VU Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies (VICES)

VICES (VU Interdisciplinary Centre for European Studies) aims to: 

• invigorate and raise the profile of the research done at VU on Europe
• create new interdisciplinary networks of researchers 
• add to the field of European studies by offering a distinctive and refreshing perspective on the field
• facilitate new research projects, new funding and new ideas

Our mission statement

European integration is a uniquely radical experiment in governance, which can only be understood by drawing on the insights of the human and social sciences beyond those traditionally regarded as ‘European studies’. The study of Europe needs to become less introspective, and more exploratory: we plead for a turn to the outside, to reinvigorate the field.

VICES publishes regular calls for proposals, usually every 4 months, aimed at financially supporting events and research projects, which are organized at the VU, interdisciplinary in nature and relate substantively to  European studies. The calls are circulate by email among the affiliated staff members of the faculties of law and social sciences.

VICES is inspired by eight themes. These are not intended to be exhaustive or to exclude other projects. However, they each reflect an aspect of the contemporary world with which European Studies needs to engage, and give an indication of how the field can connect with and be enriched by other disciplines. The themes are:

• Complexity & Governance
• Technology & Power
• Identity Politics
• Feminism & Diversity
• Illiberal Democracy
• Globalisation & militarization
• Redistribution & sharing
• Constitutional resistance & civil disobedience
  

Each of these will be the subject of workshops and other events. All those who would like to contribute to thinking about these topics are invited to let us know at e.b.van.apeldoorn@vu.nl, p.cebulak@vu.nl or g.t.davies@vu.nl. Colleagues from outside the VU are welcome to participate too.

VICES fellows include:

• Galina Cornelisse 
• Joris Larik
• Jorrit Rijpma
• Özlem Terzi 
• Sophie Vanhoonacker
• Trineke Palm
• Wolfgang Wagner 
• Pola Cebulak 
• Monika Sie Dhian Ho 

VICES has a supervisory board consisting of the deans of the contributing faculties (Law and Social Science). 

The VICES academic co-directors are: 

• Prof. Bastiaan van Apeldoorn who can be reached on e.b.van.apeldoorn@vu.nl
• Dr. Pola Cebulak who can be reached on p.cebulak@vu.nl 
• Prof. Gareth Davies who can be reached on g.t.davies@vu.nl 

VICES can also be reached on X/Twitter  

8 March 2024: Research seminar "The Nature and Identity of the European Union", 14-16h, Room ‘Aurora’, main Building VU (room 00C29) organized by Jaap Hoeksma

14 December 2023: VICES/ TLS Guest Speaker Series "Migration to Poland: A Gateway to the European Labour Market", Dr. Izabela Florczak (University of Lodz), 15.30-17.00, NU2A-54, organized by Imke van Gardingen

6 December 2023: VICES Annual Lecture "How to deliver on the EU's geopolitical enlargement" with Steven Blockmans, Senior Fellow, and former Director of Research at CEPS (Brussels), Senior Fellow at the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at ICDS (Tallinn), Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges and Natolin), and Editor-in-Chief of the European Foreign Affairs Review. 6 December 2023, 15.30-17.00, Aurora (Hoofdgebouw)

24 November 2023: International Roundtable "Global Migration Law in the EU: What can the Global Compact for Migration and the UN Migrant Workers Convention bring into European migration law?" with keynote by prof. Hein de Haas, 24 November 2023, 9.00-17.30, for registration email the organizer -  dr. Younous Arbaoui at  y.arbaoui@vu.nl

22 November 2023: Seminar with prof. Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen on “State practices before Human Rights Courts. A Nordic perspective” organized by MeDiMi and VICES, 22 November 2023, 16.00, OW-10C05 – Alma 1&2

3 November 2023: Launch of the JUDILL Jean Monnet Chair "Judges vs llliberalism: Legal Mobilization for the Rule of Law" with dr. Lola Avril, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Eastern Finland, “The suit under the gown. The role of Euro-lawyers in European integration” with dr. Kati Cseres (University of Amsterdam) as discussant, 3 November 2023, 14.30-16.00, NU-02A06 (New University Building, no registration required

9 November 2023: Keynote Lecture by prof. Hanspeter Kriesi, "Is there a crisis of democracy in Europe? On the conditions for democracy to survive", 09 November 2023, 16:00 - 17:30, 4A-25 (New University Building), register through the link in the poster

Talk: 'German Foreign Policy in Europe in 2022' by prof. Gunther Hellmann. Open for students, scholars and interested citizens. Will be organized in the fall of 2022. 

• Organized by Wolfgang Wagner.

Workshop: 'The Changing European Foreign Policy space with experts from the field of political parties, public opinion, voting behavior, foreign policy and European integration. Open for VU staff and students. Will be organized in the fall of 2022. 

• Organized by Wolfgang Wagner and André Krouwel. 

VICES conference: 'European Governance and the New Geopolitics: The EU after the War in Ukraine' on May 30th, 2022. 

• Organized by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn and Gareth Davies 

Workshop: 'Regulating disinformation: legal struggles and risks of privatization'. Open for students, academics, journalists and general public June 22nd, 2022 from 14.00-16.30 in collaboration with Amsterdam Law & Technology Institute (ALTI).

• Organized by Tina van der Linden, Anne de Hingh and Sarah Eskens

Seminar 'War in Ukraine: Politics, Law and Identity'. Organized together with the department of Transnational Legal Studies (VU Law faculty) on March 15th, 2022.

• Organized by Dion Kramer, experts included Olga Burlyuk (Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam), Victoria Kerr and Sofia Stolk (Asser Institute, the Hague), Lianne Boer and Renske Vos (Department of Transnational Legal Studies, Vrije Universiteit), Furqat Palvan-Zade (Editor-in-chief of EastEast Magazine) and Davor Petrić (Department of European Public Law, University of Zagreb). 

Blockchain + Law conference: When EU Legal enforcement is facing Blockchain. Organized on February 3rd, 2022.

• Organized by Thibault Schrepel and Kirill Ryabtsev. Panelists debated how to design European blockchain regulations to create an enforcement “entry door” while preserving EU fundamental values.

Expert workshop 2 on research regarding the Arctic: Bringing together experts from UArctic and EU-Polar Net 2 Projects. Organized on February 3rd, 2022.

• Organized by Özlem Terzi and Oscar Widerberg.

Expert workshop 1 on research regarding the Arctic: VO-wide interdisciplinary workshop, bringing together potential partners regarding the 'Netherlands Polar Strategy' and the publication 'Dutch Polar Position 3.0' of the NWO. Organized on December 8th, 2022

• Organized by Özlem Terzi and Oscar Widerberg. 

VICES Webinar/Masterclass: ‘EU Diplomacy in Global Governance’. De-centralizing Europe in the study of Politics, Law and Society. Organized on December 7th, 2021.

• Organized by Özlem Terzi, Hortense Jongen, Eric Cezne and John Hogan with the aim of connecting European (EU) studies with the 'Global south agenda'. Key note speakers and experts were Pinar Bilgin (Bilkent University), Toni Haastrup (University of Stirling), Niall Duggan (University College Cork), Luis Mah (Lisbon School of Economics and Management), Giselle Bosse (Maastricht University), Oscar Widerberg (Vrije Universiteit) and Elena Wilson Rowe (Nord University). 

Lecture on International Vaccine Politics: What does it tell us about the EU? Part of VICES lecture series on European Security, Technology and Geopolitics in Pandemic Times. Organized on July 1st 2021.

• Organized by Gareth Davies.

Lecture on 'Sociotechnical Imaginaries of EU Defense in 'Times of Crisis' by Dr. Jocelyn Mawdsley (Newcastle University). Part of VICES lecture series on European Security, Technology and Geopolitics in Pandemic Times. Organized on May 6th, 2021. 

• Organized by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn and Marijn Hoijtink.

Webinar: book presentation by Alvaro Oleart 'Framing TTIP in the European Public Spheres: Towards an Empowering Dissensus for EU Integration'. Organized on January 19th, 2021.

• Organized by Alvaro Oleart, discussants were Louisa Parks (University of Trento) and Luis Bouza Garcia (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). 

Webinar: book presentation by Wolfgang Wagner 'The Democratic Politics of Military Interventions: Political Parties, Contestation, and Decision to Use Force Abroad'. With an introduction by Bastiaan van Apeldoorn, and commentary by Tapio Raunio (Tampere University) and Julie Kaarbo (Edinburgh University). Organized on December 16th, 2020.

• Organized by Wolfgang Wagner.

Webinar: 'Political Entrepreneurs: The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe' by Catherine de Vries. Organized on December 9th, 2020.

• Organized by Catherine de Vries.

Online Masterclass: 'EU Diplomacy in Global Governance'. Organized on December 4th, 2020.

• Organized by Özlem Terzi.

Talk: 'The European University in an Age of Academic Capitalism' by Richard Münch. Organized on December 19th, 2019.

• Organized by Richard Münch.

Workshop: 'Emotions in European Foreign Policy at Populist Times'. Organized on November 21st, 2019.

• Organized by Özlem Terzi.

Workshop: 'The Wind from the East: China's Global Externalisation and European Development'. Organized on November 7th, 2019.

• Organized by Naná de Graaff.

Annual VICES conference: 'The European Union Under Stress - Looking Beyond the 2019 EP Elections' at De Balie. Organized on October 31st and November 1st, 2019.

• With prominent international scholars from multiple disciplines: Gary Marks (University of North Carolina), Liesbet Hooghe (UNC/EUI), Eleanor Spaventa (Bocconi), Stephanie Hofmann (Graduate Institute Geneva)and Amy Verdun (Universiteit Leiden).