Culture, Arts and Humanities Task Force Juan Luis García Alonso SCOPE OF THE CULTURE, ARTS AND HUMANITIES TF The task of the Culture, Arts and Humanities Task Force is to foster cultural expertise and creativity within the teaching and research of the Coimbra Group universities, raising awareness of the central contribution of culture to processes of identity formation, the self-definition of societies, the reflection of their values and the commitment to cultural and linguistic diversity. Based on the cultural heritage of the Coimbra Group Universities, the Task Force seeks to explore the ways in which the traditional role of European historical universities in shaping European culture can be continued in the 21 st century. It is also the task of the Culture, Arts and Humanities Task Force to contribute to the reflection of the changing conditions of the Arts and Humanities sector, and to advocate, in the light of present reform processes in education and research and based on experiences of the Coimbra Group Universities, the centrality of the Arts and Humanities for European universities and societies. WHO IS ACTIVE IN THE CAH TF? 1.University of Salamanca 2.University of Graz 3.Trinity College Dublin 4.University of Tartu 5.University of Coimbra 6.University of Padova 7.University of Geneva 8.University of Bristol 9.University of Iaşi 10.University of Galway 11.University of Granada 12.University of Istanbul 13.University of Barcelona 14.Åbo Akademi 15.University of Göttingen 16.University of Turku 17.University of Uppsala 18.University of Jena 19.University of Lyon Joint TF MEETING WITH E-LEARNING TASK FORCE The CAH TF will celebrate a joint meeting with the e-Learning TF in Salamanca in October 2014, dealing with the question of the ‘Digitization of our Universities Cultural Heritage’. HORIZON 2020: HERENCIA Project Application In this meeting we will also advance in the preparation process of an application to HORIZON 2020 on Cultural Heritage COIMBRA GROUP ANNUAL CONFERENCE – June th Groningen, Holland Juan Luis GARCÍA ALONSO University of Salamanca SPAIN 2014 Coimbra Group Annual Conference EVENTS ORGANIZED BY THE CAH TF Coimbra: “Identity(ies): a multicultural approach” In November 7 th -8 th 2013 the TF hosted this workshop, after the Seminar held in Tartu in 2011 on “Language and Identity” (with a Peter Lang 2013 book out of it.) Dublin: Policy Seminar. Interdisciplinarity in the Humanities In March 2014 (27 th -28 th ), the Task Force organized this Policy Seminar, held in Trinity College Dublin. Salamanca: “HERENCIA: Digitizing our Heritage” The TF will organize a new workshop on Digitization of Cultural Heritage in Salamanca in October Graz: “European representations of the current crisis” The TF will organize a new workshop on this question in Graz in March HORIZON 2020: Social Sciences and Humanities Jürgen Barkhoff (TCD), Juan Luis García Alonso (Salamanca and Chair of the TF) and Anna Quici (Brussels Office) travelled to Vilnius in September 23 rd -24 th, to attend the Humanities Horizons Conference ( That was just a few weeks before the actual launching of the programme. The impression overall was that Horizon 2020 does not feel very promising for the SSH, however hard the European Commission tried to make all representatives attending feel otherwise. Let us hope this is not the case.