[Placeholder introduction]
In recent years, the EU has faced unprecedented challenges in living up to its mission of creating a peaceful future based on common values. Despite the incorporation of foundational values into instruments of global governance, societal actors have increasingly opposed both the methods by which the EU seeks to promote its values and the values themselves. ValEUs is an EU-funded project, bringing together 21 partner institutions from 18 countries across five continents, that aims to better understand this contestation of EU values and its implications for EU foreign policy.
Three summer schools, hosted by partner institutions in Denmark, Turkey, and Mexico, took place simultaneously, each offering a distinctive curriculum reflecting local issues and expertise. Participants in all three schools also joined shared sessions focusing on cross-cutting contestations of EU values and Europe’s multiple crises. The summer schools included site visits, keynote addresses, and social events for participants. A certificate was provided to each participant upon successful completion of the program.
ValEUs Summer School Istanbul: Multiple Crises and Contestation of EU Values
The ValEUs Summer School in Istanbul explored questions of EU enlargement and migration in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Hosted at Istanbul Bilgi University’s SantralIstanbul Campus, the program examined issues ranging from the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey to the broader dynamics of EU migration and asylum policy across the region. The course was taught in English and brought together leading scholars from the European Institute at Bilgi University.
Summer School Contents & Activities
Session 1 — Turkey: A Land of Migration from a Historicist Perspective
Lecturer: Ayhan Kaya (BİLGİ)
Overview of major historical migration patterns shaping Turkey’s demographic and political landscape.
Session 2 — Turkish Foreign Policy
Lecturer: Ozan Kuyumcuoğlu (BİLGİ)
Insight into recent shifts in Turkey’s foreign policy and the interplay of domestic and regional dynamics.
Joint Session — What (if anything) are EU values?
Lecturer: Timm Beichelt
Introduction to the ValEUs approach to European values and the gap between ideals and practice.
Site Visit — Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM/SGDD)
Introduction to ASAM’s work supporting refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants across Turkey.
Session — The EU and its Relations with Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia
Lecturer: Timm Beichelt (EUV)
Discussion of the strategic and political dimensions of EU policy in its Eastern neighbourhood.
Joint Session — Europe in ‘Polycrisis’
Lecturer: Amelie Kutter (EUV)
Understanding Europe’s overlapping crises and their impact on political and institutional transformation.
Wrap-up Session
Lecturers: Ayhan Kaya & Özge Onursal-Beşgül (BİLGİ)
Session 1 — Empire & Nation: The Birth of Ukraine
Lecturer: Zsuzsánna Magdó (PITT)
Historical perspectives on Ukraine through the lenses of empire and nation.
Session 2 — Identity, Politics, Europe: Imagining Ukraine in Historical Context
Lecturer: Zsuzsánna Magdó (PITT)
How Ukrainian identity has been imagined and contested in European political and cultural narratives.
Joint Session — Mass Migration & Externalisation of EU Migration Policy
Lecturer: Ayhan Kaya (BİLGİ)
Analysis of human mobility from the Middle East and the EU–Turkey Refugee Deal.
Wrap-up Session
Lecturers: Ayhan Kaya & Özge Onursal-Beşgül (BİLGİ)
Sessions 1 & 2 — Simulation Game: Migration Crisis on the EU–Belarus Border
Lecturer: Jarosław Jańczak (AMU)
Role-play simulation exploring human security vs. national security dilemmas at the EU’s borders.
Joint Session — Whose Values? A Postcolonial Look at the EU and the Global South
Lecturer: Nina Sajić (UNIBL)
A postcolonial perspective on EU universalism and emerging alternative visions from the Global South.
Review of the Week — Participant Reflections
Lecturers: Ayhan Kaya & Özge Onursal-Beşgül (BİLGİ)
Session — Turkey–EU Relations: A Historical Perspective
Lecturer: Özge Onursal-Beşgül (BİLGİ)
Overview of the evolution of Turkey–EU relations and dynamics of Europeanisation.
Session — European Security and Ukraine
Lecturer: Mehmet Ali Tuğtan (BİLGİ)
How the war in Ukraine reshaped Europe’s security priorities and strategic thinking.
Joint Session — Democratic Backsliding and the Rule of Law Crisis in the EU
Lecturer: Angela Bourne (RUC)
Examination of democratic backsliding in EU member states and institutional responses.
Photo Highlights from the Istanbul Summer School
Learn More About the Summer Schools
ValEUs Podcast: Beyond Borders
Episode 10: A discussion about the ValEUs Summer School
In this episode, we are welcoming students who attended one of the ValEUs Summer school held at Bilgi University. They are discussing their experience and sharing their thoughts about the EU and immigration.