K thru 14 Resources

OUTREACH

One of our priorities is to encourage and facilitate partnership and collaboration with local schools and educators. CES-EUC facilitates many lectures and programs that are open to the public and encourages participation of local teachers/educators and students. Many of our past and current outreach programs are supported by the grant from the European Commission. Lectures are open to the public.

CES-EUC offers two signature lectures series. "Conversations on Europe" is a forum to which we invite distinguished public figures and intellectuals to address significant issues facing Europe and its place in the world.  Papers from the lecture series are disseminated in the Michigan Papers Series. Past speakers include John Bruton, EU Ambassador to the United States Joan Wallach Scott, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, Walter Van Gerven, former Advocate General of the ECJ, Aleksander Kwasniewski, former President of Poland and Ian Buruma, professor and author.
 
"Distinguished Lecturer on Europe." This distinguished lectureship welcomes engagements that bring students and scholars, leaders of American organizations invested in European affairs, and the public together to discuss topics introduced by our guests. Past speakers include: Dieter Zetsche, President and CEO of Daimler, Göran Therbörn, Uppsala University, Sweden, Joschka Fischer, former German Foreign Minister,  and Neal Ascherson, prominent British journalist.

CES-EUC lectures are now available on U-M iTunesU under "International" subject.

 

EURO Challenge 2008

The Euro Challenge is an exciting educational opportunity for high school students to learn about the European Union and the euro. The program is sponsored by the Delegation of the European Commission in Washington DC, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Moody's Foundation.

For more information please go to http://www.euro-challenge.org/

Additional resources on EURO:
Video from ECB (inflation, price stability, interest rates) http://www.ecb.eu/home/movie/edumovie_en.mov
Games in Euro Kids' Corner
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/netstartsearch/euro/kids/index_en.htm
http://europa.eu/europago/games/euros/euros.jsp

 

10 years of Economic and Monetary Union

 

K-14 TEACHING MATERIALS

 

Curriculum Modules development

The European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan (EUCE-MI) in partnership with the Midwest Institute for International/Intercultural Education (MIIIE)  invites faculty at the two-year colleges in the Midwest region to develop a curriculum modules on issues of European Union and European integration. EUCE-MI will provide modest faculty stipends.

We invite development of curriculum modules that  focus on:
1) Human rights, 2) Healthcare, and 3) Education.

Faculty with an interest in issues such as the transatlantic relations; EU enlargement; law; immigration; minorities; civil society; gender; Bologna process and the European Higher Education Area, may find this curriculum module development project of significant relevance.

For more information please contact Theo Sypris, Director, Midwest Institute, at tsypris@kvcc.edu or Natasa Gruden-Alajbegovic, Administrator, EUCE-MI, at nalajbeg@umich.edu. Interested faculty should submit: an outline of the proposed curriculum module, CV and  a short bio, to Theo Sypris by August 15th, 2008.

 

Teacher's workshop "Getting to Know EU"

U.S. Teachers are looking to expand and deepen their knowledge of the European Union. The European Union Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan in partnership with our Jean Monnet Fellows held a one day workshop for teachers K-16, on August 15^th, 2007.This workshop introduced teachers to the history, economy and politics of the EU, giving them knowledge to develop new teaching materials including lesson plans on a range of EU issues, to enrich students' learning processes. Materials covered at the workshop are available on CD upon request. To request a CD please send e-mail to ces-euc@umich.edu.

 

 

WEB RESOURCES ON EUROPE AND THE EU

 

Network of the European Union Centers of Excellence Outreach materials

 

European Countries

 

Essential European Union Education Websites

 

European Union Teaching Resources

 

2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue

 

French Presidency of the EU

 

Fete de la Musique celebrating music throughout Europe, June 21th, 2008. Special celebration of the 100 years of film music.

 

The European Cultural Season (July 1 to December 31, 2008) is organized by the ministries of Foreign and European Affairs and of Culture and Communications, with support of the General Secretariat of the French Presidency of the European Union and of the ministries of National Education and of Health, and by Culturesfrance. Under the title of the European Cultural Season, this series of events will highlight the creative vitality of European cultures as well as the strengths of a largely shared identity through a common European cultural heritage.

 

Programs offered by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States www.frenchculture.org

 

The French Educational Portal in the United States www.frenchresources.info

 

The French Government, through their Cultural Services in U.S., offers 3 week grants to France for qualified Primary and Secondary School French Teachers interested in improving their language skills and enhancing their knowledge of French culture. Apply online at http://frenchculture.org/the_education.cfm

The French Language Initiative. For more information please visit www.TheWorldSpeaksFrench.org

 

France Synergies created in partnership with the University of Wisconsin at Madison, is an online resource center for French and Francophone educational communities.

 

Educational and Cultural Audiovisual Resources for French Teachers.Go to www.espacefrancophone.org or www.frenchmedia.org and download, free of charge, the entire content of the programs offered by the Bureau Audiovisuel in New Orleans: teaching methods, French music videos, portraits on French civilization, shows and audio CDs on a variety of subjects.

 

Kids Euro Festival, Washington DC, Oct-Nov, 2008

 

Selected Resources on Western Europe

 

PhysicsQuest 2008: Nikola Tesla and the White City

The American Physical Society, parent group of physics teachers, is sponsoring a learning contest for all middle school students in grades six through nine this year. The focus is on the Serbian born American scientist Nikola Tesla “whose discoveries in the field of alternating electrical current advanced the United States and the rest of the World into the modern industrial era.”(From the commemorative plaque – Hotel New Yorker, NY)

Teachers can obtain free materials at www.physicscentral.com/physicsquest.

Nikola Tesla Museum, Belgrade, Serbia.

The International Studies Schools Association (ISSA) is a national network of K-12 schools dedicated to improving students' understanding of the world. The 2008 ISSA conference in Chicago had over 300 attendees, representing a variety of grade levels and subjects. Next year's conference will be in Tampa, FL from Jan 17-19, 2009.

 

European Poetry in Motion Public Arts Project
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union and the cultural diversity of Europe, all 27 European Union member states and the European Commission in Washington, DC, launched an ambitious literary project titled European Poetry in Motion on May 1, 2007. A total of 135 poems, five from each country in both their original language and in English, were on display inside Washington DC Metro buses, on the the outside of buses and in Metro stations.The project's website, www.europeanpoetryinmotion.eu features all the poems, author biographies, country information and more. The site will be available for information and as an educational resource for one year.

 

Fit for Europe
Fit for Europe offers information on education, study and occupation in 31 European countries.

 

Hello Europe: A youth guide to Europe and the European Union
Comprehensive reference and study guide on the European Union, published by the

European Commission. CD available upon request. See www.europe.org

 

The European Union
A digital business card, published by the European Commission Delegation of the European Commission to the USA. CD available upon request. See www.europe.org

 

The EU for Young People
This is a web page from the European Commission in the US web site. It includes links to teaching materials and general information on the European Union, as well as, links to pages on traveling and studying in European Union countries.

 

The European Union at a Glance
Basic information about the European Union and links to more detailed information.

 

Teaching the European Union
Information aimed at scholars and teachers.

 

Questia
The world's largest online library. Site includes selected European Union resources.

 

EURO Children's Zone
Site created by the European Central Bank to familiarize children with the new euro banknotes and coins. Includes games and other activities that are fun and educational.

 

Austrian Press and Information Service, Embassy of Austria, Washington DC

For more information please visit www.austria.org

 

Project Finland
Project Finland is a project of the Embassy of Finland, Washington, DC. Developed by the government of Finland , Project Finland offers three exciting virtual tours: Environment, Social Change and Global Connection. By showing how Finland has addressed these important issues, it provides a great starting point for your class to discuss these topics as well as learn about Finnish culture. Discover how Project Finland can work in your classes by downloading our Site Guide. It includes a complete overview of the site as well as an answer key to our interactive quizzes. Or you can visit our quick user tips section for a head start. Then give us your comments on the site and you could even win a chance to visit Finland yourself!

 

Goethe-Institut Transatlantic Outreach Program -The TOP Project

The Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP) aims to enhance the quality of classroom teaching about Germany today by developing and disseminating teaching materials about modern Germany to K-12 social studies educators and social studies methods professors at the university level and by organizing study/travel tours to Germany. The participants of the study tours are expected to contribute lesson plans to the Program and to offer in-service training to other educators about Teaching Modern Germany.

Making the History of 1989

New website on the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1989. The site, Making the History of 1989, offers students, teachers, and scholars access to hundreds of primary sources on or related to the events of 1989 and the end of the Cold War in Europe, interviews with prominent historians, and a series of resources for teachers at both the high school and college level. As with all resources created by our Center, all the resources contained in Making the History of 1989 are and will remain free and open access. If you have questions about this project, please contact the project's Executive Producer, T. Mills Kelly (tkelly7@gmu.edu). This project has been made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the German Historical Institute (Washington, D.C.).

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

U-M LIBRARIES

 

The U-M Libraries, with over 8.4 million print volumes and more than 8 million microform, map, and multimedia units, comprise one of the largest research collections in the country. Print holdings related to EU member and candidate countries total more than 830,000 titles in English and more than 840,000 in other languages. The libraries together spend more than $1.8 million annually on materials directly related to current members and candidates of the EU. The overall acquisition budget remains one of highest of all US research libraries, and provides significant opportunities for additional purchases to meet the research and instructional needs of campus scholars. Eleven subject specialists coordinate collection development and user services (reference, instruction and outreach) relating to EU members and candidates. Remote access to library materials is supported for faculty, staff, and students, while in-building use is free to all, so that visitors can easily obtain full access to library holdings, databases and services.
 
Support for EU Center programs is particularly strong in several of the specialized libraries on campus. The Law Library houses one of the foremost international law collections in the world, and was the first academic library depository for the predecessors of the EU.  The Law Library automatically receives copies of all official EU documents, and also buys supporting commercial materials such as codes, treaties, court reports, and legislation from all European countries, as well as publications of relevant IGOs. The Government Documents Center holds historical censuses and statistical serials for all European countries. It is a depository for the UN, and has standing orders for a wide range of EU-related supporting materials, including electronic and print publications of OECD, the Council of Europe, and the World Bank. Research guides developed by the Law and Documents libraries direct students to a wide variety of EU-related resources, including Eur-Lex, Europa, Celex, ECLAS and Eurostat. Other campus strengths include the Map Library, which holds a complete set of topographical maps, at the largest available scale, for the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Greece and Poland. The Map Library also supports Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for a wide range of digital spatial data sets, with particular focus on major European cities. The Library's Numeric Data Services unit provides support for quantitative research on EU member countries, including data set selection, acquisition and extraction, including election returns, political behavior, international relations and public opinion data (e.g. the various Eurobarometer series).  The University Library provides access to a very wide range of searchable online news sources and other databases for research and teaching relating to the EU.  Online access to research materials on the EU is also facilitated through OAIster, a University of Michigan service that indexes open access resources from a wide variety of repositories, including the Archive of European Integration.

For more information on European and European Union holdings please contact Bryan Skib,.

 

SUMMER LANGUAGE INSTITUTE

When planning your summer, you may want to consider the Summer Language Institute.

• Increase your fluency in a second or third language.
• Acquire two terms of language study in one half-term intensive course.
• Prepare for a study abroad experience.
• Pursue upper level language courses in your spare time.
  
• Course descriptions, dates, times, and application materials can be found on the SLI website.