From 1 to 3 October 2025, the University of Jaén hosted and organised the 1st NEOLAiA International Conference “Narrating (Hi)Stories in Decentring Europe”, bringing together teachers and students from more than fifteen universities, including the nine partner institutions of the NEOLAiA Alliance.
The event opened with welcoming remarks from José Ignacio Jiménez, Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation at the University of Jaén, and Beatriz Valverde, the general coordinator of NEOLAiA.
Exploring hybrid narrative forms linked to lived experiences and memory, particularly in relation to historical crises and disruptions, was at the heart of this interdisciplinary gathering. The conference aimed to reinterpret the concept of Europe through a rich variety of narratives — oral and written, factual and fictional, individual and collective.
Participants examined how autobiographies, memoirs, biographies, works of fiction, collective narratives, and national histories contribute to shaping, questioning, and decentring European identities. Themes such as hegemony, migration, and decolonisation featured prominently, offering fresh perspectives on Europe’s past and present.
The keynote speakers, Dr Celestino Deleyto and Dr Izabela Dahl, provided profound insights into the intersections of storytelling, memory, and identity, sparking thought-provoking discussions throughout the sessions.
As part of the conference, a dedicated session on NEOLAiA featured a talk by Beatriz Valverde, who presented the Alliance’s vision and initiatives. This session included a video contribution from Dr Beatrix Busse, Chair of the Forum Board of FOREU4ALL and a prominent figure in the European Universities Community of Practice. In her address, Dr Busse reflected on the transformative impact that European University Alliances are having on the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), highlighting their role in fostering innovation, collaboration, and inclusiveness across borders.
The conference programme covered a wide range of topics, including history and life writing, memoir narrative, fiction and archives, hegemonic and subaltern histories, oral storytelling as knowledge, narrative identities and trauma, and translation and multilingualism in Europe. Participants also explored the role of media, remediation, and narrative paradigms in shaping collective memory in post-factual societies.
By embracing transcultural and counterfactual approaches, the 1st NEOLAiA International Conference highlighted the importance of rethinking European narratives in an era marked by global interconnection and transformation — a milestone for the Alliance’s ongoing commitment to inclusive, interdisciplinary, and critical dialogue.
