Dear Friends,
As we approach the end of 2024, CES leadership, staff, and committee members want to send you good wishes for a happy and peaceful holiday season.
2024 has been a big year for the CES. We were delighted to hold our 30th Annual Conference in Lyon, which brought more than 1000 members together in person for a truly successful event. We also transitioned to our new home, Temple University, in Philadelphia, and we welcomed Abby Lewis (as Executive Director) and Nathalia Nascimento (as Conference and Events Manager) to the CES staff.
We are excited about what 2025 will bring to the organization and our members. We will be relaunching our European Studies Book Prize (info forthcoming!) and continuing our existing pre-dissertation grant in collaboration with the SAE, our first article prize, and our undergraduate prize. We will be working closely with our research networks to support these prizes. We are also in the midst of revamping EuropeNow for a future relaunch and exploring possible new publication opportunities as well as online and in-person programs to support professional development and pedagogy. Finally, we are thrilled to be bringing the CES conference back to the USA and welcoming you, our members, to the new CES home at Temple University for the 31st Annual Council for European Studies Conference (25-27th June 2025).
This coming year, we also want to hear from you. In January, we will distribute a survey that will help us better understand how we can support you as educators and researchers in today’s climate. This survey will help determine the future orientation of our programming and support.
The past few years have undoubtedly posed many challenges to the field of European Studies and higher education. Organizations like CES play an important role in helping us to understand and address these issues. The current political contexts in Europe and globally present both challenges and opportunities for relevant and impactful discussion, which we aim to explore at our upcoming conference and through our online programs and publications.
Of course, we cannot deliver this programming without your engagement and support. Therefore, in the spirit of the holidays, we ask you to renew your CES membership. It is common that members only renew in years that they attend the conference. However, we continue to need your support even if you do not plan to come to the conference. CES membership gives you access to European Studies grants and awards, access to professional development opportunities, and online programming. Your yearly membership also enables CES to further the field of European Studies through building relations with academic, political and professional organizations. But most importantly, it means CES can continue to create spaces for the current and future generations of Europeanists to come together, network and successfully foster connections and share knowledge. You can renew your membership here.
In addition, we ask you to consider donating to the CES this holiday season. Donations will go directly towards providing conference travel grants to graduate students and faculty without institutional support. Donations can be made when you renew your membership or via this link.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to CES. We look forward to another year of growth and collaboration.
Happy holidays!
(Chair of the CES Executive Committee 2024-2026)
