Spring 2010

Trip to Brussels
by Ian Hochman-Reid

I arrived in Brussels via Amsterdam. As I sat on the train watching Holland and Northern Belgium zip by, I thought about the European institutions and the American agencies we would be visiting and what Brussels would be like as a city. Before writing more about the Brussels visit, I would like to say that that this program has given me the opportunity to visit many extraordinary places including Normandy where I spent four days. I have also the chance to visit places like Paris, and Berlin.

Soon after our arrival at the hostel we were almost immediately whisked off for a meeting at the Bank of Belgium. At the bank we discussed the monetary integration of the EU and related issues of ceding monetary policy to European Central Bank. Belgians, he said, are for greater integration of Europe because it would help make real what he described as an “artificially created country”. In his view it was not a big deal for many EU nations to cede monetary authority because they had already pegged their currencies to those of other countries; Belgium, for example, pegged the Belgian Frank to the German Mark. The bank representative also took some shots at England by calling England’s voice in the EU “a lot like Uncle Sam’s”.

This was in contrast to our visit at the Council of the European Union the following day. In this case, one speaker was British, and unlike the individual at the Bank of Belgium, brushed off the criticism that other Europeans level at the UK.

Following this we visited the American mission to the European Union, visiting American soil for the first time since January. After getting through the fortress-like security, we had discussions with embassy officials on the many complex matters of EU-US relations. The US mission not only includes the state deferment but also represent most cabinet level departments within the federal government including Commerce, Defense, Agriculture, Justice, and Labor.

Our discussions with the state department representative of the Foreign Service covered human rights and EU-US relations where our policies were in agreement and where they disagreed. With the Commerce representative we talked about the level of trade that exists between the US and the EU and the disputes that such trade creates as the “banana wars” of the late 90s.

After our trip in Brussels we visited the ancient town of Tier in Germany, which was founded by the Romans over 2000 years ago. Following Trier we traveled on to Luxembourg to visit the European Court of Justice where issues of European community law are decided.

Coming back to Strasbourg was an interesting. Not only were trains crowded because all air travel was shut down across Europe due to the unpronounceable volcano in Iceland, the French Railroad (SNCF) was about to go on strike! Our reaction was that this seems to happen every couple of weeks. So we came back on an earlier train and were able to make it back with out any hassle.

Overall – a great trip!

Human Rights Politics- Meeting Bundestag MP Harald Leibrecht
April 11, 2010

Massiel Silva

We wish we had more time to write everything you need to know about our semester abroad... Fortunately, there is a lot keeping us busy! Nevertheless, there are certain events that everyone needs to know about - such as our fantastic experience meeting Bundestag MP Harald Leibrecht!

Last week not only did we get to spend quality time with Dr. Downs, Dr. Carey and Dr. McCoy, GSU faculty who came to visit us and to make sure we are enjoying our time is Strasbourg, but we had the great opportunity to have a discussion session with Harald Leibrecht. Mr. Leibrecht has held several political offices within the Bundestag and in inter-parliamentary bodies such as the Council of Europe and the Assembly of the Western European Union. As a current member of the committee on economic cooperation and development in the Bundestag, our discussion with Mr. Leibrecht's focused on his involvement with different development initiatives and human rights violations around the world. It was truly fascinating and eye opening to hear about first hand accounts on important initiatives such as: human rights violation investigations in Russia, talks with opposition groups in North Korea, and development plans for Haiti.

Mr. Leibrecht emphasized the violation of human rights in Russia and the strengthening of Russia's centralized system of government. He narrated several instances in which he had met with opposition groups and journalists who were willing to go through harassment by the authorities and sometimes to even risk their lives in order to draw international attention and action to their country's situation. Despite Russia's responsibility to adhere to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, it faces the largest number of cases pending in the European Court of Justice - 28% of the total.

When Mr. Leibrecht spoke about meeting with opposition groups in Russian, North Korea and other authoritarian regimes, several of us asked about how to solve the dilemma of listening to their troubles and providing them with help when knowing that days later they could face strong repercussions from the local authorities. Mr. Leibrecht explained that although there will always be risks, parties in the Bundestag establish organizations in countries that need international attention in order to have a safer way to continue communications with opposition groups and other individuals whose rights have been infringed upon.

The opportunity to have such an interesting discussion with a member of the Bundestag whose day to day work have important social implications, which could change the course of human rights activism and the lives of millions of people around the world, is a truly significant experience. We appreciate the efforts of the program coordinators and we thank Mr. Leibrecht for taking the time from his busy schedule to enhance our knowledge on the tangible implications of politics.

-Massiel

European Identity?
March 14, 2010 

Massiel Silva

This past Wednesday I took a big weight off my shoulders; I presented my research project for Dr. Dollat's class! Our European Citizenship class is one of the most demanding classes we have to take this semester; it focuses on the study of the treaties of the European Union and the creation and implications of these treaties for the member states and for European citizens. In order to understand Community law, Dr. Dollat requires students to present particular sections of the treaties and analyze the implementation of the law by briefing court cases seen in the European Court of Justice.

Dr. Dollat volunteered me to be the first presenter along with Michelle, a girl from another US study abroad program. We did our research on the topic "Obtaining European Citizenship", which encompassed the analysis of article 20 TFEU (citizenship of the Union as a complement to national citizenshio), article 19 TFEU (non-discrimination on basis of nationality), dual citizenship, rights and responsibilities of EU citizens, immigration to the EU, among other points.

While doing my research I realized something that seems obvious but that we as non-Europeans sometimes do not pay much attention to. In two out of the three court cases I had to brief, the main problem between the member states occurred because of difference in culture. For example, in the case of Carlos Garcia Avello, the dispute initiated because of the different systems Belgium and Spain use to register the names of their nationals. More often than notwhen we think of Europe many images that reflect what the European countries have in common come to our mins. Nevertheless, in order to understand many of the issues that arise with the creation of the EU, it is imperative to comprehend that each country has a different system influenced by particular cultures and traditions.

Living in Strasbourg has helped me see Europe as a whole composed of divergent essential parts.I can now see the possibility of a dual identity being formed for new generations. French students think of themselves as French, but they also speak of themselves as "Europeans". The European countries are strongly linked by geography and history, therefore the concept and the connotations of "Europe" as a whole entity are consistent with reality. The creation of a European identity has been successful so far, especially in the last decades with the political and economic link created by the European Union. For Americans it is easier to understand the dynamics of a dual identity because of the federal nature of the American government, but for sovereign nations (which have been in war with each other for most of their existence) this concept becomes more difficult to grasp. Today, Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union explicitly states that "the European citizenship shall compliment and not replace national citizenship." In the future, it will be very interesting to see if the national/cultural differences like the one we saw in class (Carlos Garcia Avello's case) would continue to be strong or if the overarching idea of "Europeans" would make the differences slowly disappear...

Please post comments! Would love to know what you think about the topic...

Massiel

Beginnings
Joshua Andrews: To all of our loyal readers: I apologize for my part in the lack of posting this semester. Now that's out of the way, let's get down to business. Some of what Massiel and I--who are going to be the main posters on this blog, with possible occasional contributions from the other students--post might be somewhat rehashing the posts of the previous group on this blog, but we want to post about our own experiences and we hope that if we do post about similar things as the previous group our unique perspectives will make our posts fresh and exciting.

That said, take it away Massiel!

Massiel Silva: I can’t believe that more than a month has passed since the beginning of the program! It feels as if it was yesterday when I first arrived at the Chateau. After finally processing the fact that I was going to live in a beautiful 18th century chateau just five minutes away from the European Union Parliament, I was beginning to imagine the amazing experience I was going to have this semester.

Meeting the coordinators of the program was very relieving since I quickly learned that Willi, Kerstin and Sven were young, energetic, and fun people who were always available to help--as long as everyone washed their dishes and turned their lights off when not in their room!

Later I met the rest of the students, comprised of people from different educational backgrounds and concentrations. We all had one goal this semester: to experience life to the fullest while learning and submerging ourselves in a different culture and system. Because Strasbourg is a center of European politics, most of us are political science majors. Nevertheless, because the University of Strasbourg offers classes on many disciplines and the city has plenty of things to do and experience, Haley and Thomas, participants who aren’t political science majors, fit right in the program and are truly loving it!

The history of Strasbourg is very particular and makes the city even more charming. The city has been both French and German throughout its history. The result of the multiple changes of nationality is the amazing mixture of cultures, which becomes evident as one takes in the architecture, art, food, and even the names of streets and places. Strasbourg represents the unity of the European nations despite their past animosity. The first couple of weeks in the program, Willi and Kerstin showed us around the city and exposed us to the culture and past of the region Alsace. We visited several museums; the cathedral, which later became a central meeting place; La Petite France, the most picturesque spot in the city; and many other places. As the semester goes on, we hope to post on individual spots in the city that we enjoy.

Even though we came in the middle of winter, the cold didn’t stop us from enjoying the beauty and the fun Strasbourg offers (or sexy, sexy Strasbourg as Thomas would call his favorite city).

The city of Strasbourg is the perfect city to study abroad. The University of Strasbourg is the largest in France, with over 40,000 students. This makes the city a very safe and student friendly environment. International students from all over the world choose Strasbourg as their study abroad city: the ERASMUS students from all over Europe as well as students from China, Japan, India, Africa, all of South and North America, the Caribbean, etc.

This extraordinary diversity makes Strasbourg a fun and interesting city. Of course, when in France one would like to interact with French students who are usually very friendly and willing to help you practice French! Many French students take classes in English and are involved in student organizations, which makes the interaction much easier. What is great about this program is the genuine opportunity to really submerge yourself in the culture by experiencing French Alsatian food, speaking French, watching French films and plays and do what the French love doing: drinking wine and eating baguettes and delicious pastries all the time!

Living in Strasbourg not only offers you the opportunity to experience France, but because it’s located at the center of Western Europe, traveling anywhere in the European Union is easy and affordable. The program offers several excursions to Germany, Brussels, and Luxembourg, where we will visit European Union Institutions and where we will experience and see what we have learned in class. This serves to make the subjects we've learned in class spring to life, so to speak. Our group has already visited Stuttgart, and Baden-Baden, the Vin du Route, Haute Koenigsbourg, and other places. We have also had the opportunity to travel on our own, some of the places that we have visited so far are: Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Athens, London, Istanbul, Vienna, Venice, Rome, and Berlin.

The program just gets better and better. Back to Joshua!

Joshua Andrews: Strasbourg is a small, charming town (around 450,000 people live here) in north-east France, about a 5 minute drive from Germany. I'm studying at both the Ecole de Management and the Institut Etudes Politiques, basically the business and political science branches of the University of Strasbourg. Like Massiel said, the amount of diversity at these two institutions is astounding. I previously lived in Prague and while I was there I went to an international school, so I've had prior opportunities to interact with different cultures, but this is by far the least homogeneous place I've ever lived. It's been pretty fun thus far, especially the meeting new people from all corners of the world bit.

Even the students in our program are quite diverse. All of us have different stories and perspectives on life which makes dinner-time conversation quite lively. Due in part to the fact that there are so many international groups visiting the Chateau and in part because of the numerous students I've met from all over the world, I feel like I will come back from France speaking more Spanish, German, Italian, and Portuguese than I will French, but c'est la vie.

Our daily comings and goings have started to become routine, settling into that old familiarity with which most people approach daily life, all the while oblivious to the fact that they feel completely at ease doing what they're doing. That's the real struggle here: feeling at home and comfortable. While everyone is hospitable and I'm enjoying myself immensely, being constantly reminded I don't speak the language by the signs on the side of the road, the people walking by me, and the people who are unlucky enough to hazard a one-sided conversation with me is hard at times.

Half the students I talk to haven't even heard of the Chateau de Pourtales, my home for this semester, so I've found it rather difficult to explain that I live in a castle. The students that have been told often say, "Oh! You're the one who lives in the castle!" It's kind of an amusing distinction to make, but it does make remembering our names and faces easy!

Our coordinators, Willi and Kerstin (depending on the day, sometimes Sven was involved in our group as well), are awesome. Kerstin and Sven actually just left, but they were such blessings to our group for the couple months that they were here. I miss them already. Soon, Massiel and I hope to do a biopic on Kerstin with input from all the students here.

The things we've done so far as a group include a boat cruise, a walk through the park that the Chateau is in, many trips to Kehl to go grocery shopping, a welcome dinner at Gurtlerhoft which is a traditional Alsatian restaurant, the Alsatian museum, Stuttgart to visit the Mercedes Benz museum, Baden-Baden to visit a castle and the spa, wine tasting, and various others!

We've also visited the European Parliament and the European Court of Human Rights several times.

We will be posting on more particular excursions soon. Welcome to the blog; we hope you enjoy the ride as much as we do!