From June 16-18, 2026, IES Associate Director Dr. Akasemi Newsome attended the Council of European Studies at University College Dublin in Ireland. While at the conference, Dr. Newsome spoke at two panels. The first roundtable titled, “European Studies, International Studies and Academic Programs: Perspectives from Administrators,” featured presentations by Dr. Patricia Young, Senior Program Manager at the Institute of European Studies, Cornell University; Professor Aimee Arias, Dean, School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs of College of Charleston; Maggie Fagan, Associate Director of Partnerships and Engagement of Notre Dame Dublin; Edna Carroll, Head of European Engagement of the Forum on Education Abroad and was chaired by Abby Lewis, Executive Director of the Council of European Studies. Participants spoke on the different approaches to fostering graduate and undergraduate research in European Studies in Europe and North America. Dr. Newsome discussed the challenging funding environment for undergraduate and graduate students given that FLAS fellowships supporting language study and dissertation research abroad have been terminated under the current US administration as a source of student funding in European and International studies.
Together with colleagues Jacques Delors Professor of EU Law, Iyiola Solanke at Oxford University and Professor of Law Janine Silga at Dublin City University, Dr. Newsome participated in a panel titled, “Decolonial Theory and European Law.” Professor Solanke served as chair and presented a paper titled, “Re-imagining EU Law.” Professor Silga presented a paper titled, “Decolonising EU Migration Law: A New Direction for European Integration?” and Dr. Newsome presented a paper titled, “Decolonization in Africa and EU integration.” Key insights from the papers included, the role of colonial civil service expertise including counter-insurgency against African independence movements as a professional qualification for EU diplomatic career advancement; migration as an area of EU law that reproduces colonial hierarchies among EU citizens; and an exploration of the concept of conviviality as a tool with which to decolonize EU law.