CBSS Summer University 2026

In modern nation-states, national minorities have historically been subject to suspicion and conflict. Traditionally, this has been linked to separatism or to perceived grievances of »the others«. In the aftermath of the Second World War – and particularly in the process of European unification after 1990 – a different and more appreciative approach to national minorities has gradually developed. This shift, for instance, was integrated into the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992). The course materials offer a concise introduction to the issue of minorities in the Baltic Sea region.

They address questions of conflict, reconciliation, coexistence, and cooperation between national majorities and minorities in both past and present. The course has a particular focus on three regions:

• the Danish–German border region (where the course takes place),
• the Baltic region, and
• the northern region (the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland)

An intercultural place of learning

The process of reconciliation between Denmark and Germany is discussed using the example of the German-Danish border region. In particular, the question is asked whether the blurring of national borders has led to a transnationalization of intergovernmental reconciliation.

Participants will work in small groups to create various podcasts to understand and communicate both the specific stories and their uses. Here they will have the opportunity to work with individual perspectives on history, culture, and politics in a multi-ethnic society.

International participants and interdisciplinary research

As a cooperative event of the CBSS, the International Business Communication Studies and the Center for Border Region Studies of the University of Southern Denmark, the University of Bialostok Vilnius Branch, the Department of Regional History of the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, the Frisian Seminar and the study program European Cultures and Societies of the European-University of Flensburg, the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation for the Promotion of Foreigners, the Association of German Northern Schleswig and the Danish Central Library for Southern Schleswig, the Summer University is aimed at students of various disciplines.

The international and interdisciplinary structure enables the participants to analyze the development of a historical border region from different perspectives. This opens up a new perspective on the history and present in the German-Danish border region for students and lecturers alike. The Summer University thus represents an innovative place of study and encounter that consciously promotes professional, interdisciplinary and intercultural exchange. Working languages of the Summer University are German and English.