Centre for European Studies Selected for Three EU Grants

The Centre for European Studies (CES) at Carleton University has been selected as a recipient of three major grants from the European Union’s Jean Monnet Programme. The following initiatives have been selected for funding:

• CES will be designated as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and will receive 100,000 Euro in EU funding over a three-year period (2016-2019). This funding will support research in three thematic priority areas: (1) EU external relations, including EU-Canada relations; (2) EU economic governance; and (3) migration and identity in the EU. The research activities of the Centre aim at enhancing synergies between EU scholars at Ottawa universities, producing high-quality scholarly publications, creating transatlantic connections between EU researchers in Canada and Europe, and promoting research by emerging scholars. In the area of teaching/learning, the Centre will deepen and diversify course offerings in Carleton University’s undergraduate and graduate programs in European Studies. It will support research by graduate students (especially field research in Europe) and experiential learning opportunities. The Centre is also designed to reach out to the policy and diplomatic community as well as to civil society; it will host policy-oriented events and will produce publications that appeal to non-academic audiences. The Centre of Excellence will comprise 19 scholars from both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa; it will be coordinated by EURUS professor Achim Hurrelmann.
• A Jean Monnet Project “Studying EU in Canadian High Schools” will support the high school outreach programs of CES with a grant of 47,130 Euro over two years (2016-2018). This project aims at promoting a broader and deeper awareness and understanding of European integration and of the EU among high school students in the Ottawa region. The new funding will allow for a continuation and expansion of the successful EU Learning Project run by CES. Activities will include an annual teachers’ workshop, a conference on European issues aimed at high school students, and a simulation of EU decision making. A number of activities will be run by EURUS MA students under the supervision of Carleton professors. The project will be coordinated by EURUS professor Crina Viju.
• EURUS professor Joan DeBardeleben has been awarded a Jean Monnet Chair in EU Relations with Russia and the Eastern Neighbourhood. This chair will be funded with a grant of 50,000 Euro for a three-year period (2016-2019). The Jean Monnet Chair was first established and funded in 2011. Renewed funding will promote the continuing development of its highly successful role as a focal point for teaching and public reflection regarding the EU’s role as a transformative force in Eastern Europe and EU relations with Russia. The thematic focus of the Chair will be extended to include broader issues of the EU’s foreign policy role, European integration and security, and the importance of enlargement as a key element of the EU’s past (and potentially future) eastern policy.  The chair’s teaching program includes two new courses, a distance learning course, continuing classroom links with European students, co-teaching with European experts, a semi-annual seminar where students whose research relates to the topic of the Chair to share their research findings, and a regular roundtable debating series that will facilitate interaction between scholars, practitioners, civil society, and students. In addition, the grant will support a variety of outreach activities, including two policy workshops, a major conference on EU enlargement, and research publications.

This funding is conditional on the signing of grant agreements between the EU’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) and Carleton University.

The Centre for European Studies (CES) is a Carleton University Research Centre housed in EURUS. CES is directed by EURUS professor Joan DeBardeleben. Existing grants supporting CES include an EU Centre of Excellence (EUCE), a SSHRC Strategic Knowledge Cluster (“Canada-Europe Transatlantic Dialogue”) and another Jean Monnet Chair (“Democracy in the European Union”).