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"Europe in your Living room": web-radio talks for students

Posted on 23 October 2020

In the context of its educational programme, the Historical Archives of the European Union, in collaboration with the EUI Engaged Academics, launched a new series of web-radio talks “Europe in your Living Room” on the EUI independent web-radio ‘Radio Cavolo’ to reach out to students and all those interested in discussing issues related to Europe and European integration.

Each episode of “Europe in your Living Room” consists in a short interview, in Italian, with a guest involved in the HAEU educational programme: it can be archivists, teachers and trainers. Students are able to interact and to reach out to the guest by sending their questions to the radio channel and the latter will try to answer in live. The web-radio interviews are intended as introduction to European issues for secondary school students in the Florence area and beyond, and as an open window on the world of archives and research activities.

The next talk will take place on Wednesday 28 October at 11:00, featuring the HAEU archivist Andrea Becherucci presenting in live radio the figure of Altiero Spinelli, whose private archives were deposited at the HAEU for long-term preservation by virtue of a deposit contract signed in 1988. The Spinelli papers constitute a rich source of information and consist of 375 archival files documenting his life and testifying of his significant contribution to the European integration project.

During the live interview, Andrea Becherucci will retrace the crucial moments of Altiero Spinelli's political life from his confinement in the 1940s on the island of Ventotene – remembered above all for the drafting of the Manifesto “For a free and united Europe” – to his election in the first Legislature of the directly elected European Parliament in 1979. He aims to show how Spinelli's federalist project remains a precious legacy for scholars interested in the European Union and for supporters of European federalism. The archivist Becherucci, who defines Altiero Spinelli as “an utopian with both feet firmly planted on the ground”, will provide us with an unprecedented and interesting description of this special figure. Students and other participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the guest.

Due to the Covid-19 emergency and the related measures taken by the EUI and the Italian government, there are currently limited possibilities for the HAEU education team to go to schools and for students to visit the Archives’ seat at Villa Salviati. This new series of web-radio talks, “Europe in your Living Room”, offers the possibility for the HAEU education team to continue interacting with students and teachers in new and alternative ways, thereby experiencing new distance teaching and learning methods. 

Find out more about ‘Europe in your Living Room’ and consult the inventory of the Spinelli papers deposited at the HAEU.

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