University Center for International Studies European Studies Center
University Center for International Studies European Studies Center

Jean Monnet European Union Center of Excellence (JMEUCE)

 

Jean Monnet European Union Center of Excellence (JMEUCE)
Period of grant: September 1, 2018 – August 31, 2022
Sponsor: European Union – Erasmus+ Higher Education
Call for Proposals EAC/A05/2017 – Jean Monnet Activities
Project No 600170-EPP-1-2018-1-US-EPPJMO-COE

Pitt’s JMEUCE grant funds faculty and graduate student research and teaching that explores Europe as a historical project, Europe as a cultural project, and European responses to contemporary issues. 

 

Programming during the grant cycle will explore the following themes:

Year One: Global Europe (AY 2018-19).  Click to see the call for proposals and a line up of events that occurred during the Year of Global Europe.

Year Two: Memory and Politics (AY 2019-2020) – Activities in this year will explore the intersections between lived memory, historical memory, and contemporary politics in the formation of subnational, national, and supranational identities. Includes a listing of events that occurred during the Year of Memory and Politics.

Year Three: Creating Europe (AY 2020-2021) – This theme invites scholarly and artistic reflections on how Europe has been defined and created in the past, and how that process continues in the present.  Includes a listing of events that occurred during the Year. 

Year Four (Extended): Recovering Europe (AY 2021-2022) - Activities organized in this year recognized that after a global pandemic and transnational social justice movements, the notion of "recovery" extended to a variety of different domains, including health, economy, social justice, climate change, and politics.  Recovering Europe was a natural extension of the Year of Creating Europe, taking place, as it did, during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Click to see the call for proposals and a line up of events that responded to this theme - and indeed responded broadly to the previous three years' themes, as well.

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

  • EU Studies Teaching Fellowship – Providing graduate teaching experience in EU studies (PS 1317).
    • Fall 2018 selected Teaching Fellow:  Anthony Ocepek, Political Science
    • Fall 2019 selected Teaching Fellow:  Brianna Howell, Political Science
    • Fall 2020 selected Teaching Fellow:  Omar Zarpli, Political Science
       
  • “Pop-up” courses (See funded courses under each year’s theme above.)
     
  • Transatlantic Policy and Governance Study Abroad Program in D.C. and Brussels
     
  • Summer Research Scholars Program – providing support for scholars from around the world to research in Pitt’s unique archival collection, the Barbara Sloan EU Depository Collection.  Applications for Summer Research Scholars open in the Spring.  Learn more about the program and how to apply.
Summer Scholars 2019:  Boyka Stafanova, University of Texas at San Antonio and Ryan Phillips, Lycoming College
Summer Scholars 2020: Thomas Smith, Chadron State College and Kolja Raube, KU Leuven  (both deferred to 2022 due to COVID-19)
Summer Scholars 2021:  Julia Simon, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg and Annie Niessen, University of Pennsylvania (competition deferred to 2022 due to COVID-19 pandemic)
  • Jean Monnet Symposia
  • Event Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the European Union Centers of Excellence Program and honoring the contributions of Pitt professor and vice provost, Alberta Sbragia. The event was held March 2019 in Brussels, Belgium.  Visit the website.
     
  • Graduate Workshop-  "EU Cultural Policy: How To..." on March 8, 2021
    ​Support for the Critical European Culture Studies Ph.D. Program at Pitt
    • See also: European Culture Research Network, Council for European Studies
    • Speaker Tour:
      • February 28, 2019 Randall Halle, "Critical European Studies: How to" at the University of California, Irvine's Department of European Languages and Studies 
      • March 1, 2019 "Creative Europe: A Practical Guide to Cultural Policy and Practice in Europe" Workshop at UC, Irvine.
      • March 11, 2019 Randall Halle, "A Framework for Critical European Culture Studies" at the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence followed by a Researching European Culture Workshop "Creative Europe: A Practical Guide to Cultural Policy and Practice in Europe".   
      • March 12, 2019 Screening and Talk by Randall Halle at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico
      • March 26, 2019 Randall Halle lecture at Florida International University in Miami (flyer) on How to Do European Culture Studies 
      • March 22, 2022 Visit to the University of Pittsburgh by Timm Beichelt - public talk on "Exploring German Foreign Policy Toward Russia and Ukraine" and Faculty Workshop on "Critique"
         
  • Faculty Research Grants in EU Studies - Applications accepted each Spring
    • Projects funded:
      • 2019: Gemma Marolda, Department of Political Science , "Rescuing Lives at Sea: From Humanitarian Rescue to Border Security in the Central Mediterranean" - supporting in-depth research of EU official documents and Italian government documents on irregular migraiton in the Central Mediterranean.  Research and interviews conducted with officials, researchers, and experts in Brussels, Rome, and Catania.
      • 2020: Randall Halle, Department of German and Film Studies Program, "Promoting Europe"  (travel not completed due to pandemic)
      • 2021: Gabriella Lukacs, "From Counterpublic to Commons: Media Activism in Populist Hungary" - supporting in-depth research on political vlogging and forms of antigovernment media activism opposing Fidesz-KDNP and promoting European integration.
      • 2022: Iza Ding, Department of Political Science, "Environmental Nationalism in EU Member States"
  • Support for the EU Jean Monnet Network in the U.S. - Meetings held in Denver (year one), D.C. (year two), and Miami (year three) focus on collaboration and coordination among EU Centers throughout the United States.  Funds also exist to support visitors at another center in the U.S. adding a stop in Pittsburgh to their itinerary in order to learn more about the U.S. and better leverage grant funds. Coalesced during the Pandemic as the Jean Monnet in the U.S.A. (#JMintheUS) Network.

 

Funded by a grant from the European Commission