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Social Sciences & Humanities

Working Group

Chair: Ilaria Poggiolini

Ilaria Poggiolini is Chair Professor of International History and former Pro-Chancellor for International Relations at the University of Pavia. She is a member of the teaching staff of the University’s Doctorate Programme in History and of the Committee for the publication of Italian Diplomatic Documents (Italian MFA, Rome) and Associate of Italian Studies at Oxford. She is WP Co-Leader for the EC2U Aliance. She has recently published a book reassessing the history of Britain in and out of the EC/EU. She teaches in Italian and in English: History of International Relations, European integration and Public Diplomacy.

Vice Chair: Balázs Apor

Dr Balázs Apor is associate professor in European Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies at Trinity College Dublin. His research interests include the Sovietisation of Eastern Europe after World War II and the cultic veneration of communist leaders. Most recently, his work focuses on the legacies of communism and cultural forms of opposition in post-communist Hungary. He is founder and Director of the Trinity Centre for Resistance Studies at Trinity College Dublin.

Working Group Focus

The focus of the activities of this WG is on the future of the SSH disciplines in the context of pressing technological, social and funding challenges. In the 2026-2029 phase, the SSH WG will promote and deepen the multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary conversations within this area of study and contribute to the policy-related debates at the European level, with the aim of teasing out new ideas and new proposals for joint action.

The approach of the SSH WG is open to partnerships, though it builds on the involvement of academics within Coimbra Group member universities, around shared objectives and thematic interests.

The WG leadership and its members will organise multidisciplinary seminars, round tables with experts and practitioners, and academic conferences on key themes such as the digital and funding futures of the SSH, the exploration of ‘between and beyond languages’ and the humanistic dimension of AI. We will also focus on multifaceted themes, such as the clash between transnational solidarity and conflicts, or the future of European enlargement in times of regional wars and contestation of international organisations.
As the scope of SSH WG is very broad, we prioritise covering several different themes in our activities. We believe this serves member universities best and engages representatives with different academic backgrounds.

Priorities for 2026 – 2029

  • Between and beyond language: ongoing dilemmas in the social sciences and the humanities, and the role of languages in responding to the polycrisis.
  • Humanism in AI: rethinking instruments for assessing, generating and transforming sociopolitical worlds.
  • Building on a previous event organised by the SSH WG on the theme of transnational solidarity and its crisis, we will focus on the “ecology of truth” within a framework of war, conflict, polarisation, and disinformation.
  • Having launched, as SSH WG, a new format of round tables with practitioners, we intend to investigate whether the private sector expects, or at least would not oppose, a significant role of the SSHA in creating models of generative AI.
  • We intend to organize small-scale activities – roundtable discussions, seminars – at partner universities to showcase the activities of the SSH WG and deepen ties between the academic community and the Coimbra Group.
  • In the final year of this work plan, our main priority will be to tease out policy recommendations and research proposals by drawing together our previous multilayered discussions at a concluding hybrid event.

Recent highlights since September 2025

  • Workshop on “Designing a new Framework Programme: The role of the research community”, hosted by Trinity College Dublin (jointly organised by the Coimbra Group SSH WG, Trinity Global and the Trinity Long Room Hub), 14 April 2026.

Ongoing / Forthcoming activities 2026 – 2027

Kick-off of the ‘Between and beyond languages ‘online lecture series focused on the role of language in relation to ‘populism’ on the analytical power of discourse analysis as a method of studying/encountering populism (October 2026):

  • This initiative is organised by Zeno Ackermann (University of Würzburg), Maria Clara Keating (University of Coimbra), Meri Larjavaara (Åbo Akademi University), Carmen Caballero Navas (University of Granada) and Christoph Vatter (University of Jena), and will take place at one of the CG universities they represent.
  • The kick-off of this series will be followed by a maximum of 3 online panels on the following themes: Decolonising (via) language; ‘Artificial intelligence’, language, and social imagining; English as a lingua franca in SSH research & teaching; Positivism and ‘lingualism’ in the social sciences and humanities. (between the end of 2026 / beginning of 2027).
  • This series will culminate in an on-site conference at one of the proposing partner universities (mid/late 2027).

Forthcoming activities 2027 – 2029

  • Organisation of a seminar/conference, building on previous WG activities, to discuss transnational solidarity, focusing on the ecology of truth (University of Bologna, February 2028).
  • Organisation of a graduate workshop (short format) around the theme of EU enlargement (Jagiellonian University, spring 2028)
  • Planning of a hybrid round table event to open a conversation on “Can the private sector embrace the contribution of the SSH to creating models of generative AI?” (University of Pavia, autumn2028).
  • Compilation of the main results of the planned events in a series of concise reports to be discussed at a final hybrid conference on ‘How the SSH can respond to fragmentation from within and external challenges’ (March 2029).

Contact person at the CG Office: Stefania Parnici (parnici@coimbra-group.eu)