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Outreach Activities

OUTREACH NEWS

Madison East High School Team Competes in Euro Challenge 2011 National Finals!

A team of sophomore high school students from Madison East went to the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City on April 27 to compete in the final rounds of the annual 2011 Euro Challenge Competition. They advanced to the finals after winning the Midwest preliminary round in March at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, where they competed against high school teams from Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois. For an update on the Euro Challenge winner, please visit the featured news update on the Euro Challenge website here.

Read about the 2010 Euro Challenge

The High School Euro Challenge is a national academic competition targeting students in grades 9 and 10. Supported by the Delegation of the European Commission to the United States, the Euro Challenge is designed to develop and expand students’ knowledge of the European Union (EU), the European economy and the euro. Students in social studies, global studies, economics, world history/geography or European studies classes will especially benefit from participating in this innovative and fun educational competition. Two Wisconsin High Schools (Madison East and Kettle Moraine) participated in Euro Challenge 2010.

To read about their experiences Click Here.

Find out more about the Orientation Workshop.

An Educational Trip to Brussels for A Wisconsin Teacher

The Delegation of the European Commission to the U.S. organized its second annual educational trip to Brussels, Belgium from June 21 to June 26, 2010. The UW-Madison’s European Union Center of Excellence participated in this outstanding educational opportunity by inviting one Wisconsin high school teacher to travel to Brussels. Michele Koper of Kettle Moraine High School joined a group of secondary school teachers, university students, and other EUCE network staff from across the U.S. for the week long program.

To learn more about her experiences and impressions, read Koper's essay.

K-12 OUTREACH

Annual K-12 Teacher Workshops

Fall 2011 K-12 TEACHER WORKSHOP:

 

To be determined.

 

PAST WORKSHOPS:

20-24 June 2011: "Europe and the Developing World"

This workshop explored the history of Europe’s relationship with the developing world, exploring both policy and public attitudes, exploitation and assistance, from the height of colonialism, through the uncertainties of the immediate post-colonial period to current global issues that unite as well as separate the nations of Europe from the developing world. To what extent has current European policy been shaped by the colonial past? How do attitudes to the developing world differ from EU member state to member state? And how has the recent economic crisis affected current development aid, development policy and long term development goals?

For more information, please visit the workshop website.

 

20 April 2011: "The Global Marketplace: A One-Day K-12 Teacher Workshop"

The current global economic crisis has done much to highlight the significance of the study of international economics and the interconnectedness of regional and national economies worldwide. UW-Madison international business faculty and regional outreach specialists along with guest speakers from the community explored the global marketplace, provided a survey of international business relations, promoted an awareness and knowledge of cultural influences on business, and presented resources and opportunities available for the study and teaching of international economics, national economies, and business practices.

Workshop schedule and presentations are available here.

 

28 June-2 July 2010: "Europe and the Mediterranean"

This workshop explores the history and culture of the Euro-Mediterranean region and discuss a range of issues (social, economic, environmental, and political) that affect this vital transnational area. How, for example, has Europe responded to the need and challenges of closer cooperation and integration with Southern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern states? And does the recent (2008) Union for the Mediterranean serve as a blueprint for resolving a wide range of cross-regional issues including security, pollution, and migration?

Download a copy of the workshop reader!

 

22-26 June 2009: "Looking Forward, Looking Back: Causes and Consequences of the Fall of the Berlin Wall"

To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Center for European Studies and the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia offered a week long K-12 teacher workshop from Monday, June 22 to Friday, June 26, 2009. The Workshop looked at both the Cold War and the post-Cold War period, identifying themes and events that led to the dismantling of the Iron Curtain, evaluating the monumental changes in Europe in the last twenty years and highlighting both their regional and global significance.

Click here for a full schedule, a list of workshop speakers, and speaker presentations.

 

23-27 June 2008: "New and Emerging Migrations"

This year's workshop- run in collaboration with the UW's Global Studies program - had the title of, "New and Emerging Migrations" and provided a timely discussion of a wide variety of issues surrounding migration in Europe and placed these issues in a broader, global context. Fourteen teachers from Wisconsin and one from Illinois attended five days of informative and thought provoking presentations, panel discussions, film showings and UW-Madison campus resource site visits.\

Download the workshop agenda here.

For information about this and other Europe-related workshops for K-12 teachers, see the website of the Center for European Studies

EU Simulation Modules

These modules, created by the UW-Madison EUCE, are intended for use in grades 6-12. On each simulation website you will find materials for holding an in-class simulation of the EU policy-making process. Material is geared towards middle and high-school levels, but may well be used at the college level as a general introduction to the EU. Two modules have been developed so far:

- The EU Chocolate Directive

The chocolate simulation is a novel way to teach students about the European Union and some of the important issues its members must deal with as the EU becomes increasingly integrated. Student teams represent a member country, develop a position regarding chocolate regulation and scheme to reach the best outcome for their country.

- Parental Leave Policy in the European Union

For more information about either of these modules, please contact the Outreach Coordinator.

K-12 Teaching Resources.

Our K-12 Teaching Resources page lists more links that may be useful.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Collaboration with Business, Service, and Interest Groups. EUCE affiliates regularly transmit information about current and emerging transatlantic foreign policy and other significant international issues to a broad community audience. Among our most important partners is the Chicago Council on Global Affairs , one of the largest independent, non-profit international affairs organizations in the Midwest with a membership of over 7,000. We also collaborate with a wide variety of local and regional governmental and business associations, including the Madison Committee on Foreign Relations, the Madison International Trade Association, and various local chapters of Rotary International. Outreach events feature prominent policy makers and allow local participants the opportunity to engage in candid discussion of important business, foreign policy, and international topics.

OMCNET

Understanding the evolving architecture of EU governance is especially significant for US scholars, policymakers, businesses, and citizens in light of the growing influence on transatlantic relations of the EU’s internal governance structures and regulatory practices.

Innovative forms of EU governance such as the Open Method of Coordination [OMC] have begun to attract widespread attention from academics and policymakers in other parts of the world as a promising tool for enhancing implementation of national commitments within international organizations, deepening policy coordination within regional trading blocs, and improving multi-level governance within federal systems like that of the United States.

The EUCE maintains and continuously updates the online OMC Bibliography, a resource which is widely consulted and cited by scholars, students, policymakers, and practitioners across both Europe and the United States.

As part of the Center's ongoing mission to promote academic and policy dialogue about EU issues, and in pursuit of the EUCE theme The New Architecture of EU Governance, this forum makes available recent published and forthcoming work on the OMC to researchers, policy makers, and other qualified users. The forum is password protected; those interested in subscribing are welcome to contact the editor.