Newsletter of MEUCE Activities between April and June 2012 - Euro Challenge Competition 2012 in New York - Testimonials of students - European Weeks (Recognition Award Ceremony - European Short Films Festival - Panel EU Integration - Breakfast Seminar for Hispanic Journalists "Immigration in Europe and USA) - European Union Outreach Education Program ...)
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APRIL-JUNE 2012 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 18 Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence - FIU Newsletter THIS ISSUE Euro Challenge Competi- tion 2012 in NY ……..…...1 Students Speak: South Florida’s Euro Challengers give testimonials about their experiences in the 2012 competition………...........2/4 MEUCE celebrates Europe Day at FIU ……………....5/7 - Recognition Award for European Studies Certificates Earners….....5 - European Short Films Festival ……...………….. 6 - Panel: EU Integrations…. 7 Breakfast-Seminar for Journalists discuss on Immigration in Europe and USA…..…………......8 European Union Outreach Education Program……..9 Partners for Prosperity, Partners for Peace: Britain and Latin America….....10 Artistic Illusions - Mysteri- ous Creativity……….11/12 The 100 Anniversary of Czeslaw Milosz………...13 Death, Dying and Resurrec- tion in late enlightenment ……………………….….14 Video Conference with University of Pittsburgh .15 FIU Graduate Student goes to Berkeley……..16 Summer Abroad in Europe…………….…...17 Contacts……………….18 On Monday, April 30 th , 2012, the three Florida high schools selected in Miami at the Local Euro Challenge Competition on March 20 th , (Coral Cables Senior High School, Miami Palmetto Sen- ior High School, and FPW Marine & Oceano- graphic High School) went to New York to repre- sent Florida at the national Euro Challenge Com- petition, a program created and run by the Dele- gation of the European Commission, with assistance from the Fed- eral Reserve Bank of New York and sup- port from The Moody’s Foundation, Credit Suisse and Deloitte & Touche . The three teams con- sisted of five 9 -10 grade stu- dents each and were accompa- nied by their teachers and MEUCE-FIU Associate Di- rector Christine I. Caly -Sanchez. The students were really excited and proud to compete nation- ally and present their economic challenges and European countries before a panel of prestigious judges from the European Community: ambassa- dors, consuls, EU Delegation officials, and finan- cial experts. After a long day of competition for the 25 teams from around the country at the Federal Re- serve Bank of New-York (semi-finals in the morning, and finals in the afternoon), all the stu- dents were invited to the Recognition and Award Reception on the 20 th Floor of the Moody's Foun- dation (7 World Trade Center). The Florida teams had the privilege to meet and talk to Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of Delegation, Euro- pean Union Delegation to the United States of America. “We are very proud to represent Florida at the national competition, and this is an excellent op- portunity for our students to shine. It has been five years since the Miami- Florida European Union Center of Excel- lence be- gan to recruit and organize the local Florida E u r o Challenge Competi- tion. Since 2008, t h e MEUCE has se- lected fifty -two Flor- ida high schools from Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties and sent four- teen to New York to compete nationally. Sixty students have gone to New York representing their schools,” said Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, Associate Director, MEUCE-FIU. “This competi- tion has become a showcase for our Florida schools, and it will continue to grow due to the tremendous response we have received from our local schools,” said Dr. Rebecca Friedman, Co- Director, Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence at FIU. (C. Caly-Sanchez) Three Florida High Schools participated in the national Euro Challenge Competition 2012 in New-York miamieuc.fiu.edu Coral Gables Senior High School students and Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, MEUCE, Associate Director, met Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of Delegation, European Union Delegation to the United States of America, in New-York on April 30 th , 2012
Transcript
A P R I L - J U N E 2 0 1 2 V O L U M E 3 , I S S U E 1 8
Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence - FIU
Newsletter T H I S I S S U E
Euro Challenge Competi-tion 2012 in NY ……..…...1
Students Speak: South Florida’s Euro Challengers give testimonials about their experiences in the 2012 competition………...........2/4
MEUCE celebrates Europe Day at FIU ……………....5/7 - Recognition Award for European Studies Certificates Earners….....5
- European Short Films Festival ……...………….. 6
- Panel: EU Integrations…. 7
Breakfast-Seminar for Journalists discuss on Immigration in Europe
and USA…..…………......8
European Union Outreach Education Program……..9
Partners for Prosperity, Partners for Peace: Britain and Latin America….....10
Death, Dying and Resurrec-tion in late enlightenment
……………………….….14
Video Conference with University of Pittsburgh .15
FIU Graduate Student goes to Berkeley……..16
Summer Abroad in Europe…………….…...17
Contacts……………….18
On Monday, April 30th, 2012, the three Florida high schools selected in Miami at the Local Euro Challenge Competition on March 20th, (Coral Cables Senior High School, Miami Palmetto Sen-ior High School, and FPW Marine & Oceano-graphic High School) went to New York to repre-sent Florida at the national Euro Challenge Com-petition, a program created and run by the Dele-gation of the E u r o p e a n Commission, with assistance from the Fed-eral Reserve Bank of New York and sup-port from The M o o d y ’ s F o u n d a t i o n , Credit Suisse and Deloitte & Touche .
The three teams con-sisted of five 9-10 grade stu-dents each and were accompa-nied by their teachers and MEUCE-FIU Associate Di-rector Christine I. Caly -Sanchez. The students were really excited and proud to compete nation-ally and present their economic challenges and European countries before a panel of prestigious judges from the European Community: ambassa-dors, consuls, EU Delegation officials, and finan-cial experts.
After a long day of competition for the 25 teams from around the country at the Federal Re-serve Bank of New-York (semi-finals in the morning, and finals in the afternoon), all the stu-dents were invited to the Recognition and Award Reception on the 20th Floor of the Moody's Foun-
dation (7 World Trade Center). The Florida teams had the privilege to meet and talk to Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of Delegation, Euro-pean Union Delegation to the United States of America.
“We are very proud to represent Florida at the national competition, and this is an excellent op-portunity for our students to shine. It has been
five years since the M i a m i -F l o r i d a European U n i o n Center of E x c e l -lence be-gan to recruit and o r g a n i z e the local F l o r i d a E u r o Challenge Competi-tion. Since 2 0 0 8 , t h e M E U C E has se-lected fifty-two Flor-
ida high schools from Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie counties and sent four-teen to New York to compete nationally. Sixty students have gone to New York representing their schools,” said Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, Associate Director, MEUCE-FIU. “This competi-tion has become a showcase for our Florida schools, and it will continue to grow due to the tremendous response we have received from our local schools,” said Dr. Rebecca Friedman, Co-Director, Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence at FIU.
(C. Caly-Sanchez)
Three Florida High Schools participated in the national Euro Challenge Competition 2012 in New-York
miamieuc.fiu.edu
Coral Gables Senior High School students and Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, MEUCE, Associate Director, met Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of Delegation, European Union Delegation to the United States of America, in New-York on April 30th, 2012
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2012
Euro Challenge Contestants Give Testimonials
Over the course of the past five years, the number of South Florida high schools participating in the Euro Challenge has constantly increased. Twelve schools from the counties of Miami-Dade, Bro-ward, and St. Lucie entered this year’s competition and impressed the juries with creative and well-researched projects. All of the teams gave ambi-tious presentations at the final regional round, which took place at FIU on March 20. In late April, the best three teams from South Florida– Coral Gables Senior High School, Miami Palmetto Senior High School, FPW Marine & Oceanographic Academy —
even traveled to New York City and made their bid for the national win. MEUCE as Florida’s recruiter for and organizer of the Euro Challenge would like to thank all stu-dents, teachers, and jury members for the time and effort they put into making 2012’s competition a memorable event for everybody involved. In the following, this year’s Euro Challengers talk about their personal experiences as participants. It is be-cause of such overwhelmingly positive feedback that MEUCE is very much looking forward to the next Euro Challenge in 2013.
The Three Florida teams in New York—April 30, 2012, the day of the competition
Coral Gables Senior High School, FPW Marine & Oceanographic Academy, Miami-Palmetto Senior High School
Dennis Dawson FPW Marine & Oceanographic Academy Coach of FPW Marine & Oceanographic team The challenge this year was that the Euro issues were changing on a daily basis, with our chosen country Greece right in the middle of the confusion. We
learned about macroeconomic economics along with the differences and applications of monetary and fiscal policies. My students also gained greater sophistication in de-coding and understanding how the political process drives most economic decisions. As we continued to research, I could see their confidence and ability to articulate questions raise. The Miami-Florida European Union Center for Excellence, AKA Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, and the Euro Challenge/WISE group did a fantastic job of taking care of the details so that our team could focus on the challenge. All of my team members felt appreciated for their scholarly skills. Bringing the team of 9th grad-ers to New York is always an interesting experi-ence. Fortunately through our team building preparations, we were all able to enjoy Manhat-tan and Brooklyn. The accommodations were very nice and the entire staff was very attentive to any ques-tions or need for assistance. We all were made to feel that our work is important, even to the European Union Ambassador to the United States. I will continue provid-ing this exciting educational opportunity to my students.
Zachary Taylor FPW Marine & Oceanographic Academy Grade 9 My experience in Euro Challenge was very interesting. I learned an extreme amount of knowledge about the Euro-pean Union and economics. What I
learned help me be more aware of what goes on in the world and how to interpret it through the eyes of a pro-fessional economist. Before Euro Challenge my knowl-edge of the Euro Area and its processes were almost zero. Afterward I could distinguish all the Euro Area and Euro Zone countries and specific statistics about them. Other than the informational side of my experi-ence, my time at the Federal Reserve Bank in Miami and in New York was a great journey. It was a wonder-ful time in both locations, whether it was enjoying the sites, or the slightly exotic new foods, I loved every minute of it. I will definitely consider doing this again next year.
Rhyan Grant FPW Marine & Oceanographic Academy Grade 9 The Euro Challenge was a phenome-nal experience reflecting on econom-ics and finances in the euro area. Be-ing able to meet students from all across the United States made it inter-
esting. Over the past years as a student participating in Scripps and Florida competitions I am able to develop an understanding in various academic areas. As a ninth grader hearing about the competition in the begin-ning of the year made me feel enthusiastic. As soon as possible I started studying and researching newspaper articles right away. Public speaking is my passion so to have the opportunity to compete at regional/state is
wonderful. We were able to get a tour at the Fed-eral Reserve Bank in Miami and explore the money transactions. That same afternoon we didn’t get any results from the Florida Interna-tional University about our presentation. When our coach finally reached the city of Port St. Lucie everyone was picked up by a parent or guardian then during the evenly that same day my phone
rang. The news came in saying that I and my team members are going to the National Euro Challenge in New York City sponsored by the Moody’s Foundation. That was truly amazing because the next day, my coach was optimistic. The week of the nationals was intense; only 5 schools could make it to the national finals. The questions that were asked by the judges stunned most of my teammates, some were actually nervous. As a competitor it was important to maintain compo-sure alongside with sportsmanship towards other stu-dents and officials. The best part in New York was meeting the Houston, Texas champions. They were really nice, intelligent, and humorous throughout the day. Talking to this tenth grader from Miami Palmetto High School was even better. The Euro Challenge competition will definitely look impressive on my col-lege applications in the future. This is certainly not go-ing to be my last time competing in local/national com-petitions. Most of all I thank god and my parents for supporting me in everything that is positive and sensi-ble. Economics is very important in our daily life; it will be even more magnificent if students in all areas of the United States can get involved depending on their in-terest.
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2012
Euro Challenge Contestants Give Testimonials (cont’d)
Click on the following link to read more testimonials:
Yujia Zhou Grade 10 Miami Palmetto Senior High School Before Euro Challenge, neither I nor my peers who accompanied me in this competition were deeply involved in
economics. Most of us had little to no background in the Eurozone and European Union, and were ignorant of the important events in Europe. Euro Challenge was very well organized and has provided us with a back-ground and interest in economics, as well as a valuable experience in the New York semi-finals. Entering the competition requires dedication, team-work, in-depth research, and clever problem-solving that exceeds typical presentations in school. It needed us to analyze databases provided by the European Union, organize a coherent presentation, and speak confidently to knowledgeable judges. I had none of these before entering Euro Challenge, but with the help and support of Mr. Corradino and my team, I was able to become a contributive teammate and even to some extent, a leader. The effort involved in Euro Challenge rewarded our team with victory in the regional competitions, and allowed us to enter the Semi-finals and travel to New York. Even though we were unable to make it into the Finals, our experience there was amazing and allowed us to bond with both our teammates and competitors in the economic center of the world. Once Euro Challenge ended, it remained as one of the best parts of my life, and has certainly shown me a new international view on the world we live in.
Francesco Sautto Grade 10 Coral Gables Senior High School Truly it was a great experience to be able to participate
in this Euro Challenge competition. Through it, I am not able to fully comprehend the extent of the prob-lems that the Euro Area is facing. Without this ex-perience, I would have probably been left to ponder why my mother took away all of my lovely Italian
Lira and instead switched it to the Euro currency we know today. Participating in the competition also gave me the opportunity to meet new people I otherwise would never have known and to finally see New York in person. The experienced was added in enjoyment when I was able to meet and present our group's find-ings towards prominent political, economical and social figures such as former and current German diplomats and ambassadors, delegates from around the Euro Area, and even the Head of the Delegation of the Euro-pean Union to the United States. If I could relive it, I would take the chance in a heart beat. I will definitely recommend this competition for all stu-dents who come after me.
Miami Palmetto Senior High School team with Ambassador Vale De Almeida FPW Marine & Oceanographic Academy team with Ambassador Vale De Almeida
Coral Gables Senior High School team with Ambassador Vale De Almeida
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Euro Challenge Contestants Give Testimonials (cont’d) 2012
Click on the following link to read more testimonials:
On May 9th, Europe Day, a holiday that marks each year the pivotal Schuman declaration of 1950 in which Robert Schuman (French foreign minister) proposed the creation of a supranational European community, an idea that laid the foundation for the EU. May 9th celebrates the EU and European integration. In honor of Europe Day, the Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence and the European Studies Program held a Recognition and Award Ceremony that celebrated graduating students who earned their Euro-pean Studies Certificates during the 2011-2012 aca-demic year. The certificate program, which serves as a complement to students’ major course of study, en-hances students’ understanding of European politics, society, and culture by requiring an interdisciplinary array of courses on Europe, in the humanities and so-cial sciences. Yamily Arab, Denise Ekendahl, Danijela Felendes, Pablo Haspel, Gabriel Llanes, Sabrina Lima, Dana Mekler, Jorge Mendez, Daniela Ottati, Humberto So-lano-Costa, and Alessandra Villaros, were honored at the ceremony for obtaining their undergraduate certifi-cates. Mirsad Krijestorac was the first graduate student at FIU to earn the European Studies Graduate certifi-
cate. The Graduate Certificate Program was launched this aca-demic year, in August 2011. The certificates were given by Dr. Rebecca Friedman, MEUCE and European Studies director, handed out the certificates and congratulated the students. Dr. Volker Anding, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany (ret.), presided over the cere-mony and congratulated the stu-dents and provided historical background on the meanings of Europe Day. High school fresh-men and sophomores from Mi-ami-Dade, Broward, and St. Lucie counties, who participated in the regional divisions of the 2012 Euro Challenge Competi-tion on March 20 were also rec-ognized at the award ceremony by Christine I. Caly-Sanchez. In honor of Europe Day, the MEUCE held a screening of the
Franco-Austrian film “Nous nous sommes tant haïs” (How we hated each other!) after the ceremony and reception. The Franco-Austrian film is a love story that takes place in France and Germany in 1950 and depicts the birth of the European Un-
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MEUCE Celebrates Europe Day
2012 Recognition Award For European Studies Certificate Earners
The Certificate in European Studies has enabled me to understand the many challenges Europe faced and still faces nowadays. The most stimulating facet of the Certifi-cate to me was that you basically pick your area of concen-tration. If your interests are related to literature you can focus your studies there, if you rather study the political structure of European societies you can concentrate on that. You have various alternatives and you pick what best suits your personal interests. The opportunities brought forth by the Certificate are not limited to academics; I had the chance to do an internship with the European Studies Department, in which I gained a lot of experience in event
coordination and also networking with the various distinguished visitors who came to give lectures at FIU. Some of them include Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, Head of the European Union Delegation to the US; Honorable Lech Walesa, a co-founder of the Solidarity movement in Poland; and many more. Hence, I recommend for any student to enroll in the Certificate in European Studies with the assurance that this certification will benefit you academically as well help you grow as a person by establishing a sense of understanding between various cultures.
Sabrina Lima B.A. International
Relations European Studies
Certificate MEUCE Intern
By Michelle Perez
2012 European Studies Program students awarded for their certificates in European Studies. From left to right: Dr. Volker Anding, Sabrina Lima, Gabriel Llanes, Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, Mirsad Krijestorac, Dr. Rebecca Friedman, Humberto Solano-Costa, Danijela Felendes, Jorge Mendez ; First row: Denise Ekendahl, and Alessandra Villaros.
As part of the weeklong celebration of Europe day, The Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excel-lence in collaboration with Euro-channel and Dish network, screened a selection of 28 short films over the course of four days. The selection was from The Euro-pean Short Films Festival and formed part of the Eurochannel Short Film Tour shown worldwide. The festival offered a glimpse at European cinema through the eyes of 54 pioneering directors, known for their genius, innovation and self-determination. Each day of the film festival at FIU focused on different dimensions of love. Some of the films were shown for the first time outside of their country and represented the par-
ticularity of their individual re-gional culture, geography, and identity in Europe but also the universality of the human condi-tion. Together, the films reflect hidden facets of the European reality. For more information on the European Short Films Festival please visit: http://casgroup.fiu.edu/miamieuc/events.php?id=2522
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Fall in Love with Europe: European Short Films Festival at FIU | May 7-11
Short Films Program:
Monday, May 7 │When love begins
• Luxembourg: "X on a map" • Portugal: "Alfama" • France: "Port of Call" • Belgium: "The End of the World" • Azerbaijan: "Theatrical Life" • Latvia: "Signs of Light" • Switzerland-Germany:
"Scribbling & Tingling"
Tuesday, May 8 │Sinless Love
• England: "I’ll Tell You" • Spain: "Worstward Ho" • Scotland: "A Cheeky 20" • Austria: "Little World" • Poland: "Endless Beginners" • Bosnia & Herzegovia: "I don't Dream in German" • Italy: "The Other Half"
Thursday, May 10│Last Words of Love
• Macedonia: "Glow" • Switzerland: "Laterarius" • Cyprus: "Trachoni" • Ukraine: "Her Seat is Vacant" • Ireland: "Paint" • Iceland: "Safe Journey" • Norway: "A tale of Balloons"
Christine I. Caly-Sanchez (center) with FIU students
By Michelle Perez
As part of the activities for Europe Week, the Miami-Florida European Center of Excellence in collabora-tion with the European Studies Pro-gram and the Europe Student As-sociation, hosted a panel of FIU students to engage in an interdisci-plinary discussion about European identity and European integration from their personal viewpoints. The discussion began with Bilal Ciplak, a PhD student from the Department of Politics and International Rela-tions and the president of the Turk-ish Studies Club at FIU, who pro-vided an overview of Turkey’s rela-tionship with Europe and the EU. “The relationship between Turkey and Europe goes back centuries,” remarked Ciplak. Next, Dana Mek-ler, who received her BA in Interna-tional Relations from FIU, dis-cussed the pros and cons that have come along with further EU integra-tion. While integration has lead to many education and occupational opportunities throughout the Euro-pean continent, Mekler feels that it comes as sort of a double edged
sword since more young Spanish professionals are leaving Spain to live and work elsewhere. Interna-tional Relations student, Joanna Katsouli gave an aesthetic power-point presentation on her beautiful native country, Greece. Katsouli expressed her pride and optimism for her country. Most of the discuss-ants agreed that although they felt more “European” while abroad and identified with other Europeans, when back in their native countries they identified with their respective individual countries.
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Europe Week—May 7-11
May 7-11 │12:00-2:00 p.m. FIU Graham Center—GC 150 European Short Films Festival
May 7-11 │9:00-12:00 p.m.
FIU Green Library 250 Multilevel Governance in Europe for FIU students-Exchange Program “EU/European history and the EU institu-tions”
May 7-11
Miami-Dade high schools Presentation of “The Importance of the EU” to high schools students by diplo-mats
May 7│ 2:00-3:00 p.m.
FIU Graham Center — GC 150 Panel on "EU Integrations on the individual Level: Did it Work so Far?" ~An interdisciplinary discussion about European Identity and European Integration from a personal perspective
May 9 │9:00-11:00 a.m. Hyatt Hotel, Coral Gables Breakfast Seminar for Journalists: "Immigration in the United States and Europe"
May 9 │ 2:15-3:30 p.m.
FIU Green Library—GL 220 Recognition Award Ceremony for FIU Undergraduate and Graduate European Studies Students
● May 9 │ 3:30-5:30 p.m.
FIU Green Library—GL 220 European Film Screening: “Nous nous sommes tant hais” (How we hated each other) which re-enacts the birth of the European Union.
For more information on the program, click on the following link: http://casgroup.fiu.edu/miamieuc/events.php?id=2592
MEUCE Panel EU Integrations on the individual Level: Did it Work so Far?
By Michelle Perez
At the Presentation
MEUCE Celebrates Europe Day (cont’d)
From left to right: Joanna Katsouli , Dana Mekler, and Bilal Ciplak
A Breakfast seminar for journalists was held on May 9th, Europe Day, at the Hyatt Hotel in Coral Gables. The event was organized by the Miami-Florida European Union Cen-ter of Excellence, FIU and UM, in collaboration with the Florida Asso-ciation of Hispanic Journalists (FAHJ), the International Press Club of Miami (IPC-Miami), and the Con-sulate General of Spain in Miami. Pedro A. Gonzalez; Jr. President of Florida Association of Hispanic Jour-nalists (FAHJ) reminded the audi-ence during the opening remarks that May 9th was a day of celebra-tion and commemoration of a “victory” for peace, collaboration, and integration among Europeans. Presentations proceeded with Pilar Marrero, Columnist for La Opinion de Los Angeles, with her discussion about the impact of media in the United States. Marrero remarked that immigration provides the United States with “a good opportunity.” According to Marrero, this opportu-nity is not being taken advantage of and US immigration laws are actu-ally “hurting” the US economy. This is the result of “politicians only think-ing of the now and not the next gen-eration” says Marrero. She believes
that this problem is exacerbated by poor media practices and “the more media we have, the less informed we are.” Leonardo Ferreira, Profes-sor of Journalism at the University of Miami and commentator for the presentation, agrees with Marrero. “We have a serious problem,” said Ferreira. He believes that poor me-dia coverage gives a narrow look at discrimination and aids in a lack of understanding. According to Ferreira, “We need more compara-
tive studies on immigration.” He con-tends that more scholarly research would aid in a deeper understanding of immigration and diasporic rela-tions. Javier Pagalday Gastelurrutia, Dep-uty Consul General of Spain, ex-plained how the country has shifted from massive emigration to more immigration. The event was attended by many of Miami’s most prominent journalists in the Hispanic media.
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Breakfast Seminar for Journalists: Immigration in the United States and Europe
From left to right: Pilar Marrero, Pedro A. Gonzalez, Dr. Rebecca Friedman, Javier Pagalday, Dr. Roy
MEUCE Celebrates Europe Day (cont’d)
By Michelle Perez
From left to right: Dr. Joaquin Roy, Javier Pagalday, Pilar Marrero, Dr. Leonardo Ferreira, Pedro A. Gonzalez
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In order to celebrate the 9th of May and commemorate different important periods in European and EU history, the European Union Educational Outreach Program provides for classroom visits by senior European diplomats and experts to American high schools to deepen student and teacher understanding of the European Union. This program is part of the EU Educational Outreach program organized by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, the World Affairs Councils of America, and the Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence. Partici-pating national Councils are Denver World Affairs Council; Foreign Policy Association; Institute of World Affairs (Milwaukee, WI); International Affairs Council (Raleigh, NC); Los Angeles World Affairs Council; World Affairs Council of Atlanta, Austin, Central Illinois, Houston, Northern California, Pittsburgh, Seattle; World Boston The Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence is in charge of organizing the program in Florida. In Miami, the pro-gram took place from May 14 to June 4 this Spring-Summer 2012. Two diplomats and representative from Consulate went to local high schools to make presentations on the importance of the European Union. Dr. Volker Anding, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany (ret.), went to Archimedean Up-per Conservatory, Nathalie Cluzet-Bertot, Deputy Press
Attache, Consulate General of France in Miami, went to John A. Ferguson Senior High School, and Hon. Gaël de Maisonneuve, Consul General of France in Miami, went to Hialeah Gardens Senior High School. They all presented the values of the European Union, its history, development, enlargement, and conditions of enlargement, its treaties, how the EU works, its institutions, its currency, the Euro, the European external action service, and the EU-US relations. Target audi-ences were history, government, social sciences, and foreign language classes in grades 9-12. For more information, click here: http://casgroup.fiu.edu/miamieuc/pages.php?id=4034
European Union Outreach Education Program Presentation on the Importance of the European Union to high school students
Timeline The program took place in the Spring and Summer 2012, but will be held again in Fall of 2012 and Spring 2013, and will be structured around important time periods in European and EU history, which complement high school European History curricula:
Fall 2012: The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Spring 2013: honoring the European Spring of 1848, which laid the foundations for modern Europe
May 9: Europe Day
By Christine I. Caly-Sanchez
Center: Hon. Gaël de Maisonneuve, Teacher Nancy Abay, Christine I. Caly-Sanchez , with Hialeah Gardens Senior High School students
The Miami -Florida European Union Center for Excel-lence in collaboration with the European Studies Pro-gram and the Latin American and Caribbean Center, invited the Honorable Ian Bond from Washington, D.C. to give a lecture entitled; Partners for Prosperity, Partners for Peace: Britain and Latin America. Bond, CVO, is the Political For-eign Counsellor for the Foreign Security and Pol-icy Group at the British Embassy in Washington, DC. Among other duties, he is responsible for main-taining and developing UK/US relations on foreign and security policy relating to Latin America and the Caribbean. The lecture began with Bond briefly discussing the beginnings of a Britain and Latin American relation-ship. “As Latin America gained their independ-ence,” he said, “Britain saw potential...we are now opening a new chapter in relations in Latin America.” Bond stressed the importance of a British and Latin American Partnership for Peace and prosperity and highlighted how Britain is investing heavily in Latin America. “We are putting money where our mouth is” said Bond. “We are aware of Latin American development and we are tap-ping into the growing economy.” Bond pointed
out ways that money invested in these countries are also being used for police training and better technol-ogy to fight crime and drug trafficking, for education, and the promotion of international peace and stability.
“A collaborative ef-fort,” asserted Bond, is needed in this new global environment where “power and influence is dispersed and emerging coun-tries are raising their voices.” Bond high-lighted the important role Latin American countries play on the human rights council and believes that in-ternational peace and stability relies on these types of part-n e r s h i p s . He says that Latin American countries, like Argentina and Chile, that have ex-perienced dictator-ship and repression, can be a great help
and play a major role in the aiding the transition and development of democracy in countries such as Syria. “This is an exciting time for the Western Hemisphere,”
said Bond, and the United Kingdom is building bridges to that part of the globe”.
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MEUCE Lecture: Partners for Prosperity, Partners for Peace:
Britain and Latin America
From left to right: Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, Associate Director, Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence, FIU; Hon. Ian Bond, CVO, Political Counsellor
for the Foreign Security and Policy Group, British Embassy in Washington DC; Dr. Rebecca Friedman, Co-Director,
Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellence, FIU
By Michelle Perez
Artistic Illusions - Mysterious Creativity Exhibition of recent works and Presentation by
renowned painter Rafal Olbinski
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The Miami–Florida European Union Center of Excel-lence invited internationally renowned painter, Rafal Olbinski, to the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at FIU for an exhibition and presentation of his work. The event was part of the Blanka Rosenstiel Polish Lec-ture Series and was co-sponsored by the American In-stitute of Polish Culture and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Poland. Olbinski began the presentation by discussing his life and career. He gave intimate details of his beginnings and highlighted important achievements in his career including: being awarded the gold medal, “Gloria Artist,” by the President of the Republic of Poland (the highest award in the field of arts); the choosing of his poster as the official New York City Capital of the World Poster by
Mayor Rudolf Giuliani, the Steven Dohanos Award for the best painting in the Annual Member Exhibition of the Society of Illustrators; the Divina Giulia award from the City of Fondi, Italy; his commissioned poster by the U.S. Information Agency, celebrating the 25th Earth Day and commissioned again in 2004 to create the Earth Day New York poster; and much more. Olbinski also presented a PowerPoint presentation that allowed the audience to see visual representations of his work as he discussed his inspiration and the thought process behind his most famous works. Later the audience gathered around to watch Olbinski present a live a painting session where he demon-strated the process and his technique. Olbinski created an oil painting of a Swan which he later gave to Lady Blanka. After the presentation, guests were free to walk through the poster exhibit, have some food and drink, and talk with the artist.
To view Rafal Olbinski’s exhibition on March 21, click here: http://casgroup.fiu.edu/miamieuc/events.php?id=2469
(Continued on pg 12)
Olbinski creates a painting of a swan for the audience Audience pack in to see presentation
From left to right: Christine I. Caly-Sanchez, Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Rafal Olbinski, Dr. Rebecca Friedman, and Beata Paszyc
Artist Rafal Olbinski presenting Lady Blanka Rosenstiel with the painting
he created during the presentation
MEUCE: What inspires you?
Olbinski: Knowledge inspires me. Literature, theater, everything in-spires me. The biggest pleasure for me and the criteria for a successful day is that I learn something new. So I read and go to concerts. With ac-quiring knowledge I am also borrow-ing someone's creativity. You are not
alone. You are not detached. We are lucky that we live in a time where we have access to knowledge and the whole history of art. The subject that is given to me for a particular job. The constant process of learning is the most important part of so called “creativity”. MEUCE: Do you put something of yourself in your art?
Olbinski: What does this mean? I am being Socratic answering the question with a question. Ha-ha. This is a very important question because you are questioning who you are. We are not constant. We are developing, we are changing all our lives. I am different than I was twenty years ago. Of course I am putting myself into my work because myself is not stable or constant but it is the process and I am putting myself into the proc-ess. I like painting for a project and not for myself.
Your style, your manner, your visual language that you develop through years of practice. MEUCE: If you had to be critical of yourself, what are areas that you think you can improve on as an artist? Olbinski: I still paint what I am interested in. I believe I still can learn more about technique. Another thing is the accumulation of knowledge. I will continue to learn more things. Every artist wants to do great work. Have your work survive, have eternal and great art that will last forever and have a moral and eternal message. MEUCE: Is there a message you want to convey with your art? Olbinski: The message I will borrow from a Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, that art and beauty will save the world. It is true. What is happening in the world today is very scary. In this perpetual world where the value is only monetary. You put a price tag on eve-rything. You are buying art, I am taking about collec-tors, not because you like it but because of the poten-tial monetary value. For a profit. For an investment instead of its beauty. It sickening. We have to change. It is time for a change and I think art has a very impor-tant role in this.
From left to right: Beata Paszyc, Artist Rafal Olbinski, Mrs. & Mr. Paszyc, Anna Pietraszek, and Dr. Stanislaw Wnuk
Artist Rafal Olbinski
By Michelle Perez
For more information on Rafal Olbinski and his work please visit: http://casgroup.fiu.edu/events/ docs/2469/1330630028_Bio_Rafal_Olbinski.pdf and
http://www.tendreams.org/olbinski.htm
Lecture and Documentary: The 100 Anniversary of Czeslaw Milosz
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As part of the Blanka Rosenstiel Polish Lecture Se-ries, the Miami-Florida European Center of Excel-lence in collabora-tion with the Ameri-can Institute of Pol-ish Culture and the Honorary Consu-
late of the Republic of Poland organ-ized an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nobel Prize Winning poet, Czeslaw Milosz. The event began by a showing, in English and Polish, of the documen-tary about the American years in the life of Polish poet, Magic Mountain: An American Portrait of Czeslaw Milosz. Directed by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, the film includes Milosz’s own reminiscences along with comments by his friends and students, some of them the most prominent 20th century American intellectuals. The second part of the event con-sisted of an insightful presentation and discussion on Milosz’s work and life by Dr. Campbell McGrath, Phillip
and Patricia Frost Art Museum Pro-fessor of Creative Writing at Florida International University, and former student of Milosz. Finally, there was a poetry reading of Milosz’s work in which Beata Paszyc, Honorary Vice Consul of
The Republic of Poland, her father Mr. Paszyc, students, and other members of the FIU and European community of Miami participated in.
Czeslaw Milosz
From left to right: Beata Paszyc, Honorary Vice Consul of The Republic of Poland, Mr. Stefan Paszyc, and Dr. Campbell McGrath
By Michelle Perez
Picture left:
Dr. Campbell McGrath, Phillip and Patricia Frost Art Museum Professor of Creative Writing, FIU; Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland; Dr. Rebecca Friedman, Co-Director, MEUCE, FIU Picture right:
The Audience watching the Documentary during the first part of the event
The Miami-Florida European Union Center of Excellency in collaboration with the School of International and Public Affairs, European Studies Pro-gram and the Department of History at Florida International University, invited Dr. Peter Hanns Reill to a lecture on his most recent scholarship, which is entitled; Death, Dying and Resurrection in Late Enlightenment Science and Culture. Reill is Distinguished Professor of His-tory Emeritus at UCLA and former di-rector of UCLA’s Center for Seven-teenth and Eighteenth-Century Studies. He has published countless works, re-ceived many numerous and prestigious awards, and has recently become a Senior Fellow School at the School of International and Public Affairs at FIU. According to Reill, changing ideas and ambiguous defi-nitions about nature, death, and dying caused anxiety,
fears, and reflection during the late Enlightenment. Reill argues that manifestations of these ideas and fears are evident in changes in Jew-ish Burial practices, debates about the use of the Guillotine in Revolution-ary France, and in the works of Eight-eenth century writers such as Mary Shelly’s and her novel Frankenstein. These examples demonstrated fears of being buried alive and are a reflec-tion of ongoing debates on the way, moment, makers that the corporeal body actually dies, the difference be-tween life and death, and between organic and inorganic matter. The presentation, then led to a lively and interesting discussion during the questions and answers segment that included vampires, corpses, and
other age old legends and myths.
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MEUCE Lecture: Death, Dying and Resurrection in late Enlightenment
Science and Culture
Dr. Peter Hanns Reill Distinguished Professor of History. Emeritus, UCLA;
Director Emeritus, UCLA Center for Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century
Studies; SIPA Senior Fellow, (FIU)
MEUCE: Can you tell me a little about your research and research methods?
Reill: Basically, I am interested in interdisciplinary history. I try to see how the interactions between various disciplines and various forms of knowledge exist. I’ve been doing this a lot now and I've been talking about how this new form of nature was created in the middle of the 18th century and on and what repercussions it had on other forms of knowledge. How history and linguistics are reconceptualized. Method? Well it’s that I just read and read and read and try to see correlations between discourses and structures of dis-courses. Instead of saying that linguist are saying this, histori-ans are saying that, anthropologists are saying this, I try to find what kind of languages they shared in common. This requires you to read a lot of primary works. That is what his-torians do. In immersing yourself in these various discourses you hope to see correlations between them or at least ana-logues between the way in which they argue.
MEUCE : Tell me a about your experience teaching at the University level.
Reill: I have been teaching at UCLA for 44 years. I was hired originally to teach history and historians which basically de-voted to teaching what historians do and how they do it. I have also taught German history, European history, graduate courses. I’ve done the whole gamut. Teaching is fun. I like teaching. MEUCE: How do you like Miami?
Reill: It’s a big change from Los Angeles. At least it’s a vi-brant city. I find it an intriguing city. FIU is a place with tre-mendous potential. What I really love about FIU is that it’s a public university and its training many first generation kids. That what is really important for our country to get new peo-ple into the academic world and trained to get a job. That is very appealing.
By Michelle Perez
On the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war, The Miami–Florida European Union Center of Excel-lence at FIU, European Studies and European Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh, in col-laboration with the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, organized a video-conference of experts across sev-eral sites to discuss relations be-tween Latin America and the Euro-pean Union. In 1982, a war erupted between Argentina and the United Kingdom as a result of the ex-tended quarrel over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which lie in the South At-lantic, east of Argentina. In com-memoration of this war, the video-conference brought together spe-cialists from both sides of the Atlan-tic to discuss the significance that this war played and is playing on the international arena then and now.
Dr. Mark D. Szuchman, a noted historian of 19th and early 20th century Latin American historian at Florida International University was one of the panelists that joined the video-conference from his home in Coral Gables, Florida. Szuchman’s work focuses on the transition from colonial regime to post-colonial era; particularly urban and social history of Argentine cities, and issues con-cerning the relationship of the state to the family. He believes that peo-ple in the Falkland Islands do not identify themselves as Argentine. “Nor do they want independence. Their preference is for the British to rule. That is clear. There has been no instance of enthusiasm towards Argentine occupation” says Szuch-man. When MEUCE asked Szuch-man why he thinks that President Fernández de Kirchner is bringing up the Falklands issue at this par-ticular time, he answered, “the Presidency is trying to shore up its national credentials. This not pecu-liar to the Falklands situation.” Szuchman believes, “it is a display” typical to stylistic and policy making practices of populism. He also be-lieves “claims of discovery of oil reserves does not appear to be a motive” and that “in Argentina, there is a long history of grievances against British imperial notions”. After discussing the implications the war has had on international rela-tions, the floor was open for ques-tions from students from the Univer-sity of Pittsburgh, Florida Interna-tional University, Tennessee State University.
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Videoconference Conversations On Europe:
Falklands/Malvinas Anniversary
Sir Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies, King’s College in London, and one
of the panelists of the conference
Carolyn Dudek, Associate Professor in Politi-cal Science University of Pittsburgh , and one
of the panelists of the conference
By Michelle Perez
Experts included: Dr. Mark D. Szuchman, Professor of
History, Florida International Univer-sity;
Sir Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies, King’s College London;
Dr. Carolyn Dudek, Associate Profes-sor in Political Science, University of Pittsburgh;
Dr. Daniel K. Gibran, Professor of Political Science, Tennessee State University;
Organizers and participants in the videoconference
Organizers:
Participants:
Center for Latin American Studies
This year, Florida International University doctoral stu-dent, Frank Ortoleva, was one of twelve students from ten universities nationwide, chosen to participate in the fourth annual Western United States Graduate Re-search Workshop on the European Union, at the Uni-versity of California, Berkeley. The workshop was sponsored by the European Union Center of Excel-lence at UC, Berkeley; the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Colorado Boulder; and the European Union Center of Excellence of Seattle at UW. Professors Christine Neuhold (University of Maastricht), Branislav Radeljić (University of East London) and Beverly Crawford (University of California, Berkeley) were responsible for organizing and conducting the workshops. Participants were graduate students whose research interests focus on the European Union and are cur-rently working on their Doctoral dissertations. The workshop allowed students to present their research and receive feedback from knowledgeable faculty and peers specialized in the field as well as receive meth-
odological instruction in a way that is relevant to Euro-pean Union-related work. Students were instructed on the research problems and opportunities presented by the European Union and European integration. Ortoleva is working on the writing phase of his disserta-tion and hopes to defend it in the Spring. His research focuses on analyzing Europe as a foreign policy actor and particularly how Europe presents itself to the world in terms of an external identity and how it operates in the non-traditional sense. Ortoleva believes that the EUCE Research workshop provided a great and unique opportunity to receive suggestions and critiques from experts in their fields as well as a chance to net-work with other European specialists.
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FIU Graduate Student goes to EUCE Workshop at Berkeley
Francesco Ortoleva Research Fellow, Program Coordinator, PhD Candidate
and Adjunct Instructor for Middle Eastern Studies, at FIU
The network of European Union Centers of Excellence promotes the study of the EU, its institutions and poli-cies and EU-US relations
through teaching programs, scholarly re-search and outreach activities in their local and regional communities. The Delegation of the European Union to the United States funds this initiative as part of a broader ef-fort to promote people-to-people ties across the Atlantic.
By Michelle Perez
This summer, students will have a unique opportunity to gain insight into the institutional makeup of the Euro-pean Union and have the chance to probe into the complexities of multilevel regional governance in Europe. The summer abroad course, Multilevel Gov-ernance in Europe (INR 3214) taught by Dr. Markus Thiel, Assistant Professor in Department of Politics & International Relations, allows students to learn about policies and current political issues in Europe by closely looking at the European Union as an interna-tional actor in global politics. After a two and a half week orientation session and introductory course mod-ule at FIU, students will travel through Switzerland, France and Belgium. They will visit international agen-cies and organizations of the European Union in Brus-sels and Strasbourg, along with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and the United Nations organizations in Geneva. Students will also have the chance to partici-pate in excursions and have free days for themselves to explore their surroundings in each city they visit.
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Summer Abroad in Europe For FIU Students
By Michelle Perez
“I think talking to field officers and policy makers, directly to the people who do the diplomatic jobs day in and day out and deal with multi-national or-ganization, opens students’ eyes to not only the variety of possible employment options that are out there but also how complex the European sys-tem of multi-level governance actually is. There are 20-40 countries in each of these institutions negoti-ating across different interests trying to solve com-mon coordination problems.”
-Dr. Markus Thiel
Multilevel Governance in Europe
Dates : Summer A 2012
On Campus: May 7-22, 2012 Abroad: May 26-June 10, 2012
S
Switzerland: Geneva (4 days/nights)
France: Strasbourg (3 days/nights) - Paris (2 days/nights)
Belgium: Brussels (6 days/nights)
including a mix of historical excursions and institutional visits
Courses CPO 3104 European Union Politics
INR 3214 International Relations of Europe
For more information on the program, visit the following page: https://ugrad.fiu.edu/studyabroad/Pages/MultilevelGovernanceEurope.aspx
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Florida International University Modesto A. Maidique Campus SIPA Building Office 508 11200 SW 8th Street Miami, FL 33199
