrated view of US and North American history. It pays special attention to the inclusion of global, imperial, transnational, and interconnected histories to reframe our understanding of the United States’ place in the world and the emerging focus on international environmental history and issues.
The platform, which meets once a month in a hybrid format, encourages active participation from doctoral students and serves as an open and inclusive forum for discussing some of the most innovative recent scholarship. It aspires to bring together historians of different backgrounds and in different stages of their careers, foster a historiographical and interdisciplinary conversation, and critically consider the contemporary societal and political ramifications of the historical events under discussion.
Five of the eleven partner institutes are members of the American Studies Network (ASN), a consortium of European American studies centres affiliated with the European Association for American Studies (EAAS).
Program 2026-2027
- Brooke L. Blower (Boston University)
Flying for Refuge: Europe’s Unwed Mothers and Birthright Citizenship at the US Border, 1880s-1920s
Monday, 28 September 2026
17:00-18:30 CEST
Host: University of Warsaw (Poland)
- Bastiaan Bouwman (Utrecht University)
Why Do They Fear to Return?’ Amnesty International’s Internationalization and Haitian Refugee Advocacy in the United States, 1973–1980
Monday, 26 October 2026
17:00-18:30 CET
Host: Centre d’Histoire de Sciences Po (France) - Frédéric Heurtebize (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
Constrained Engagement: US Labor and Portugal’s Democratic Transition (1974–1975)
Monday, 23 November 2026
17:00-18:30 CET
Host: Centre for International Studies of Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) - Aimée Plukker (Center for Presidential History, SMU)
Destination Europe: Cold War Transatlantic Tourism and the Making of ‘the West’
Monday, 14 December 2026
17:00-18:30 CET
Host: University of Southern Denmark (Denmark) - Hélène Quanquin (University of Lille / IUF)
Feminisms Without Children: Childlessness, Feminist Activism and Kinships in the United States, 1830s–1920s
Monday, 25 January 2027
17:00-18:30 CET
Host: RIAS (Netherlands) - Matteo Rossi (Fondazione 1563 / University of Turin)
The Artifice of Accumulation: Henry Carey’s Political Economy in the Making of American Capitalism
Monday, February 22, 2027
17:00-18:30 CET
Host: University of Bologna (Italy) - Sarah E. Naramore (University of Edinburgh)
Transatlantic Negotiations: American and European Interpretations of Disease
Monday, 22 March 2027
17:00-18:30 CET
Host: University of Edinburgh (UK) - Katharina Wiedlack (University of Vienna)
‘When Uncle Sam Sent Me to Alaska’: Entangled Imperialisms and Native Resistance at the Turn of the 20th Century
Monday, 19 April 2027
17:00-18:30 CEST
Host: Heidelberg University (Germany) - Emilie Cunning (Emory University)
Borders of Freedom: How Europe Became Contested Territory for Amnesty Politics during the US War in Vietnam
Monday, 24 May 2027
17:00-18:30 CEST
Host: University of Oxford (UK) - Suzanne Enzerink (University of St. Gallen)
From Race Suicide to the Great Replacement: Europe and the United States in a Century of Dialogue and Exclusion
Monday, 21 June 2027
17:00-18:30 CEST
Host: Universidad de Alcalá (Spain)
Contacts:
William Glass (American Studies Center – University of Warsaw)
Ana Mónica Fonseca, Luís Nuno Rodrigues (CEI-Iscte / Centre for International Studies of Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon)
Olivier Burtin, Mario Del Pero, Jonathan Levy (Centre d’Histoire de Sciences Po)
Matteo Battistini, Angela Santese (Centro di Studi sugli Stati Uniti – Università di Bologna)
Nicole Colaianni (Heidelberg University)
Carlos Herrero, Ana Lariño (Instituto Franklin-UAH – Alcalá University)
Gaetano Di Tommaso, Dario Fazzi (Roosevelt Institute for American Studies)
Daniel Rowe (Rothermere American Institute – University of Oxford)
Fabian Hilfrich (University of Edinburgh)
Jay Sarkar, Sarah C. Dunstan, Oli Charbonneau (University of Glasgow)
Jørn Brøndal (University of Southern Denmark)
Please address any questions about the Forum and the monthly sessions to our program coordinator:
Gaetano Di Tommaso (info@ushistoryforum.eu)
Download full programs:
Previous Year’s Program:
Link to the program’s website:
European Forum on US History
