Hilmar Publishes on Collective Memory

Department News
October 4, 2016

Graduate student Till Hilmar recently published an article entitled, ”Narrating Unity at the European Union’s New History Museum: A Cultural-Process Approach to the Study of Collective Memory“ in the European Journal of Sociology. The EU’s multi-million Euro project, the House of European History in Brussels, seeks to produce a transnational narrative of Europe out of many national narratives. In light of the recent Brexit vote, Hilmar’s research is all the more pressing. The article uses in-depth interviews in order to examine The House of European History, demonstrating the process of creating shared identity in democratic societies. As a key finding, Hilmar identifies tensions between Western and Eastern narratives relating to the deep historical meanings and origins of the EU and also a comparative exclusion of Southern Europe. Great job Till!