European Politics & Society
Objectives
- Fostering the EPS learning community by encouraging students to work and entertain one another in an intensive academic, cultural and social program
- Providing opportunities to gain a pragmatic understanding of EU decision-making. In other words, learning "how to play the game"
- Experiencing and observing the life, culture and diplomatic environment of two of Europe's most important cities: the political epicenter, Brussels, and the international criminal court capital, The Hague
Previous Activities Have Included
- Political Actor Interviews (interviews include Permanent Representatives of various countries to the EU, UNICEF, AGE, Amnesty International, etc.)
- Visit all of the European Union institutions - EU Parliament, EU Commission, and the EU Council
- Watch a live trial and hear an introductory speech by an American lawyer at the International Tribunal for the Former Republic of Yugoslavia
- Take a biking Excursion through Brussels
- Go on a guided tour through The Hague
- Hear the American perspective on the EU at the US Mission to the European Union
- Meet with American officials and tour the NATO compound
- Learn how to make and eat famous Brussels chocolate at a famous chocolate factory
- Take a tour and taste Belgian beer at a beer factory
Description
The weeklong trip to Brussels and The Hague allows you to visit and experience first-hand the political institutions that you learn about in class. On the study tour, you will meet with politicians who work in all branches of the European Union. Thus, you have the opportunity to ask questions and hear speeches by the inside players. In order to gain a more comprehensive knowledge of the Unidentified Political Object, you will also look at how other countries and organizations that work and lobby with the European Union.
The European Politics and Society class travels to NATO, where you get a classified tour of the facility and receive two introductory speeches by representatives. Since most Danish Institute for Study Abroad students come from various states in the USA, we also include a meeting with the US Mission to the EU to see how the US influences and lobbies Europe.
In order to develop your independence and critical analysis skills, we have set up political actor interviews throughout Brussels. In these interviews, you travel in small groups of four or five and interview and write a paper on how businesses and organizations lobby the European Union. Past visits have included UNICEF, Red Cross, International Crisis Group, EUROCITIES, European Women’s Lobby, Permanent Representations of various European countries, the Ambassador of Latvia, American Chamber of Commerce, etc.
Not only is the study tour meant to enhance the class material by using Brussels as a learning opportunity, but DIS also believes that the program tour is meant to develop relationships with your classmates, immerse yourself in the Belgium culture, and to have fun. In the past, we have traveled to a Chocolate making factory, a beer factory, we have gone on a walking tour through Brussels, and we have had optional visits to bars and restaurants that are frequented by the workers of the European Union.
After the students travel to Brussels, the EPS class also makes a stop in The Netherlands – The Hague. In The Hague, you will witness a real trial in the International Tribunal for the Former Republic of Yugoslavia. An American lawyer from Texas gives an introductory speech about the trial and the life of an American-educated international lawyer living abroad. After the trial, the trip will finish with a guided bus/walking tour of The Hague.
