1962: The Inter-disciplinary Committee on Soviet and East European Studies is founded at Carleton. A BA (Honours) degree in Soviet and East European Studies is initiated. The Committee is variously chaired in the following decade by Professors Adam Bromke (Political Science), John Strong (History), and Philip Uren (Geography). During the 1960s it sponsors a series of evening public lectures by leading North American Slavists, which fill Southam Hall (there is not much else to do in Ottawa in those days). Carleton experts give a series of lectures on CBC radio on Soviet topics which are broadcast across the country. Members of the Committee are also at the forefront of organizing a graduate student and faculty exchange with Leningrad State University (now Saint Petersburg State University). This is the first such exchange in Canada and later the only one to escape cancellation over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; the exchange still exists today.
1963: Adam Bromke revives the Canadian Slavonic Papers, which remain at Carleton until 1980, with Professors Adam Bromke, John Strong and Carter Elwood (History) serving as editors.
1971: The Institute of Soviet and East European Studies (ISEES) is created as separate university unit. Professor Bohdan Bociurkiw (Political Science) is appointed to head the new institute and launch an MA program. The Institute is housed in Paterson Hall.
1972: Professor Philip Uren (Geography) is appointed ISEES director for a three-year term. The East-West Project (EWP) is founded as the Institute’s first organized research unit. It supports a variety of research and training projects dealing with the Soviet Union, Russia and Eastern Europe through the 1990s. The EWP is directed by Professor Carl McMillan (Economics); from 1995 jointly with Professor Joan DeBardeleben.
1973: Philip Uren resigns as ISEES director to become director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) and Carleton International. Professor Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone (Political Science) agrees to step in as director for the remainder of his term.
1975: Carl McMillan is appointed director. He serves in the position until 1981.
1977: Donna Harper is appointed Institute administrator; she remains in that capacity for the next twenty years.
1981: Professor Larry Black (History) is appointed director; Carl McMillan agrees to remain until end of year to accommodate Black’s sabbatical plans.
1982-90: Larry Black serves as director, with Professors John Strong (History) and Carter Elwood (History) stepping in as acting directors at various times. The Institute thrives in the period of Perestroika, which generates great media attention.
1990: Professor Carl Jacobsen (Political Science) is appointed ISEES director.
1991: Professor Joan DeBardeleben, a political scientist, joins Carleton as the first professor formally appointed (100%) to the Institute.
1992: After Jacobsen‘s resignation, Joan DeBardeleben becomes director, a position she holds until 2003. The Institute is renamed Institute of Central/East European and Russian Area Studies (CERAS) and the name of the BA Honours degree is likewise changed to Central/East European and Russian Area Studies.
1993: An internship component is added to the MA program; students are placed in various government and non-governmental positions in Ottawa.
1995-1997: Carl McMillan serves as director during Joan DeBardeleben’s sabbatical.
1996: The Russian Department at Carleton is closed, along with other modern languages units; language instruction is now provided through the School of Linguistics and Language Studies (SLALS). The Institute loses its administrator position and is jointly administered with NPSIA for the next years, although remaining an independent academic unit with its own degree programs. This arrangement stays in effect until 2003. Donna Harper moves to another unit as administrator.
1997: Joan DeBardeleben returns as director.
1999: The Institute expands its scope to include the entire European continent, reflected in its new name: Institute of European and Russian Studies (EURUS). The BA program is revised to incorporate Western and Central Europe.
2000: The Centre for European Studies (CES) is created as a research unit housed in EURUS, directed by Joan DeBardeleben (from 2016 jointly with Achim Hurrelmann). In the following years, CES receives a number of major grants from the European Union as well as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), which support conferences and other scholarly activities, as well as student research in Europe.
2001: EURUS introduces the Diploma in European Integration Studies, which provides a course-based academic program in European integration to supplement a student’s main graduate degree.
2003: Professor Piotr Dutkiewicz (Political Science) is appointed EURUS director, a position he holds until 2008. Professor Jeff Sahadeo, a historian, becomes the second professor appointed to EURUS (50/50 cross-appointed with Political Science). The Institute is again assigned its own administrator, a post filled by Ginette Lafleur; at this point the administrative link to NSPIA is discontinued. However, NPSIA and EURUS continue to share a joint Resource Centre until 2012. The Institute moves to Dunton Tower.
2006-2007: Joan DeBardeleben serves as director during Piotr Dutkiewicz’s sabbatical. The Centre for European Studies is designated an EU Centre of Excellence (EUCE) by the European Commission and receives funding to support outreach, research, students grants, and visiting European scholars.
2007: Piotr Dutkiewicz returns as director. The MA program is expanded to include all of Europe. The Institute is renamed Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS), to reflect the growing importance of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
2008-2009: Professor Andrea Chandler (Political Science) serves as EURUS Director.
2009: Professor Crina Viju, an economist, becomes the third professor formally appointed to EURUS (100%). Joan DeBardeleben serves as acting director of the Institute from July until the end of the year.
2010: Jeff Sahadeo becomes EURUS director at the beginning of the winter term. Professor James Casteel, a historian, is appointed to EURUS (appointment shared with College of the Humanities).
2011: The Magna Corporation donates $450,000 to establish the Magna Fund for Russian Studies, overseen by Piotr Dutkiewicz. The fund supports student research on Russia, as well as Russian language training. Former director Carl McMillan makes a personal donation to establish the Pushkin Fund, which is used to create the part-time position of an Outreach and Development Coordinator and, from 2015, the position of a Postdoctoral Fellow. The Institute is awarded its first Jean Monnet Chair by the EU’s Lifelong Learning Program (2011-2014), focussing on the EU’s relations with its eastern neighbours (Joan DeBardeleben).
2012: EURUS begins to offer a co-operative education program at the BA and MA levels, allowing for paid semester-long employment in external organizations (primarily the federal government). The Institute moves into the new River Building (later renamed Richcraft Hall).
2014: Professor Achim Hurrelmann (Political Science) becomes EURUS director. Professor Martin Geiger, a geographer, is appointed to EURUS (50/50 cross-appointment with Political Science).
2015: After Ginette Lafleur’s retirement, Krysia Kotarba becomes EURUS administrator. Carleton launches the Bachelor of Global and International Studies (BGINS), with a specialization in “Europe and Russia in the World” administered by EURUS. The Institute is awarded a second Jean Monnet Chair (2015-2018), focussing on EU democracy (Achim Hurrelmann).
2016: The Centre for European Studies receives funding as a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence from the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme (2016-1019). Based on this funding, along with other EU grants, CES continues to support EURUS through student grants and employment, lectures and conferences, and European visiting professors.
2017: The Kinross Gold Corporation donates $100,000 to establish the Kinross Gold Fund for Russian Studies, managed by Piotr Dutkiewicz. The Fund supports student research on Russia, as well as Russian language training. CES is awarded a grant from the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme (2017-2020) to establish a Jean Monnet Network on Canada-EU-Relations with four European partner institutions.
2018: Jeff Sahadeo becomes EURUS director for his second term.