Europe Centres

Monash University European and EU Centre

The Monash European and EU Centre is one of the three centres funded by the External Relations Directorate of the European Commission in Australia. Formally launched in Melbourne on 31 July 2006 by His Excellency Mr Bruno Julien, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Australia and New Zealand, the Centre is a joint undertaking by the Commission in Brussels and Monash University in Melbourne. Under the Directorship of Professor Pascaline Winand, formerly of the EUI, the multidisciplinary Centre encompassing the Faculties of Arts, Business and Economics and Law at the University, provides teaching, research and outreach programmes on European and European Union matters.

One of the Centre's missions is to explore the significance of the European Union and its peoples not only in Europe and the EU's neighbouring countries, but also on the wider international scene, including in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the United States and Africa.

This mission is in keeping with Monash University's orientation towards the international community and its strong presence in Europe. The Centre works closely with the Monash University Prato Centre in Italy and also promotes staff and student exchanges between the university and selected leading European universities in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The Centre is equally committed to highlighting Europe's cultural, social, linguistic and intellectual heritage as reflected in the diversity of its peoples. As part of this commitment, the Centre intends to collaborate with communities of European origin in Australia to contribute to raising knowledge of and interest in their activities, their languages and culture.

Centre Programmes

Teaching

In addition to undergraduate level European studies, the Centre offers a Diploma in European Studies, a Master in European and International Studies, and a Graduate Diploma in European and International Studies. The Master and the Graduate Diploma are interdisciplinary degrees by coursework which explore European Union institutions and policies and the impact of the EU on the international system. They provide students with an understanding of EU relations with non-EU countries, regions and international organizations in the economic, political, legal, social, environmental, humanitarian, and security fields. Core units and a wide range of electives draw on management, law, politics, sociology and history. Students are encouraged to deepen their knowledge of European languages and as part of the coursework programme may elect to complete an internship in Brussels in Belgium , an intensive study program at the Monash Prato Centre in Italy or a semester abroad at participating universities. A Master of Arts degree by research and a Doctor of Philosophy in European Studies are also available.

Research

The Centre promotes top quality research on Europe and the European Union and encourages international research exchanges and collaborations between Australia and Europe . It offers PhD, domestic and international research scholarships. Its members and visiting professors have backgrounds in political science, history, sociology, linguistics, business and economics and law. Research strengths of the Centre include European, EU and international history, the EU in the world, international relations, European civilization and modernity, comparative regionalism, EU law, interest representation and business in the EU with several authors of internationally acclaimed books and articles in leading refereed journals but also as series editors or referees.

Outreach

As part of its outreach programme, the Centre organizes public lectures and seminars on Europe and the European Union; advises opinion leaders in business, government and the media through a regular briefing series; is developing an outreach programme for secondary students, and holds major annual conferences. The 2007 conference held with the cooperation of the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies was entitled " New Europe, New Governance, New Worlds? " This interdisciplinary conference was highly successful in bringing together many noted international experts from anthropology, communication, law, business and economics, political science and history to discuss a wide range of current issues relating to the EU as a political and economic space and as an international actor involved in areas such as mobility, migration, culture and identity. The 2008 conference with the theme of "Securing Sustainable Energy futures: strategic and regulatory lessons from Europe and Australia " is to be held at the Monash Prato Centre, Italy in October 2008.

http://www.monash.edu.au/europecentre/