European Union Center Blog

Ph.D. Candidate and FLAS Fellow Receives Ernst Haas Fellowship

noreply@blogger.com (Illinois European Union Center) — Fri, 24 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

The European Union Studies Association (EUSA) has selected Matthew Spears, Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as one of two recipients of this year???s Ernst Haas Fellowship. The EUSA, the premier scholarly and professional association focusing on the European Union, awards the Haas Fellowship to graduate students pursuing EU-related dissertation topics.

Matthew???s dissertation examines how citizens??? perceptions of commonalities with beneficiaries condition their support for domestic and international redistributive policies. The Haas Fellowship will allow Matthew to conduct experiments in Germany to study the relationship between citizens??? perceptions of people from other EU Member States and their support for Eurozone economic bailouts.

In addition to funding from the EUSA, Matthew???s research has received support from the European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Illinois, the Graduate College, the Department of Political Science, and the Survey Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois. Matthew is also a Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow at the EU Center.

Historical Memory: The Case of the Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista

noreply@blogger.com (Illinois European Union Center) — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

by Allyce Husband

The method used to invoke the past can influence individual perceptions in a variety of ways. Whether through a statue seen daily in a town square, a visit to a local history museum, or art produced during the period in question, there are many different lenses through which history can be viewed and messages with which these objects or places are associated.

On February 21, 2013, University of Illinois faculty and students had the privilege of attending a lecture given by Dr. Theodore P. Gerber, titled Divided Historical Memory Among Youth In Estonia: Sources of Ideational Cleavage. Dr. Gerber discussed historical memory, or ???collectively shared and reproduced perceptions and narratives about the recent past??? in Estonia.¹ Interested in the collective construction of images of the past, Dr. Gerber was concerned with how young people understand and describe the historical Russian presence in Estonia; in particular, the divided perceptions of the soviet past.

Historical memory is fluid and can change based on the context in which an individual is situated. A country will remember its past; however, memory is not a rigid, universal category. Remembrance can vary due to space and time.²

After listening to Dr. Gerber???s lecture, I was curious about the role of propaganda in cultivating historical memory. With Dr. Gerber???s lecture and an article I recently read about a Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista on my mind, I was intrigued by another European country???s understanding of its conflicted past.

Guards change outside of the Exhibit. The words ???Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista??? announcing the location of the exhibition are displayed largely to mark the site.

Inaugurated by Benito Mussolini in 1932, the Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista, or the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution, was the first major art exhibit that focused on the theme of the rise of fascism in Italy.³ Four million individuals visited the exhibition that examined themes of war, heroism, and sacrifice. Documents and memorabilia were displayed to help describe the events leading to fascism. The exhibition???s organizers solicited items from Italian citizens such as symbols, photos, medals, and postcards, totaling 18,040 items collected by the end of the collection period. Rather than being viewed as an exhibit that simply demonstrates the rise of fascism, scholars tend to view the mostra as depicting the relationship between the fascist movement and art. ⁴

The relationship between the exhibit and historical memory stems from the objectives of its organizers and the outcomes of the mostra. A struggle of fascist discourse was to keep it alive and make its history into a shared national story. By eliciting themes related to the ???sacred???, the exhibit assisted in reinforcing the interconnectedness among individuals. According to scholars, the exhibit can be credited with reinforcing the connection between fascism and the Italian people.⁵ However, the exhibit did not ensure that this ???bond??? would be around for long. The memory still needed to be supervised and mandated by the regime. In other words, sources must continue to evoke symbols or discourse to keep the memory alive.

The role of the mostra in influencing modern day discourse about fascism is not as defined, rather, raises the question of how modern day propaganda in general will be viewed in the near future in comparison to fifty years from now. The Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista was an interesting example of the way in which a period in history can become inscribed in historical memory but how the lens for viewing history can quickly change depending on time, space, and context.

Allyce Husband is a second year student in the Master of Arts in European Union Studies (MAEUS) degree program at the University of Illinois. She received her Bachelor???s degree in Communication and Psychology from the University of Illinois in 2011. This summer, Allyce worked for the U.S. Department of State as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France. As an undergraduate, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy and will be spending the fall semester abroad at the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy. Allyce was awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for Italian language study for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 academic years. She was also awarded a summer FLAS Fellowship to study French in Paris prior to her internship. Her research interests have included immigration and the media. In her free time, Allyce loves to cook and travel.

¹Gerber, T. (2013, February). Divided Historical Memory Among Youth In Estonia: Sources of Ideational Cleavage. Lecture conducted at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, Illinois.

²Zamponi, S. (1998). Of Storytellers and Master Narratives: Modernity, Memory, and History in Fascist Italy. Social Science History. 22 (4), 415-444.

³Zamponi, S. (1998). Of Storytellers and Master Narratives: Modernity, Memory, and History in Fascist Italy. Social Science History. 22 (4), 415-444.

⁴Zamponi, S. (1998). Of Storytellers and Master Narratives: Modernity, Memory, and History in Fascist Italy. Social Science History. 22 (4), 415-444.

⁵Zamponi, S. (1998). Of Storytellers and Master Narratives: Modernity, Memory, and History in Fascist Italy. Social Science History. 22 (4), 415-444.

Image source: Wikipedia, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/2/26/Mostra_della_rivoluzione_fascista_1.jpg

Graduating Army Veteran Made a Mark

noreply@blogger.com (Illinois European Union Center) — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:02:00 +0000

Mat Jasieniecki, who graduated last week with a BA from the University of Illinois, was interviewed by Christine Des Garennes of the News-Gazette about his extensive work with student veterans. Mat Jasieniecki was a summer 2012 EU Center Undergraduate FLAS Fellow. This article was cross-posted on the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center's (REEEC) blog.

by Christine Des Garennes

CHAMPAIGN ??? Mat Jasieniecki readily admits that after he graduated from high school, he partied a bit too much, and after a while his grandparents told him to shape up.

Jasieniecki, who was born in Poland and raised primarily by his grandparents in the south suburbs of Chicago, was always a curious student ??? interested in history, chemistry, economics, astronomy and more ??? but with little financial resources, he didn't consider college as an option. At least not right away.

Instead he moved to Florida, and there his uncle, a Marine, presented him with several brochures for the various branches of the armed services. Jasieniecki chose the Army, and soon he was off to basic training.

Nine years later, following tours in Iraq with the highly decorated 172nd Stryker Brigade and an academic career that included a fellowship in Prague, the 27-year-old graduated Sunday with a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois.

Jasieniecki is among a growing number of veterans enrolled on the Urbana-Champaign campus. There are 404 student veterans, most of them undergraduates, and about 75 percent served in either Iraq or Afghanistan, according to Nicholas Osborne, a veteran and assistant dean who advises the Illini Veterans student group. In the last 2 years, membership in the Illini Veterans has more than tripled. Jasieniecki, the outgoing president, has developed it into something much more than the social group it was originally established as.

"I wanted to solidify the (registered student organization's) presence in the student community and the Champaign-Urbana community," he said.

Over the winter, the group dedicated a veterans lounge in the basement of the Illini Union where veterans can take a break from studying and connect with other vets. They conducted a drive to collect furniture and household items for formerly homeless veterans who were moving into permanent housing. And earlier this spring, they organized the inaugural Illini Veterans Memorial 5K run/walk to raise money for the $12 million Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education. The building, under construction on Nevada Street in Urbana, will feature residential units for injured veterans who need personal assistance, a fitness center, lounge, tutorial and advising spaces, and more. It's being paid for with state and private money.

"He has a strong commitment to our veterans. Mat's leadership was striking with this RSO (registered student organization) in that he really changed it from being a social club to a philanthropic one heavily based on service," Osborne said.

Jasieniecki was born in a village northeast of Krakow called Proszowice. Three months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he and his mom, a single mother, moved to Chicago where her parents were living. He grew up in Burbank and attended Reavis High School, graduating in 2004.

In the Army, he trained as a wheeled-vehicle mechanic and qualified to work on Stryker vehicles. In high school, he had tooled around on his friends' cars, and his grandfather worked in heating and air-conditioning. Jasieniecki took to the mechanic's job and worked his way up to becoming a team leader for mechanics with a combat engineering unit. Because of the timing of his deployment and the stop-loss policy, by the time he returned to the U.S., he had missed any chance at applying to schools for the coming fall. He had to wait several months, living in the suburbs before eventually enrolling at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He leaned toward concentrating on pre-medicine and psychology, but continued studying Russian and Polish and maintaining his interest in political science and history.

On a return visit to Poland, he was fascinated with what he saw ??? a former Communist country transitioning to capitalism. In his sophomore year, he transferred to the Urbana campus and started taking classes in Slavic languages.

"It was weird," he said of the reaction of his classmates when they learned he was an undergraduate. "College seemed like an extension of high school," because so many students go directly to college after graduating high school, he said.

Eventually he met a few fellow veterans and made his way to the Illini Veterans.

"We spot each other out. A lot of times it's the haircut," he said, of veterans' preference for short hairstyles. Veterans usually can identify each other by their defined muscles, wearing of old combat boots, or T-shirts with a unit's insignia, he said.

"I wish veterans would get more involved. Some don't want to be acknowledged," he said. Perhaps it's because, he believes, some students mistakenly think all veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders or are prone to angry outbursts. Some fellow students are intimidated by them, he said. Others walk right up to them and thank them for their service.

In his time as president of the Illini Veterans, Jasieniecki said he is most proud of how they pulled together the 5K, which ended up raising almost $10,000 for the Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education.

"Creating an event like that will help make us seem like a vital part of the community," he said.

No one in their group had ever managed a race before, let alone started a new one. But they were amazed by how people and businesses in the community donated money and time for their event, he said. Last week they presented a check to the College of Applied Health Sciences.

The center will contain about 12 to 14 residential units for UI student veterans who have been severely wounded, according to Jean Driscoll, the assistant dean for advancement in the College of Applied Health Sciences who has been helping raise money for the building. A variety of services will be available there to all UI student veterans, including family counseling, health and life skills, therapy services, academic and career counseling, and more.

"I was so impressed. They've been so respectful and excited about the opportunity to support the veterans' center," Driscoll said. "I'm looking forward to being in touch with them for many years to come."

A groundbreaking ceremony has been scheduled for November, and construction may start in December. It's likely to be done by February 2015.

As for Jasieniecki, next week he will pack up and head southwest to Dallas ??? "I love the desert" ??? where he will begin a new position as a financial adviser at Edward Jones. He hopes to continue to use his language skills to assist Polish and Russian clients.

The Complexity of Movement

noreply@blogger.com (Illinois European Union Center) — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

by Michelle Asbill

Recently, the European Union Center (EUC) had the honor of hosting Dr. Miriam Cooke, who gave an interesting lecture entitled ???Mediterranean Networks: Connecting People, Ideas and Cultures Across Time???.¹ Using several case studies of key historical events and figures from the Mediterranean area, Dr. Cooke sketched out some of the different networks, thus illustrating the diversity found in this area of the world. In her lecture, Dr. Cooke attributed this diversity to be at least partially a result of the movement of people, who collectively represent a wide variety of ethnicities, languages, histories, and religions.

While these different streams and networks of people have yielded great cultural benefits, they also can be interpreted as a threat to the maintenance of internal security and stability. Although Dr. Cooke???s lecture did not specifically touch on the European Union (EU) (as a specific entity), it is clear that the ???fluid??? nature of this area continues to the present day and has often proven to be quite a challenge for EU policy-makers. For example, on March 7, 2013, Germany announced that it would not vote in favor of allowing Bulgaria and Romania to enter the Schengen Zone.

In its announcement, Germany stated its concern that organized crime has not been adequately addressed, and therefore neither country deserves to enter at this time. It is likely that citizens from both countries would share in this opinion, in that clearly, there is a still a ways to go in fighting organized crime. The recent protests in Bulgaria provide an excellent example of the citizens??? frustration towards their government, which includes rampant corruption.²

However, at the supranational level, how should (or can) the EU reconcile the resistance of member states (typically located in Western Europe) to open their borders, as well as their minds, to the emigration of people from Eastern European member states. In February, the United Kingdom (UK) announced that it fears a high volume of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania and the resulting repercussions on its economic and social systems.³ Yet, while the UK has been voicing its concern, in Germany, a court recently ruled that a Bulgarian woman, who had not received legal permission to work in Germany, could still receive social welfare (???social benefits???) from the German government.⁴ This court ruling will likely have numerous implications, if anything due to the fact that in 2011, 43% of the almost one million migrants who entered Germany were from some of the more recent EU member states (such as Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria).⁵

One of the strengths of the EU is its diversity. The fusion and mixing of different cultures can lead to new discoveries and overall create a culturally rich environment. Yet, at the same time, it is challenging to find ways of balancing this with the desire of member states to have control over the integrity of their borders. However, ideally, the EU will continue to develop and experiment with different policies and programs aimed at valuing culture and respecting people.

Michelle Asbill is a first year student in the Master of Arts in European Union Studies (MAEUS) degree program at the University of Illinois. Her previous graduate work has been in the area of social work (MSW???U. of Wisconsin-Madison) and community development (Wheaton College). Michelle lived in Sofia, Bulgaria for three years (2008-2011), as both an employee of a small Bulgarian non-profit organization and also as a graduate student at New Bulgarian University (degree pending defense of thesis). Michelle has been awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for Bulgarian language study for the 2012-2013 academic year. Her research interests include EU policies and programs related to combating trafficking and how they impact the effectiveness of non-profits working in this area, as well as Bulgarian agriculture.

¹For more information on this event, please see: http://illinois.edu/calendar/detail/1889?eventId=26642105&calMin=201303&cal=20130304&skinId=6850 and for more information on Dr. Cooke, please see: http://asianmideast.duke.edu/people?Gurl=%2Faas%2FAMES&Uil=mcw&subpage=profile

²For more information on the protests, please see: http://euobserver.com/economic/119128

³For more information, please see: http://euobserver.com/tickers/119047

⁴For more information, please see: http://euobserver.com/social/118899

⁵Ibid.

Image source: "Mediterranean Sea," Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mediterranian_Sea_16.61811E_38.99124N.jpg

Sharing the Wealth: An EU-US Free Trade Agreement

noreply@blogger.com (Illinois European Union Center) — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:45:00 +0000

On April 18, the European Union Center participated in a videoconference panel discussion entitled "Sharing the Wealth: An EU-US Free Trade Agreement." Members of the panel included Ambassador (ret.) J.D. Bindenagel, Special Advisor to the President at DePaul University and UIUC alumnus; Martin Staniland, Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh; David Cleeton, Professor of Economics, Illinois State University and Illinois EU Center regional faculty affiliate.

In February President Obama announced the beginning of negotiations designed to produce a US-EU Free Trade Agreement. Mutual tariffs are already low and trade high; business and labor constituents seem supportive, and officials are eager to conclude this agreement ''on one tank of gas,'' i.e., quickly. But significant issues will be in play, including: opening markets for agriculture products, trade in services, and access to public contracts. Regulation and non-tariff barriers???including, for example, ''cultural exceptions'' favored by some European countries and American restrictions on European airlines???may constitute substantial obstacles. More broadly, supporters of more global approaches to trade fear the impact of such an exclusive bilateral deal on the emerging and less developed markets.

This videoconference is part of the "Conversations on Europe" series, which cover these and other related issues, with participants from several venues and input from university and community people. This event was held in collaboration with the American Council on Germany and the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh.

The videoconference may be viewed below or at University of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies' YouTube channel.

Video: Modern Greek Studies Program at Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Illinois European Union Center) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

In this short video about the Modern Greek Studies Program at Illinois, students speak to the ways in which the program has contributed their academic and career goals, including language fellowships, research funding, and involvement in the Greek community. The video includes Master of Arts in European Union Studies (MAEUS) student Michelle Asbill, who was recently awarded a FLAS fellowship to study Greek next year. The video may be viewed below or here.

The EUC is a proud supporter of the Modern Greek Studies program!

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"Muslim Political Involvement in Bulgarian Post-Communist Politics" with Stefanos Katsikas

noreply@blogger.com (Illinois European Union Center) — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

On April 15, 2013, EUC-affiliated faculty Stefanos Katsikas delivered a talk at Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU). The talk was entitled "Muslim Political Involvement in Bulgarian Post-Communist Politics," and an abstract and complete video of the talk is available below. This originally appeared on ACMCU's video collection page.

Islam is the largest religion in Bulgaria and Muslims constitute the largest religious minority of the country. According to the 2011 census, the total number of Muslims in the country stood at 577,139, corresponding to 7.8% of the population. For the most part of Bulgaria???s modern history its Muslims remained at the margins of the country???s political life and were often regarded as second-class citizens. With the collapse of communist totalitarianism in 1989 Muslims for the first time gained political representation in the Bulgarian parliament through the establishment of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), a political party whose major electoral base has been Bulgarian Muslims. The MRF has been a stabilizing factor in the country???s post-communist life and has had a positive role in the country???s transition to political pluralism after 1989. It participated in many coalition governments and has pushed hard for improving Bulgaria???s records of human rights and people???s living standards as well as for securing Bulgaria???s pro-Western foreign policy orientation through accession to the European Union and NATO. This briefing aims to explain the reasons for this change ??? i.e. what were the reasons leading to the establishment of a ???Muslim??? political party ??? and discuss the extent to which this development has contributed to a real improvement of Muslims??? political, economic and social life in Bulgaria and had a positive effect on Muslim-Christian relations.

"Muslim Political Involvement in Bulgarian Post-Communist Politics" with Stefanos Katsikas from ACMCU on Vimeo.