Are you an active Aurora Student Council Member or Aurora Student Ambassador for the academic year 2024/25? Are you eager to explore and analyze EU institutions in Brussels? Dream of meeting EU politicians to discuss civil society, regional, and local interests in policymaking? Join an international group of students from all Aurora universities to examine and discuss European institutions from a comparative perspective!
Course description
You will spend 5 days in Brussels and experience and analyse institutions of the EU. With selected sites like the European Parliament with the visitor center Parlamentarium, the House of European History, the exhibition-center Experience Europe etc., we will examine institutions, self-representations, narratives and memory politics of the EU. Furthermore, you have the chance to meet with EU politicians and with the Committee of the Regions (CoR) to discuss civil society, regional and local interests in EU policymaking and decisionmaking. The topic of higher education will be discussed against the backdrop and with representatives from the European University Alliance Aurora. In order to contextualise and decentre these insights, you will further visit the Africa Museum and institutional dealings with colonial past. Examining and discussing European institutions in an international group of students from all Aurora universities will be an additional benefit of experiencing the EU with a comparative perspective!
ONLINE PART
Introductory sessions: • 6 March 25 (10.15-11.15h CET) • 27 March 25 (10.15-13h CET)
ON-SITE PART IN BRUSSELS
7-11 April 25
REGISTER between 8 January and 21 January using the registration procedure outlined here.
Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing the course, students can characterize selected institutions of the EU in Brussels. They can describe and apply interdisciplinary theoretical concepts like memory politics, coloniality and decolonization. They can articulate insights into notions of European culture, values and biases and evaluate the narratives of European identity and memory as well as the role of institutions like museums, memorials and education system therein. They can clearly describe issues in studying processes of constructing historical continuities, of nation building and of Europeanization. Students are furthermore able to question assumptions and identify relevant contexts. They can identify their own and others' assumptions and relevant contexts when presenting a position. Students are able to synthesize other perspectives (such as cultural, disciplinary and ethical positions) through the diverse student body when discussing global issues in understanding Europe.
Further information can be found here.