2ND PLACE WINNER: "IN THE HEART OF PARIS, SHE HELD PARIS IN HER HEART"

The Illinois International Photo Contest invites students to submit a photo and accompanying essay of their studies abroad. Recent MAEUS graduate Lauren Turk was awarded 2nd place in the Personal Connection category for her essay and photo of the Louvre in Paris.  Lauren's essay originally appeared in the Study Abroad July newsletter. by Lauren Turk Paris is an overwhelmingly enchanting city; the buildings adorning the streets exude beauty and brilliance, while the contents within these...

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Embracing Arctic Nature: Glacier Valleys

by Robert Nystrom and Miriam Zarate Our sixth day at 78 degrees north provided another exciting adventure for us all. The day started off with a hike from our guesthouse in Longyearbyen to Endalen and Advent Valley with the intentions of studying reindeer and also learning more about the environment as a whole. Ironically the only reindeer we saw on our hike was on our way out of the city of Longyearbyen. This fact however did not make the hike any less valuable or breathtaking. On the...

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Below the Surface

by Sarah Rivard and Nick Musso Friday the 13th turned out to be a great day despite superstition. As usual we woke up bright and early, had breakfast and set out for another day of interviews and exploration, this time about what lies beneath the surface of Svalbard. First, we met with Morten Often, the Vice President of Exploration for the Store Norske Spitsbergen Coal Company. Mr. Often presented a PowerPoint that offered information such as Store Norske’s history on Svalbard, its current...

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Goodbye Barentsburg!

By Rebecca Herrmann and Aaron Letterly  Our second and final morning in Barentsburg found our group enjoying a traditional Russian breakfast of eggs, sausage, fruit, and drinkable yogurt! After filling ourselves to the brim, we went on a visit to the Pomor Museum.  There were exhibits on Geology, Nature, History, and Art.  There was little information in the exhibits so we had a tour guide, Vadim F. Starkov.  Starkov knew very little English, so we had a member...

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Barentsburg, Svalbard

by Dariusz Hareza and Lauren Ceckowski Our third day in Svalbard began our adventure to Barentsburg, a Russian mining town.  To get there, we were split into two groups to journey across the arctic waters by zodiak! Our adventurous tour guides at Spitsbergen Travel suited us up in survival suits and lifejackets for the ride of a lifetime. On our way out of the dock we got our first glimpse of a seal basking in the sun beside the boats. Our two hour boat ride was exciting, but also full...

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Talk Radio with Bryan, Tom, James & Todd

Todd Gleason, Farm Broadcaster, University of Illinois The European Union Center on the University of Illinois campus has taken a group of high school teachers to Brussels, Belgium. In this 20 minute conversation, Director of the European Union Center Bryan Endres joins WILL Radio host Todd Gleason and trip participants Tom Bruno and James Garcia to discuss the Summer Study Tour. Listen to their conversation here. Talk Radio with Bryan, Tom, James & Toddvar a2a_config = a2a_config...

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The Glacial Trek That Induced Muscle Memory

by Sarah Buckman, Pratik Patel, and Alex Li We finally arrived to the most crucial and exciting part of the Arctic Summer program, which is Svalbard. We visited Spitsbergen, a big island that is part of the beautiful archipelago known as Svalbard. We made camp in Longyearbyen, where glaciers covered the mountainsides all around the valley. The sun seemed never to set, but rather it circled the valley throughout the day like a merry-go-round. Due to the warm ocean currents near Spitsbergen, Svalbard...

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Welcome to Svalbard

by Rachel Bonet and Matthew Borden The group at Arlanda airport. The start of our journey can best be described with the saying “good things come to those who wait.” Each subway train, bus, commuter train, taxi, escalator, and moving walkway seems to take an eternity when you realize that you are heading to a place few have been before; a place you have read about and dreamed about going. Today is the day we head off to the Arctic, and all we can think about is how long this bloody flight...

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Tracking Gnomes and Auditing their Books

Todd Gleason, Farm Broadcaster, University of Illinois The European Union Center on the University of Illinois campus has taken a group of high school teachers to Brussels, Belgium. Most of them are history teachers, and learned how agriculture, in large part, underpins the common European society. Listen to the fourth and final of Todd Gleason’s journal entries from the weeklong trip, and follow along with the transcript below. Also check out Todd Gleason's blog on the...

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Granddad can we go to the U.S. mission?

Todd Gleason, Farm Broadcaster, University of Illinois The European Union Center on the University of Illinois campus has taken a group of high school teachers to Brussels, Belgium. Most of them are history teachers, and learned how agriculture, in large part, underpins the common European society. Listen to the third of Todd Gleason’s journal entries from the weeklong trip, and follow along with the transcript below. Also check out Todd Gleason's blog on the experience,...

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The European Commission Prison

Todd Gleason, Farm Broadcaster, University of Illinois The European Union Center on the University of Illinois campus has taken a group of high school teachers to Brussels, Belgium. Most of them are history teachers, and learned how agriculture, in large part, underpins the common European society. Listen to the second of Todd Gleason’s journal entries from the weeklong trip, and follow along with the transcript below. Also check out Todd Gleason's blog on the experience,...

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Caterpillar & a Bucket of Mussels

Todd Gleason, Farm Broadcaster, University of Illinois The European Union Center on the University of Illinois campus has taken a group of high school teachers to Brussels, Belgium. Most of them are history teachers, and learned how agriculture, in large part, underpins the common European society. Listen to the first of Todd Gleason’s diary entries from the week long trip, and follow along with the transcript below. Also check out Todd Gleason's blog on the experience, featuring posts,...

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Fourth of July and a Trip to Denmark

by Georgy Petukhov and Noel Piatek Today we celebrated the United States’ independence here in Sweden, where the fourth of July is seen as any other day. We still went to class, the shops were still open, and there were no parades. To fix this lack of excitement we all came together to have an awesome Fourth of July barbecue at the grills behind our residence halls. Noel brought potato salad and chocolate strawberries but there was a myriad of delicious dishes, such as: grilled hot dogs,...

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Demystifying the Arctic

by Alexandra Wright and Jane Rivas Barentsburg Longyearbyen We ended our week of lectures with a lesson on Actor Network Theory and the role it plays in Arctic sovereignty. We talked about how it is not only people and organizations that influence the narratives presented regarding claimed territories, but how physical structures also demonstrate this. This is especially apparent when comparing the two mining towns, the Russian settlement Barentsburg and the Norwegian settlement Longyearbyen....

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Day 26: Museums, Frogs, and Parkas?!

by Robert Nystrom and Miriam Zarate As we continue on our quest to a better understanding of the history of the Arctic region, we continue to investigate the lives and culture of the region's indigenous people. The history of Sweden's indigenous people can provide valuable insight into both the environment of the Arctic and the changes that have occurred over time. We visited the Nordiska Museet today as a class, primarily to gain more knowledge about the Sami people, or Laplanders as...

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EU Center visits University of Luxembourg

Photo: Todd E. Gleason The EU Center's recent Summer Study Tour included a visit to the University of Luxembourg. Check out the University of Luxembourg's blog post on the subject below or by clicking here. On 28 and 29 June, the University of Luxembourg welcomed a group of visitors from the University of Illinois’ European Union Center, in the framework of their study tour to Europe. The group included the Director of the European Union Center, Prof. Bryan Endres, the Associate Director,...

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Exploration Near and Far

by Sarah Rivard and Nick Musso As we enter the second month of our program, everyone is getting excited for our trip to the Arctic. In preparation for this, we've been learning about past expeditions. Monday's lecture was about the book "The Ice Balloon," which told the tale of S. A. Andrée's attempt to reach the North Pole by flying in a hydrogen balloon along with a brief history of Arctic exploration. Andrée studied at The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, the very same university...

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New Adventures in Old Town

by Rebecca Hermann and Aaron Letterly We concluded the second week of the Arctic portion of our class with a lesson on polar research for science, industry, and geo-politics.  Historically, polar research has been based on the linear model.  This model states that scientific research leads to technological development and industrial renewal in a linear fashion. This model is heavily criticized by scholars studying the innovation process, as it was created to convince investors to...

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