EU Center to Host Seven Scholars in Residence for Spring Semester

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Champaign, IL – Every year the European Union Center (EUC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign accommodates visiting scholars for a temporary period of residence, ranging from a week up to a full year.  The EUC attracts a broad range of scholars, with diverse backgrounds and interests, related to EU studies.  The time in residency for these scholars enables research, teaching, and professional development, while also giving them the chance to access the world-renowned library system of the University of Illinois, and work closely with EUC-affiliated faculty and students.

During their time in residency on the University of Illinois campus, visiting scholars give public talks and guest classroom lectures on topics related to the European Union. The visiting scholars this term hail from both domestic US and European institutions, and have traveled, studied, and taught around the globe.  They boast an impressive résumé of publications spanning a broad range of disciplines and approaches.

Dr. Bill Davies comes to the University of Illinois from American University in Washington, D.C. where he serves as a professor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology, having twice been awarded the department’s ‘Outstanding Teacher’ award, in 2011 and 2012. Having earned his Ph.D. in European Studies from King’s College London, Dr. Davies’ research focuses on constitutional practice of law in the EU. While at Illinois, Dr. Davies will deliver a lecture titled “The New History of EU Law: Promises and Challenges,” on March 20 at 2:00pm in Lucy Ellis Lounge, room 1080 Foreign Languages Building.

Dr. David Cleeton comes to the University of Illinois from nearby Illinois State University, where he is a professor in and chair of the Department of Economics. Since receiving his Ph.D. in economics from Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Cleeton has served in various academic and leadership positions at domestic and European institutions. Widely published in economic journals, Dr. Cleeton currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Political Economy Interest Section of the European Union Studies Association. Having been at the EUC since the start of the academic year, Dr. Cleeton has delivered lectures on campus and at the EUC’s regional faculty conference in Chicago, as well as in graduate courses on EU studies.

Dr. Dermot Hodson comes to the University of Illinois from Birkbeck University of London, where he serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics. Dr. Hodson received his Ph.D. in European Political Economy from the London School of Economics and since has served in various teaching capacities in the UK and Poland, and as an economist for the European Commission. His recent research focuses on the euro crisis and its implications, economic diplomacy towards China, and UK economic policy during the global financial crisis. Dr. Hodson will give a lecture, “Two Level Legitimacy: Changing Approaches to Treaty Revision in the European Union,” on April 2 at 12:00 pm in Lucy Ellis Lounge, room 1080 Foreign Languages Building.  

Christos Kourtelis comes to the University of Illinois from King’s College London, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate and teaching fellow in the Department of European & International Studies. Mr. Kourtelis has served in teaching roles at Birkbeck College and the University of Westminster, as well as working for the European Commission. His research interests include EU external relations, political economy of Euro-Mediterranean relations, and the integration of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) states. Mr. Kourtelis will deliver a lecture titled “The Integration of the Arab Mediterranean Countries into the EU Market: the Neighborhood Policy as a Three-Level Game,” on May 2 at 12:00pm in Lucy Ellis Lounge, room 1080 Foreign Languages Building. 

Dr. Mariah Larsson comes to the University of Illinois from Stockholm University where she is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Media Studies, having received her Ph.D., M.A., and B.A. all from Lund University. Dr. Larsson’s research interests are focused on film and media studies and she has published widely on gender and sexuality in Scandinavian film. She will deliver a lecture titled “Fictionalizations of a Welfare State Sex Scandal: The Re-telling of Historical Events and Call Girl,” on April 3 at 5:15pm in Lucy Ellis Lounge, room 1080 Foreign Languages Building.

Dr. Neill Nugent comes to the University of Illinois from Manchester Metropolitan University, where he is an Emeritus Professor of Politics and Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration. Dr. Nugent is currently serving as a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges. He is widely published on the subjects of European integration, institutions, and policies, and in 2013 was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies.  He will deliver a lecture titled “The United Kingdom and the European Union: Still an Awkward Member State,” on April 11 at 12:00pm in Room 302, Architecture Building.

Dr. Mike Robinson comes to the University of Illinois from the University of Birmingham (UK) where he serves as a Professor of Cultural Heritage and as Director of the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage. Having received his Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia, Dr. Robinson’s research has focused on cultural heritage and identity, and he has held research and teaching roles in South Africa, Italy, and Taiwan, as well as numerous institutions in the United Kingdom.

For more information on the EUC’s visiting scholars in residence, including more comprehensive biographies and lists of publications as well as past visiting scholars, visit the webpage, http://euc.illinois.edu/people/visiting/index.html. More information about public lectures by the EUC visiting scholars in residence, as well as a complete schedule of events for the spring term, can be found on the EUC web calendar, http://illinois.edu/calendar/list/1889.