Young Translators of European Languages Unite: DGT Goes West

by Anna Holmén Dr. Elizabeth Lowe, Director of the Center for Translation Studies, addresses high school students and teachers at the Illinois Translation Competition capstone program, held on the campus of the University of Illinois, November 4, 2011. Sometimes when you open your mailbox in the morning you find something that really cheers you up. That definitely was the case for the Juvenes Translatores team when we got a letter of invitation from the University of Illinois. ‘Request for assistance,’...

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Croatia's Hard-Fought European Moment

by Richelle Bernazzoli “Ne hvala (No thanks).” Photo taken by Maximilian Geise October 15, 2011 at Zagreb’s “Occupy” protest on Ban Josip Jelačić Square 2011 has been a big year for Croatia—the small, Adriatic country that has, in the course of twenty years, transitioned from a constituent socialist republic in the former Yugoslavia to a free market democracy, NATO member, and candidate for the European Union. Along the way, the country was devastated by the wars of Yugoslav succession, which occurred...

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Across the Cornfields – Holiday Edition

by Reneé Gordon Holley As we all prepare for our respective holiday traditions, it is difficult to escape the festive decorations and flickering shop windows. Even in little Champaign-Urbana, our city streets are adorned with wreaths, lights, and trees. For me, however, a new crucial holiday tradition involves traveling to Chicago each December to take in more of the big city treats. In addition to the fine shopping and dining spaces in Chicago, anyone taking a Christmas trip to the Windy City...

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Discourse Surrounding the Final Declaration of the 64th Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference

by Alexandra Lively Semantics played an important role in the Draft Declaration of the 64th Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference. It is evident that this becomes problematic when trying to create discourse or legislation when definitions vary across NGOs. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) present at the Conference collectively focus on a vast array of issues – Eradication of Poverty, Child Mortality, Population, Women’s Education, Sustainability, Nuclear Disarmament, Global Health,...

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The Road to Rio: The 64th Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference

10000Stories on Vimeo by Alexandra Lively The 64th Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference was held in Bonn, Germany September 3-5. This year’s theme was “Sustainable Societies; Responsive Citizens” and revolved around citizen and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) involvement in creating and maintaining various aspects of sustainable societies for the benefit of mankind and the planet. The Conference served as a major NGO preparatory meeting for the Rio+20 Conference. The Rio+20 Conference...

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International Business Immersion Program Concludes

IBIP, a program co-sponsored by the European Union Center including participation by EUC Director Bryan Endres, concluded its 2011 trip in October. Read the brief news article about the program below or on the Office of International Programs Monthly Newsletter. The 2011 International Business Immersion Program (IBIP) concluded on October 6, 2011, as the 24 participants, divided into six groups, premiered their final video projects about their research findings on the European food and agribusiness...

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Austria-Illinois Change through Exchange Conference

On October 27 and 28, the Austria-Illinois Exchange Program celebrated its 40th year of scholarly exchange between the University of Illinois and colleges and universities in Austria. The conference's welcome address was delivered by Wolfgang Schlör, Interim Associate Provost for International Affairs; Barbara Sporn, Vice Rector, Research, International Affairs, and External Relations, Vienna University of Economics and Business; and Bruce Murray, Professor, Germanic Languages...

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Celebrating Oktoberfest: Across the Cornfields Edition

by Reneé Gordon Holley Every September, millions of people flock to Munich, Germany, eager to take part in the annual Oktoberfest celebration. Tourists and locals alike overrun the city, spending hours in festival tents, sipping fine brews specially formulated for the occasion, and consuming innumerable pretzels and pork shanks. Among the smells of people, beer, meat and sweets, listeners are treated to traditional folk bands, which blast Bavarian classics and entice children to dance. For those...

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Newcastle University Conference Explores Options for a Sustainable Countryside

The Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability and the Newcastle University Law School hosted a conference to address emerging challenges to rural areas, including responding to climate change, food security, renewable energy, and changes to crop and livestock production systems.  EU Center Director A. Bryan Endres served as the opening speaker, presenting a talk on sustainable bioenergy and legal approaches to ecological protection.  Specifically, the presentation discussed the...

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New Course on the Changing Arctic

A new study abroad course entitled "Environment and Society in a Changing Arctic" is now available for University of Illinois students. The six-week course, supported in part by the EUC's European Union Center of Excellence grant, will take students of any discipline first to KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden for a five-week introduction to the political, social, historical, and cultural issues of climate change, and then north to the Arctic Circle for ten days...

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40 Years of Exchange with Austria

This year, the Austria-Illinois Exchange Program, one of the University of Illinois' oldest study abroad programs, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, AIEP is holding the Change through Exchange conference, which is co-sponsored by the European Union Center. The two-day conference will include discussions, films and lectures by speakers like Thomas Schnöll, Consul General of Austria and Josef Haslinger, Austrian author and professor at the University...

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Renewable energy the focus of study abroad tour in Greece

Five University of Illinois students, funded in part by the European Union Center under a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant, visited Greece this spring to learn about renewable energy. They explored the difference in EU and US approaches to environmental sustainability, and experienced the Greek economic crisis along the way. See below for the full press release. URBANA - Five students from the University of Illinois spent a month in Greece this spring, studying renewable energy...

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EU Center Students Named Fulbright Recipients

Two students affiliated with the European Union Center are among fourteen current students or recent alumni at the University of Illinois who have been offered fully funded opportunities to research, study, or teach English in other nations through the US Student Fulbright program. Richelle Bernazzoli, of Portage, Pa., a doctoral candidate in geography, EU Center Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow in academic year 2009-10 and summer 2009, and EU Center graduate assistant in...

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U of I, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm Form Alliance

A new partnership between the University of Illinois and Stockholm's KTH Royal Institute of Technology, called INSPIRE, was agreed upon yesterday. INSPIRE is funded in part by European Union Center grants, and EUC-affiliated faculty are at the forefront of the initiative. See the full press release from the University of Illinois New Bureau below for details.   CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The chief executive officers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and KTH Royal Institute of Technology...

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The Death of Europe Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

It is quite fashionable to bash Europe right now. In the ongoing debate about the American budget crisis, my congressman (Paul Ryan) continues to warn about America becoming more and more “socialist” like Europe. How he continues to get away with this baffles me. The debt crisis of the “PIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) is said to be proof that the European model is not sustainable. The implication is supposed to be that Europe must become more like America. Given...

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Nordic Exposure

EU Center-affiliated faculty member Anna Stenport and many others at UI are developing the Illinois-Sweden Program for Educational Research Exchange (INSPIRE) partnership with KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and additional collaborators in Sweden. The partnership emerged in part with EUC support and hosting of a delegation from the Swedish embassy, including the Swedish ambassador, for EU Day 2009. This article originally appeared in College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS)...

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Illini in Belgium

A delegation of students and faculty from the University of Illinois traveled to Belgium in May 2011 as part of the International Business Immersion Program (IBIP), which featured a course and study tour focusing on European agricultural production and business. The IBIP Europe Immersion Program 2011 was organized by Professor Andrea Martens and Meredith Blumthal, and sponsored by the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences and the College of Business, and co-sponsored...

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Connecting Students from Illinois and Turkey

The European Union Center at the University of Illinois is exploring future collaborations and potential student exchanges with Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey. Pictured: EUC Director Bryan Endres (third from right) and Jerry Vassalla, EUC student in the Master of Arts in EU Studies (far left), had two days of meetings with students and faculty of the Master of Arts Program in European Studies and the Department of Political Science and International Relations on the Boğaziçi University...

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