The conference promotes evidence-based policy-making on environment and energy, drawing on policy experiences and research knowledge from the US and the EU. Specifically, the focus will be on the challenge of securing energy for economic growth while ensuring the protection of human health and the environment. The broader conference agenda examines the choice of the energy portfolio of various countries, and how trade-offs should be struck on the benefits and risks of various energy resources.

Globalization, transnationalism, planetarity designate as much cultural forces as economic and political. However these dynamics do not affect the planet equally; rather regions and areas have distinct profiles. This conference takes as its task the exploration of cultural unification fostered by the EU. The European Union has set as its primary goal the political, economic, and cultural union of Europe. This combination of goals makes the EU unique among the world’s transnational organizations.

Annual Undergraduate Model EU.

This event will take place on Friday, February 14th from 1:00 to 4:00 PM in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room, Ball Room, and Kurtzman Rooms. It is designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn about the variety of language courses, programs, scholarships, and student organizations available to them at Pitt. Last year's language fair was a major success with over 400 students in attendance. We hope to build on this success in 2014.

Ambassador Pavilionis visits the Center to reflect on the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union—the first time the Presidency has been held by a state that emerged from the USSR--and to share his ideas about the future of the EU and Lithuania’s relationship with its fellow EU member states. Refreshments will be served.

Professor Culpepper is a Professor of Political Science at the European University Institute in San Domenico di Fiesole, Italy. He is visiting the University of Pittsburgh as a candidate for the William Dietrich Chair in Political Science.

Annunziata (Ann) Ugas, a visiting MA-level student from the University of Cagliari in Italy (Sardegna) and Center Associate within the European Union Center of Excellence, has been working on her translation studies while at the University of Pittsburgh. She will offer a talk based on her research. She will discuss the challenges of translating a parodic text (Barry Trotter and the Unauthorized Parody), and Professor Dennis Looney (French & Italian) and Professor Carol Bové (English) will respond to Ann’s presentation.

Mental Illness is one of the top public health challenges in Europe as measured by prevalence, burden of disease and disability. It is estimated that mental disorders affect more than a third of the population every year, the most common being depression and anxiety. Featuring experts from Scotland, this presentation aims to describe how the Scottish government is tackling mental health and related issues, as understanding grows and the stigma of mental illness is decreasing.

This talk examines this process of global diffusion, highlighting the specific role played by European activists. Given the diversity of countries where same-sex marriage is currently under discussion, structural causes once put forward to explain the emergence of same-sex marriage in Western societies must now be challenged.

In many ways, the EU appears to be in a period of transition: recovering from the financial crisis, continuing to implement the Lisbon Treaty’s provisions, and awaiting a new set of European elections. Have these developments produced change in the EU’s politics and policies, or has it been Brussels as usual? The Organizing Committee of the Ninth Annual Graduate Student Conference on the European Union welcomes graduate students from around the world to contribute to the theme of the conference, as well as others related to the EU.