A FLAS Fellow's Semester Abroad in Amman

Audrey Dombro, an agricultural and consumer economics student and 2019-20 FLAS fellow, reflects upon her experience studying in Jordan.

Master of Arts in European Union Studies

The European Union Center at the University of Illinois offers the only Master of Arts in European Union Studies (MAEUS) program in the Western Hemisphere. Learn more here.

Nuclear Energy and Its Environmental, Policy, and Security Implications

On Earth Day 2022, the EU Center organized a symposium on the future of technology, energy, and security in Europe, featuring prominent scholars and policy makers from France, Germany, and the U.S.

Conversations on Europe

Watch the collection of online roundtable discussions on different EU issues sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh.

Accelerating Climate Change Mitigation: Policy Statements on the Road to Sharm-El-Sheikh and Beyond

Bruce Murray, Resident Director of the Illinois Program in Vienna, presents a series of student-written policy statements for accelerating climate change mitigation.

Videos of Previous Lectures

Missed an EUC-hosted lecture? Our blog's video tag has archived previous EUC-sponsored lectures.

Friday, December 4, 2020

Is Gender Equality in the EU Accelerating or Shutting Down? A Panel Discussion with Romanian Former MEP Maria Gabriela Zoana and Professor of Philosophy Helga Varden

By Nicholas Zalewski, EUC Research Assistant and European Union Studies MA Student

This past October, the European Union Center hosted an online panel, “The New Speed of Politics: Is Gender Equality Accelerating or Shutting Down?”, that brought together Maria Gabriela Zoana and Helga Varden to explore how politics and academia can come together to assess and advance gender equality in today’s world. Maria Gabriela Zoana is a Romanian Former Member of the European Parliament with expertise on questions of gender equality. Helga Varden is a Professor of Philosophy and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Illinois and a philosopher who has worked on feminism, ethics and law. The panel was moderated by Isabel Molina-Guzmán, Professor of Latina/Latino Studies and Associate Dean of Diversity & Inclusion, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Illinois. This event was part of the #JMintheUS event series, an initiative of Jean Monnet Centers in the U.S.

Zoana began by discussing the progress that has been made in the European Union towards gender equality. While there are still more men than women in the European Parliament, the gap has significantly shrunk. In 1979, only 16 percent of the members of the European Parliament were women. In 2019, 41 percent of the members of the European Parliament were women. Zoana noted that some member states have more female MEPs than other member states — for instance, Cyprus has the worse gender gap, with all six of the MEPs representing Cyprus being men. Belgium and Germany are two Western European countries that have a significant gender gap as well. On the other hand, Austria, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Slovenia have achieved a perfect 50 percent ratio. This shows that not just one region of the EU needs to work on encouraging women to become involved in EU politics, but member states across the continent.

Zoana acknowledged how difficult it is to achieve a perfect gender balance in the European Parliament. Part of the challenge is still getting women involved in politics and running for office. Another issue is that if women are not senior members of a political party and the party does not win enough seats, then fewer women of that political party will become members of the European Parliament. At the same time, it is unacceptable for a member state to have no female members in the European Parliament.

Molina-Guzmán asked how intersectionality plays a role in the discussion of the problems women faced in the European Union. She wanted to know if any data was available regarding the problems that minority women, female refugees, and female migrants face in the European Union. Zoana discussed how 55 percent of women born outside the European Union are unemployed and only 60 percent of Roma women are employed. Overall, over 70 percent of women in the European Union are employed.

Varden spoke positively about how there is more work in gender studies coming from women of different cultural backgrounds and sexualities. She mentioned how crucial it is for EU institutions to help all women not only become employed, but also become successful and reach their individual goals. It is necessary to help women becomes successful so they can in turn help bring their own perspective to the decision-making processes within the EU.

In the future Zoana hopes that the European Union will push women to go into a wider variety of fields. One example is the tech industry. Currently women only make up 22 percent of the tech field. She thinks that some sectors such as construction will be challenging to get more women involved in due to the fact that many positions are physically demanding; however, women can learn how to code. Zoana believes that more needs to be done to show girls in school that there is a future for them in the tech industry. She cautions that she does not want to add pressure to girls to pick the tech industry for their career aspirations, but simply expand their options past the traditional options. She also hopes that the 11-percent employment gap between men and women will close in the European Union.

Watch the full panel discussion below: 


Share/Bookmark

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Former MEPs Hans-Olaf Henkel and Benedek Jávor on the Challenges and Future of Energy and Sustainability

By Irati Hurtado Ruiz, EUC Research Assistant and Spanish & Portuguese PhD Student

This panel organized by the European Union Center on November 12, 2020 featured two former members of the European Parliament: Hans-Olaf Henkel (Germany) and Benedek Jávor (Hungary). The speakers commented on some of the challenges the European Union is currently facing in terms of energy and sustainability, as well as on the steps that are being taken to address them. The panel was moderated by Peter Christensen, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Henkel and Jávor started out by discussing the European Green Deal, whereby countries of the European Union committed to stop greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Both speakers agreed that this is indeed a good goal. However, they also raised the question of how feasible this goal actually is. For example, Jávor mentioned that since countries are left alone to determine what they are going to do in order to achieve that common European goal, it is hard to guarantee that the goal will be met. Henkel, on the other hand, pointed out that the freedom of each country to determine its own energy needs hinders the creation of a common European market.

 

Another issue discussed was investments in renewable energy on the part of European countries. On this topic, Jávor noted that some sources of renewable energy are already cheaper than fossil fuels and other non-renewable forms of energy. Thus, European economies need to reinvent themselves to stop depending on non-renewable energy, a process that also involves certain social transformations. Henkel suggested that nuclear energy could also be a good alternative, although Jávor disagreed, pointing to financial and security concerns.

 

In relation to this, Jávor and Henkel also seemed to agree that current rates of carbon emissions are a problem for the environment. Henkel claimed that investing in carbon capture and storage is key, since the world population will continue to increase in the next years and it is important to remove part of the COhumans produce. Jávor disagreed with this idea, as those processes are highly costly. He mentioned that reforestation would be a better solution.  

 

Lastly, the speakers talked about the role of technology and how it can help achieve sustainability goals. Jávor seemed to be skeptical about technology, and said that it can certainly help, but that it is not a solution in itself. Henkel, on the other hand, pointed out that technology is usually expensive and it is sometimes hard to strike a balance between economy and ecology.  


Watch the full panel discussion below:



Share/Bookmark

Thursday, November 19, 2020

On Translating Albanian Author Romeo Çollaku's Mjaltë në teh into Italian: An Interview with Professor Eda Derhemi and Francesco Ferrari

by Sydney Lazarus

Eda Derhemi, Teaching Associate Professor of Italian and EU Center affiliate faculty, and Francesco Ferrari, PhD candidate in Italian, recently received a literary translation award from the Albanian Ministry of Culture and the National Center for Books and Reading for their translation of the Albanian novel “Mjaltë në teh” by Romeo Çollaku into Italian, under the title “Miele sul coltello” (Besa Editrice, 2020).
 

A polyphonic novel whose title translates to "honey on the knife's edge" in English, it narrates the everyday lives of people from an isolated mountainous village in southern Albania over the course of three decades, from Italian and German occupation during World War II through the late 1960s, when Albania was ruled by Enver Hoxha's totalitarian government. 

The EU Center conducted a written interview with Derhemi and Ferrari to learn about how this collaborative project came into being, difficulties that the novel presented, the unique challenges of translating from Albanian into Italian, and more. 

EUC: Can you tell us about your language backgrounds?

 

DERHEMI: Albanian is my first language, and Albania is where I lived and studied. During the extremely isolated communist decades, Tirana, the capital of Albania, considered Italian as a path to reach the world, its knowledge, music, art, fashion and especially freedom. A considerable number of young people from Tirana had some level of Italian, often learned in non-traditional ways, like through contact with Italian radio or television. Then I emigrated to Italy and used Italian as my main language of work and life. Since 1995, when I emigrated to the U.S., English and Italian have been my primary languages.

 

FERRARI: My language background reflects the linguistic heterogeneity of Italy with its local varieties, dialects and minority languages. I hail from an Arbëresh (Italian-Albanian) community located in the northeast of Calabria, the toe of the “boot,” and my first languages are Italian, of course, and this variety of ancient Albanian called Arbëresh. Only much later did I learn English. 

 

EUC: What motivated you to translate Mjaltë në teh, and how did the two of you come to work together on the Italian translation?  

 

DERHEMI: I read Mjaltë në teh soon after it was published in Albania and enjoyed the novel’s linguistic complexity, masterful character depiction, and its rich and powerful description of two very significant historical periods — World War II and Eastern European communism. I wrote an article 

that provided a psychoanalytical account of the obsessive and fascinating pursuit of language in the novel.

Professor Eda Derhemi
Eda Derhemi
Each character is somehow “marked” by language in strong ways. All of them have peculiar connections with words, and the characters' language evolves alongside changes in their personal lives, as well as alongside ideological — and therefore linguistic — transformations. Even a very educated Albanian reader would have a hard time understanding every lexical item and idiomatic expression in the original because of the very isolated nature of the vocabulary used in the tiny village in the novel and because of the author's extensive use of archaic words and expressions. Furthermore, two radical linguistic changes occur as the plot progresses: one character who travels to the northern regions comes back to the southern village speaking a different dialect, and in the second part, the arrival of communism brings to Albania and to our novel a “new” slogan-based, frozen language, with a new lexicon and syntax. 

I also could not stop thinking that the fate of Italians who ended up in Albania before and during the war was very little (if at all) known in Italy, and only by older Italians. There are three Italian characters in the novel. All of them are very different from one another. They come from different regions of Italy and have their own specific relations to the other Italians and Albanians in the village.

This project was possible only with the collaboration of Francesco Ferrari. Francesco is Italian of Arbëresh origin and had the right linguistic and literary skills to make the Italian mixtilinguism sound as natural as the Albanian one, including the sporadic use of Arbëresh. Francesco immediately embraced the project, and this is how we started working together about two years ago.  

 

EUC: What was the translation process like?

 

DERHEMI: It was like a repetitive girotondo (Ital. for “dance in a circle”) around the text. We would read and translate a page, discuss the main words and expressions that needed to be revised, point out the dialectological and stylistic issues that needed further work, and isolate specific words that we needed to check in specialized dictionaries or discuss with the author. 

 

We would read and reread the dialectal versions until they would sound equally transparent or opaque to the average Italian reader as they would to the average Albanian reader. We also decided to select a small amount of words from Arbëresh and from Albanian proper, in order to match very isolated words that were used in the village where the novel was set, as well as words borrowed from the Greek, that would be incomprehensible to the average Albanian reader. Arbëresh and the southern Italian dialects have been coexisting for many centuries. Phonetically they speak to each other, creating a harmonious mixed language that while not always literally transparent to the reader, keeps her completely engaged in this peculiar story with peculiar people and ways of speaking, and gives the same exact effect as the original.

 

EUC: For readers unfamiliar with Italian and Albanian, what unique challenges were presented by translating between the two languages? 

 

Francesco Ferrari
FERRARI: One of the challenges was certainly that of adapting the Albanian syntax to the Italian one. As much as Italian phrasing can be notoriously overflowing itself, it was necessary on many occasions to break down the sentences into shorter clauses without affecting the flow of Collaku’s writing. To this end we worked both on the punctuation and on the order of the words within the sentences, which in both Albanian and Italian is more flexible than English. Our purpose was to emphasize the expressionist force of Collaku’s prose and its patina of popular language even without recurring explicitly to the dialect. 

 

DERHEMI: Italian and Albanian do not belong to the same branch of the Indo-European languages, so they have considerable grammatical differences between them. I will mention only one example here. Albanian has two verbal moods, the admirative and the optative, which do not have equivalents in the Italian grammatical system. The optativemood expresses wishes and curses and can be more easily translated using the Italian subjunctive and lexical items, but the admirativeis very complex. It’s used to express surprise, marvel, or strong emphasis, often accompanied by irony and even secondary or opposing connotations. We had to play with the word order and rely on lexical and stylistic means that changed in every case, since the meaning of this mood is context sensitive and there is no one solution to fit all cases.

 

EUC: Which aspects of the text did you find most challenging to translate? 

 

DERHEMI: The main challenge was to translate one of the richest linguistic repertoires — the different varieties that populate the book — that I have ever encountered in a novel. Every dimension of the linguistic varieties of a language is represented in the novel: diatopic (different geographical dialects are used), diaphasic (different styles and registers are active in different characters and situations), diastratic (different sociolects, and even different speech corresponding to different acquisition levels), and diachronic (among the rich and diverse idiolects in the novel, there are special words and expressions of an archaic and obsolete nature).

 

FERRARI: Expressions and terms related to folkloric beliefs posed a challenge. One that was particularly troublesome was the word xhinde, a sort of shadow that, as the legend goes, causes epilepsy if stepped over. After considering several options we decided to leave it untranslated and to intervene only on the level of morphology by italianizing it as ginde. Rendering it literally as calpestare le ombre (stepping over the shadows) would have entailed a loss of its dialectal flavor. It would also have sounded too gothic, as malombra (evil shadow) is used in many Italian popular traditions to mean a ghost. Although in the novel xhinde certainly relates to magical beliefs “calpestare le ombre” would have been potentially misleading as it does not have much to do with the specter. Digging a little into Italian folkloric repertoire we came across expressions such as male di San Donato (Saint Donato’s disease) and other similar that did not have the same expressive force, mostly because we would lose the idea of stepping over, which gives a concreter and physical sense of the accidental nature of the disease. Finally, we decided to simply transliterate the Albanian xhinde into ginde. The reader will not know what that exactly is, but its strangeness and opacity easily blend into the mixture of dialectal and colloquial expressions in the novel. It is consistent with a multi-layered language where not everything is immediately apprehensible.

 

EUC: What were some other challenges you ran into and the variations you considered? 

 

FERRARI: In the novel, there are three Italian characters, two of whom are defectors of the Italian army who found shelter in the village. One of them is named Giuseppe (Xhuzepe). Upon arriving at the village Giuseppe is renamed Josifi, a more pronounceable form for the locals. We found it still too close to the original and at the same time quite unnatural sounding, so we opted for a more radical transformation, adopting the Arbëresh form Zef, which is — or maybe I should say used to be — a common abbreviation of the name Giuseppe in the Arbëresh communities. 

Another example in this vein is Maqo, the name of a secondary character. This form, Maqo – which is the shortened Albanian name that corresponds to the Italian Tommaso – would be too distant from an Italian. Tommaso, on the contrary, would have been too familiar to maintain the same strange allure of the original. Hence, we altered Tommaso the way an Arbëreshspeaker might do and came up with Tumàsi.

EUC: In closing, which translators, living or dead, translating from any language into any language, do you admire most? 

 

DERHEMI: I do not believe in translation. I only tolerate it, because it is indispensable. This is a profession of extreme importance that needs high quality interdisciplinary knowledge, but that, in most cases, is miserably paid — especially in the case of good literature that does not directly interest money-making or power-making institutions. 

 

FERRARI: I must have been 15 when my father got me a copy of Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal in Italian. Throughout the years I came across many other translations of Baudelaire’s poems, but none of them could convey the same rhythm, the same fluidity, the same music. Since I do not speak any French, the pleasure of reading was my main parameter for judging the effectiveness of the translation. Not a reliable one, I admit. Anyway, some years later I came across Diceria dell’Untore (The Plague Sower) by Sicilian author Gesualdo Bufalino. The protagonist of the novel, a WWII veteran, describes the life of a group of men in a sanatorium where most of them would spend their last days. The style, the combination of prose and lyricism, and the lexical refinement sounded familiar, as did the name of its author until I found out that the translator of my beloved version of Le Fleurs du Mal and the author of this intense novel was the same person. Today I still have these two books, and I bring them with me wherever I go. 


Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

The Success of Islamic Politics in Turkey: The Importance of Trust


By Esraa Ahmed, a 2020-21 FLAS fellow and a senior majoring in Global Studies

In honor of Professor Avital Livny’s publication of her first book titled Trust and the Islamic Advantage: Religious-Based Movements in Turkey and the Muslim World, the European Union Center held a Brown Bag Lecture on October 2, in which she summarized the contents of her book. Dr. Avital Livny is an assistant professor in the Political Science department and has written several publications on topics of ethnicity and political movements in the Middle East. This post will serve as a short synopsis of the talk I attended. You can access the full recorded lecture here.

Dr. Livny expressed that this book began with a conundrum. Since the 1980s there has been a consistent increase for support of Islamic parties in Turkey, and at the same time, there is a general understanding that Turkey is a secular(ist) state. She refers to research pointing to religious resurgency, but finds that the indicator was unexpected — religiosity has actually decreased since the 1980s. Dr. Livny looks closer into her question and divides it into two main categories: the participation gap and another category, one that she calls the Islamic advantage. 

The participation gap is based on a finding that people in Muslim-majority countries are less likely to join and participate in general politics, adding another element which is that more secular support has been going to Islamic political organizations.

The Islamic advantage is a term denoting the idea that Islamic organizations and political parties have had more success and support than secular organizations in recent decades due to their clear and targeted goals or slogans. Based on the various existing theories that Dr. Livny examined explaining the concept of the Islamic advantage, she found that they only partially explained the scenario and were too individualized.

A new trust-based theory was possibly the most comprehensive approach. Dr. Livny explains the trust theory as one that features some psychological reasoning and stresses that political engagement and participation is contingent on this aspect. “Individual decisions to participate in group activities are inherently interdependent,” says Dr. Livny.

Fewer than 10% of Turkish respondents in a survey stated that most people can be trusted. This statistic proves the impact that lack of trust can have on political participation. Honesty and trust in the topic of the Islamic advantage manifests itself through shared identity and thus beliefs and practices. The success of Islamic organizations and parties in more recent decades were mainly due to a rise of trust and therefore participation and engagement, as Dr. Livny concludes. The presence of trust and honesty that participants feel towards Muslim organizations and spaces is most probably the cause to the surge of support towards organizations and political parties with a focus on Islamic principles.

Share/Bookmark

Friday, October 23, 2020

Graduate Student Meeting with Professor Phillip M. Ayoub


By Soraya Cipolla, Robin Turner, and Nicholas Zalewski

On Friday, September 25, graduate students from various departments across campus had the opportunity to chat with Phillip M. Ayoub, Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Afairs at Occidental College, during a virtual coffee hour. In addition to answering follow-up questions based on his talk given at the European Union Center’s fall reception, we got to talk with Prof. Ayoub about his experiences as a researcher and professor. We talked about his time in the field working with LGBTQ+ activist movements as well as practical insight and advice about the writing process. During the discussion we learned about LGBTQ+ rights and activism in Europe focusing on Poland, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Baltic Republics and Czechia.

We had the opportunity to ask specific questions about furthering their careers as academics. He gave advice on applying for postdoc positions and discussed how there are not only opportunities in the United States, but in other countries as well. Professor Ayoub recommended always being on the lookout for fellowships that can help support our research. In addition, Professor Ayoub gave tips on writing about LGBTQ+ rights and the need to be aware of how the terminology is constantly changing. For example, while queer was a slur in the past, the LGBTQ+ community has worked to reclaim the word to be used as a positive descriptor. When writing about a specific individual, it is important to realize they have their own preferences about how their identity should be described and how important it is to respect that.

Our sincerest thanks to Professor Ayoub for his generosity and openness in talking with us about his work and interests!

The full recording of Professor Ayoub's lecture may be found here.
Share/Bookmark

The EU Center's Fall 2020 Virtual Reception and Lecture by Occidental College's Phillip M. Ayoub


By Nicholas Zalewski, M.A. Student in European Union Studies and Graduate Research Assistant, European Union Center


For the European Union Center’s opening lecture as part of the Fall 2020 virtual reception, Phillip M. Ayoub, Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Afairs at Occidental College, described the findings that he wrote about in his book, When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility (Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Professor Ayoub discussed how rather than national movements increasing LGBTI rights, it has been transnational movements that have motivated the rapid adoption of LGBTI rights in a lot of European countries. Ireland, which is a predominantly Catholic country, adopted gay marriage before Germany. This influenced Germany to adopt gay marriage as it was seen as an embarrassment that a Catholic country was more progressive than Germany in adopting legislation that allowed and protected the right to gay marriage. Besides influencing Germany, Ireland also influenced numerous European Union member states, including Italy and Greece, to adopt civil unions. When Poland outlawed LGBT public assembly, marches and protests were organized in Germany. Then, they were bussed into Poland. This transnational pressure eventually led to an increase in LGBTI+ rights in Poland.

Professor Ayoub also discussed how countries that share a trait such as Catholicism may still have different outcomes in the level of LGBTI+ rights that they have. While Ireland adopted a law to protect gay marriage, other Catholic countries still only have civil union laws. Differences can also be seen within the different regions of Europe and in the different waves of when countries joined the European Union. Sweden, which joined in 1995, has the most LGBTI rights protections in the European Union. Meanwhile, Greece, which joined in 1981, has the lowest level of LGBTI rights protections.

After Professor Ayoub’s lecture, the EUC held its annual fall reception. Several professors gave short presentations on their favorite European wine (or favorite alcoholic beverage) and a European cheese that pairs well with it. Some professors chose a wine and cheese pairing from a country they discovered while visiting the country, while others presented on a wine and cheese from their home country. Some showed how to properly decant and serve the wine. These presentations showcased wine and cheese pairings from a wide variety of countries, including Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, and Hungary.

The full recording of Professor Ayoub's lecture may be found here. See here for a recap of the post-lecture graduate student meeting with Professor Ayoub.

Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Blackface Disguise at the Court of Queen Henrietta Maria, 1625-1649 (EUC Fall Brown Bag Lecture Series)

Queen Henrietta Maria
By Irati Hurtado Ruiz, EUC Research Assistant and Spanish & Portuguese PhD Student

In our first Brown Bag lecture of the semester, Andrea Stevens, Associate Professor of English, Theatre, and Medieval Studies, discussed her current book-in-progress. Prof. Stevens started her talk by highlighting the lack of black characters in English drama after Othello. These black African characters were replaced by ‘maid-as-moor’ characters by the time of the Caroline court (under the patronage of Queen Henrietta Maria). The "maid-as-moor" is a female character who temporarily disguises herself as a black African. 

An examination of several plays from that period shows that, in all plays, these female characters feature a striking transformation whereby their ‘true’ white identity is revealed. These transformations, which usually involve the removal of makeup, are very theatrically vibrant moments on stage. According to Prof. Stevens, this black disguise has multiple ends. For instance, it can help preserve chastity when threatened with assault or spy upon a lover or unfaithful husband. 

But this blackness, however, is not "progressive," Prof. Stevens claimed. Instead, it is used to shore up whiteness. That is, blackness signifies a firm hue that cannot be changed by other colors, whereas whiteness can be changed. "Maid-as-moor" characters in these plays are thus a symbol of the distinction between the noble and the common, between the white and the black. Prof. Stevens concluded her talk by showing other contemporary examples of blackface in the fashion industry, such as French Vogue's October 2009 photo shoot.


Share/Bookmark

Monday, July 20, 2020

MAEUS Student Spotlight: Nicholas Zalewski

Nicholas Zalewski recently finished his first year in the M.A. in European Union Studies program, after having graduated cum laude from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2019 with a B.A. in political science, global studies, and Italian. During the next academic year, Nicholas will be working as a research assistant with the European Union Center and serving on the U-C Senate’s committee on admissions and as a graduate senator for Illinois Student Government (ISG).

“I was interested in [the Illinois Student Government] as an undergrad but never had the chance to run,” Nicholas says. While undergraduate student senators are typically elected to represent a group of majors within their colleges, graduate senators represent the Graduate College, the College of Law, or the College of Veterinary Medicine. The purpose of ISG is to advocate on behalf of student interests to the University of Illinois administration.

“A lot of grad students don’t realize that we have this opportunity,” says Nicholas, who was elected to the ISG Senate as a write-in candidate after speaking with graduate students who were planning to vote.

Nicholas began serving on the ISG Senate this past spring. Finding a new mascot and communicating student concerns over the planned increase in student healthcare insurance premiums are two issues that ISG has focused on this year. Much more recently, ISG has been occupied with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s announcement that international students with F-1 or M-1 visas will be required to take in-person classes in the fall in order to stay in the U.S., an order that was rescinded on July 14.

Apart from the ISG Senate, Nicholas is also serving on the U-C Senate’s committee on admissions. “As soon as I found out that I received enough votes to become a graduate senator, I applied to be on this committee,” Nicholas says. “The biggest issue with the incoming class is what to do with students who couldn’t take the ACT or SAT and how the university could look at these students more holistically and still try to set concrete metrics.” The committee has been keeping track of what peer universities are doing, and Nicholas says that the admissions office will likely focus on grades from the first five semesters of high school and not use standardized test scores.

Nicholas’s advice for incoming MAEUS students is to get involved in campus life as quickly as possible. “The sooner you do so, the better it’ll be for you in the long run,” he says. “Be open and talk to students from other graduate programs. That’s how you find out about other opportunities, such as graduate assistantships.”

For students who want to be involved but don’t know where to start, Nicholas advises that they look at campus event calendars from the previous year. “If they know that they’re interested in a certain position, looking at the calendar will let them know when applications open.” Nicholas notes that Quad Day is a particularly helpful event to attend to learn about student organizations, units, and opportunities on campus.

Looking ahead to the next year as a EU Center research assistant, Nicholas says that he most looks forward to spreading the message about the center and what it has to offer. Nicholas plans to apply to law school and hopes to work in international corporate law.
Share/Bookmark

Friday, June 19, 2020

Wednesday, June 24: 13th Annual Turkish Studies Symposium, "Teaching the Challenges of Modern Turkey"

We're excited to announce the program for our 13th annual Turkish Studies Symposium, “Teaching the Challenges of Modern Turkey,” which will take place on Wednesday, June 24, 3-5pm CDT.

The theme for this year's symposium is "Teaching the Challenges of Modern Turkey." Our aim for this symposium is for it to explore the state of Turkish studies in the U.S. and serve as a bridge connecting academic research and K-12 curricula.

With more than 75 million native speakers, Turkish is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world. The modern Republic of Turkey sits at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, and as a member of the Council of Europe, G20, OECD, and NATO and a candidate for EU membership, Turkey is a rising political and economic power. In the U.S., Turkish is a critical language as defined by the Department of State, yet a 2017 report by American Councils shows that only 27 K-12 schools in the formal U.S. education system offer Turkish-language instruction.

This year’s Turkish Studies Symposium presenters will discuss U.S.-based knowledge production about Turkey, the state of Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) in the U.S., and Turkish heritage language programs in the U.S. and the micro-level policies that support them. Organized as part of the European Union Center’s K-14 summer curriculum workshop, the symposium will conclude with a live demonstration on preparing ayran — a presentation that can be subsequently adapted as a cocurricular activity in K-14 classrooms.

The symposium will be held virtually over Zoom. For the Zoom link and password, please see our events calendar.

Symposium Schedule (all times are in CDT)

Wednesday, June 24, 2020
3:00-3:10 P.M. — Welcoming remarks

3:10-3:30 P.M. — “Turkey, Iran, and the Politics of Comparatism”
Perin E. Gürel, Associate Professor of American Studies and Gender Studies, University of Notre Dame
3:30-3:40 P.M. — Q&A

3:40-4:00 P.M. — “The State of Less Commonly Taught Language Programs in the U.S.”
Ercan Balcı, Lecturer of Turkish, Boston University
4:00-4:10 P.M. — Q&A

4:10-4:30 P.M. — “Heritage Language Programs: Establishing Pedagogical Policies and Practices for Successful Programs in the U.S.”
Ozge Evcen, PhD Candidate in Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
4:30-4:40 P.M. — Q&A

4:40-4:55 P.M. — Cultural Activity: The History and Preparation of Ayran
Ozge Evcen, PhD Candidate in Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

4:55-5:00 P.M. — Closing remarks
Share/Bookmark

Monday, June 15, 2020

A Student's Experience of the Coronavirus Crisis from France: May 3, 2020

by Bérénice Locherer.  Bérénice is a Masters I student in international business at Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien who has returned home to France during the coronavirus crisis.  She has been taking European Union courses this term alongside students in the Illinois in Vienna Program.

May 3, 2020

Images by author
unless noted otherwise
My name is Bérénice Locherer. Currently in Master 1 of a business school, our university offers us the opportunity to do a year of study abroad. I chose Lebanon, a country that attracts me a lot. Indeed, the Lebanese are proud of their country and are so warm and welcoming with us, Europeans. Due to a civil revolution that began in mid-October 2019, the embassy asked me, for security reasons, to return to France. However, I wanted to come back enriched by an experience abroad and so I chose to spend my summer semester in Austria, at the Wirtschaftsuniversität in Vienna.

My courses in the Austrian capital started at the end of February 2020. I was happy to get the chance to study in this city with its sumptuous buildings and a thousand wonderful places. At the same time, the coronavirus starts to spread in Europe.

 

The first two weeks are going well. I take courses to deepen my knowledge of the European Union, marketing and management. I am slowly taking my mark in an outstanding university.

 

The coronavirus situation in France is already critical. In Austria, the circulation of the virus is still low. However, the Austrian government decided on the 10th of March to suspend face-to-face courses, the opening of bars and restaurants, and personal services. I am therefore forced to take online courses for a month, with reservations. Exchanges are limited, I am no longer emerged in Austrian culture, and I can no longer discover my adopted city. Only two days later, I hear that that the airlines will soon stop their connections with France. At the request of the consulate, I am again forced to return home. I thought, then, that I would be able to come back as early as the 3rd of April for the resumption. At the same time, France also closes all schools and universities, then bars and restaurants, while suspending gatherings. The Wirtschaftsuniversität sets quickly the online courses up and is trying as much as possible to provide information for the rest of the year. However, on the 27th of March another bad news occurs... The exchange students will not have to come back on site anymore since the university will not open until the end of the academic year.

Photo Credit: Jacques Paquier, via Creative Commons.
License available here.
The lockdown in France creates an atmosphere of mistrust and fear. Indeed, people rush into supermarkets and rob them, burglarize to get protection. Masks, hydro-alcoholic gel, bread and pasta become rare commodities. Each outing must be imperatively justified by a compelling reason and accompanied by a certificate signed on honor. Displacement must be within a radius of one kilometer from home. Shopping must be done in the nearest supermarket and must not exceed one hour. This, under penalty of a fine. President Macron calls for a united France, but all too often, there are selfish behaviors of a majority of French people. It is rare to find solidarity and empathy today

In April, while Austria eases its lockdown measures and announces the reopening of shops and restaurants, France extends it until 11 May. The hospitals are saturated, the number of deaths continues to increase. The situation is palpable, but every effort is being made to remain confined to save lives.

Today, the 3rd of May, shops, traders, schools, ... are eagerly waiting the government's decision regarding the reopening and recovery of the economy. For Master students, stress is setting in... The search for internships or work-study programs is complicated and offers as responses to applications are rare. In France, this is an unprecedented experience. The situation is previously unseen and the reactions are different. France must continue to save lives but must also think about saving its economy.



Share/Bookmark

Friday, June 5, 2020

Dispatches from the Transatlantic Educators Dialogue (TED) Alumni Program 2020: Aleksandra Đurić and Marcie Erickson

This blog post is co-written by Aleksandra Đurić and Marcie Erickson, participants in this year’s TED Alumni programAleksandra teaches history, social studies, languages, music and art in Hessen, Germany. Marcie is a middle school library media specialist in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Teacher Collaboration and Support without Borders in the TED Alumni Program (Feb. – May 2020)
By Aleksandra Đurić

Teachers are always a bridge between students and knowledge. They are the most directly responsible people in a learning process. Because of that, they are always expected to be competent and professional in their fields and to possess a great deal of knowledge and skills. Furthermore, teachers are expected to meet high demands and standards of quality education. Teachers and the quality of their teaching are always under discussion. So, to achieve demands, they have to be involved, among other things, in teacher training programs. Besides education, can teacher training programs protect educators’ well-being?

Over the past 15 years I participated and led many teacher training programs. My goal was to give and receive new knowledge. Some of them were very useful, some even boring, but I gained something from every training and used it to evolve as a teacher. 

When I joined TED for the first time, I got insight into teachers' practices all over the world. This year I was in the TED Alumni programme, and that was a new experience for me. I had an opportunity to learn, share, and connect. I believe the most interesting aspect is sharing with people from different contexts: there were course participants from Europe and the U.S. We had time to work in groups and prepare our projects and receive feedback from other participants. Since we were all affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, we shared our experiences with online teaching, supported each other on that unknown path, and learned how to carry on with our projects despite school lockdowns and the need to provide a large amount of online materials for our students. 

As a result, talking about coronavirus and providing each other with support was a part of the TED Alumni programme as well. Why? Now, especially in these pandemic times, teachers' well-being is very important since most or all of us are experiencing stress and burnout more than ever before. It is a good thing that this teacher training programme did not overlook that.

I would recommend the TED program at the European Union Center to any teacher who is interested in training. The programme offers education that we need as teachers, support, and confirmation that we as teachers are doing our best during these COVID-19 times. The TED Alumni programme showed that Robert John Meehanwas right when he statedthat “the most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”

Why TED?
By Marcie Erickson

When I first applied to the Transatlantic Educators Dialogue (TED) program in 2018, I was searching for an opportunity to engage in a multicultural platform that would provide new insights and understandings that I could transfer to my teaching. Today’s students are savvy and informed, and they want to be taught in relevant and meaningful ways; therefore, by participating in TED, I could continue to develop and attain skills that would allow me to adeptly serve my students.

Each week online, both synchronously and asynchronously, TED participants addressed a relevant and timely topic attuned to current global issues and trends that were mostly cultural or pedagogical. In addition, a nurturing and safe community was created through expert moderation, and as a result, the readings, dialogue, sharing of ideas and resources, and reflection were robust and catalyzed successful collaboration between the participants and the marshalling of initiatives in their home schools.

For example, during the spring of 2018, I was asked to teach an introductory mythology elective for the 2018-2019 school year, but before doing so, I had to write the curriculum, and it had to be presented to the school board for approval. Because of TED, as I was writing the material, I had the unique opportunity to reach out to a fellow member from Greece to seek advisement and feedback which positively contributed to the curriculum’s fruition.

The following year, in 2019, I excitedly participated in the first TED Alumni program, which brought together TED participants from its preceding years. The experience further allowed members to learn from and learn with each other on a global scale, and, again, in a nurturing environment. The small group project I participated in required us to utilize videography skills that neither myself or my students were proficient, but the challenge to stretch beyond our comfort zone was a relaxed experience that modeled authentic learning.

After teaching predominantly world history and several electives for over twenty-five years, I decided to move from the classroom to our building’s library and television production position. Initially, I hesitated to apply to TED because I was unsure of how I would be able to contribute to the program while maneuvering the learning curve of a new position, but after careful reflection, I decided the 2020 TED Alumni program would be the perfect conduit to seek knowledge and support.

And, as it turns out, did it ever when the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped the world’s countries and challenged its educators to deliver curricula online with very little time to initially prepare. The TED Alumni program not only provided a channel for its members to dialogue about the educational and social uncertainties caused by the pandemic, but it also acted as an emotional salve. Each Sunday, I left the meetings assured that the challenges and perplexities that may arise the following week could be managed, if not immediately, then eventually, and that provided a calm that carried over into my online teaching. In addition, my small group’s focus was literacy, and at the conclusion of the program, I acquired multiple ideas and resources that will assist in my planning for next school year.

So, if you’re contemplating the TED program or the TED Alumni program, be assured that the collaborative and supportive nature of the TED model provides unique opportunities for discourse, knowledge acquisition, idea exchange, and the development of sustainable classroom projects, in addition to the formation of memorable professional relationships.

Share/Bookmark

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Congratulations to Our 2020 MAEUS Graduates and Summer FLAS Fellows!

The European Union Center is proud to announce this year’s graduates of the Master of Arts in European Union Studies (MAEUS) program, as well as recipients of this summer's Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. 

We would like to extend our congratulations and best wishes to this year's graduates and fellows!

Graduating MAEUS Students:

Jordan Evans-Kaplan
Thesis: “Canaries in the Coal Mine: Machine Learning for Predictions of Recessions in the Eurozone Business Cycle”

Jordan’s thesis research involves economic modeling of Eurozone states’ GDP and machine-learning using XGBoost. Jordan was a student in the 5-year BA/MA program and completed his bachelor’s degree in economics in 2018.

Viktoria Loidl
Thesis: “Transatlantic Cooperation and the Digital Economy: The Impact of the New Strategic Agenda ‘A Europe Fit for the Digital Age’”

Viktoria’s thesis research involves the emerging transatlantic digital economy and its overall effect on EU-US relations. Viktoria worked as a teaching assistant for the LAS First-Year Experience program, teaching LAS 399 (Leadership and Development) for LAS interns. Before beginning the MAEUS program, Viktoria studied economics and American studies at Karl-Franzens Universität in Graz, Austria, with a study abroad program at High Point University in North Carolina.

Vicki Prince
Thesis: “The EU Straying from the Norm: How the European Union Has Changed Its Narrative to Respond to China’s Belt and Road Initiative”

Vicki’s research involves the effect of China’s Belt and Road Initiative on European Union member states and EU foreign policy. She completed her bachelor’s degree in global studies in 2017. She was a FLAS fellow for the 2019-20 academic year, studying Arabic. During the 2018-19 academic year, Vicki taught English in Poland on a Fulbright fellowship.

Francesca Robinson
Thesis: “What Does It Mean to Belong? An Analysis of Migrant Integration Policies in Germany, Spain, and Hungary”

Francesca’s thesis concerns the relationship between Europeanization and the migration policies of EU member states, and how they can be used as measurements of migrant integration. Francesca was a student in the 5-year BA/MA program, having completed her bachelor’s degree in global studies and Spanish in 2019. She worked for the EU Center as a graduate research assistant for the 2019-20 academic year.  

Allison Wheeler
Thesis: “Transatlantic Perspectives on Contemporary Populism: A Narratological Approach to the Rhetoric of Prominent U.S. and European Populist Leaders”

Allison’s thesis looks at populism and far-right parties in EU member states. She was a student in the 5-year BA/MA program, having completed her bachelor’s degree in global studies and German in 2018. Allison worked as a graduate research assistant for the EU Center and was a FLAS fellow for the 2019-20 academic year, studying German.

Javier Zenil Peña
Research paper: The Influence of Media on Intergovernmentalism: Does the Media Build Trust or Produces Skepticism among Nation-state Members in the European Union?”

Javier’s research interests include EU-U.S. transatlantic relations. Javier was a student in the 5-year BA/MA program, having completed his bachelor’s degree in political science 2018. 

Summer FLAS Fellows:

Alyssa Bralower (Art History) -- German

Adam Hamideh (Sociology) -- Arabic

Amber Scarborough (African Studies) -- Arabic

Sofia Sinnokrot (Global Studies) -- Arabic

Erinn Thomas (Global Studies) -- Arabic

Share/Bookmark

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

COVID-19 in Europe, May 19, 2020

Graph by Statista, via Creative Commons.
License available here.
The European Union Center at the University of Illinois strives to be a resource regarding European and European Union issues.  As such, we have organized a group of U of I student volunteers with expertise and/or ties to various European regions or nations to keep track of statistics and developments.  Each week we will post their findings to the EUC
blog. 

Contributing students:  Maria Arruti Iparraguirre, Pamela Binda, Margarita Kuzmanova, Evelyn Lamb, Sean Norris, Quinn O'Dowd, Shawna Oliver, Helena Ortlieb, and Charlotte Prieu 

May 19, 2020.  

(Previous editions:  May 7, April 30, April 23, April 16, April 9, April 3


EUROPE (Overview)
Reported by Lucas Henry, Coordinator of Academic Programs, European Union Center.  Lucas is also a PhD candidate in musicology, with a research focus on European popular music, music festivals, and European Union cultural policy.

European Union, European Economic Area, and United Kingdom

Total reported cases: 1,317,267(Last week: 1,218,311) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 157,312 (Last week: 143,911) 

The EU/EEA/UK has 27.6% (last week: 31.9%) of the global total of reported cases and 49.4% (last week: 53.4%) of global total of COVID-19 related deaths.

Europe (EU, EEA, UK, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Turkey, Russian Federation, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City)

Total reported cases: 1,872,984 (last week: 1,621,562) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 167,538 (last week: 151,978)

Europe as a continent has 39.3% (last week: 42.6%) of the global total of reported cases and 52.7% (last week: 56.4%) of global total of COVID-19 related deaths.

SOURCE:
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: https://qap.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/COVID-19.html

The coronavirus crisis in Europe is now several months old, and as we have seen over the past weeks of this report there is little coherence among the European nations in terms of the national reactions to the pandemic and the various strategies to contain and combat the contagion.  As such, the curves concerning the virus are also varied.  This week we will be looking at the various results.  Which countries have had success in flattening the curve?  Which have not? 

Also, we will look at the various things that are reopening and the significant closings and cancellations in response to the crisis.  One such continental case is the Eurovision Song Contest, which was supposed to take place from May 12-16; the event was cancelled in early April, and has now been postponed until next year (dates yet to be determined).  Also suffering is the music festival industry, the bulk of which takes place in the summer.  Most events for the entire year have already been postponed (there are a few holdouts, but all signs point to cancellation because of festivals reliance on musician touring networks).  In this post we will look at other examples of cancellations that have resulted from the crisis.

SOURCES:





AUSTRIA
Report by Helena Ortlieb.  Helena is a junior at DePaul, double majoring in History and German Studies.  She studied abroad at Vienna during the Spring 2020 semester and participated in the Illinois in Vienna Program.

Total reported cases: 16,179 (Last week: 15,671)
COVID-19 related deaths: 629 (Last week: 609).
Confirmed recoveries: 14,405 (Last week: 13,698).

SOURCES:


Since the outbreak of COVID-19 across the world, Austria has had one of the most encouraging experiences with the virus. After their economic shutdown in mid-March, the numbers have drastically decreased. On March 23, they reported 1,062 cases in one day. Since then, the curve has almost completely flattened. Since April 17, Austria was able to keep its newly confirmed cases bellow 100 every day. The health care system has not been overwhelmed, with only 54 ICU beds occupied throughout the country. With these encouraging signs, the economy has slowly begun to reopen with small stores reopening on April 14. On May 1, other shops like salons and malls reopened, and the ban on gatherings of up to 10 people was lifted. As of May 15, cafés and restaurants will be reopened with health restrictions in place.

Vienna is known for its spring and summer public, outdoor events, like concerts, festivals, and their Danube Island activities. These events will all be canceled until at least July 1. Small events may be permitted after July 1, however, the larger city events will be postponed until at least August 31.

Much of Austria’s economy relies heavily on the ski, resort, and tourism industries. In late February, Tyrol, one of the leading tourism states in Austria, was deeply affected by the COVID-19 outbreak coming from Italy. One famous Tyrolean resort in the town of Ischgl, known as “Ibiza of the Alpes,” was linked to 2,000 corona cases throughout Europe. In light of this discovery, the resort has promised to tone down its “party” reputation. In recent days, the borders between Austria and Germany have reopened, and many people are hoping to maintain summer holiday travel plans. The government is hoping that, if the curve continues to trend downward, they will be able to reopen the country to tourism as soon as possible.  

SOURCES:






BULGARIA

Report by Margarita Kuzmanova.  Margarita is a freshman majoring in Aerospace Engineering.

Total reported cases: 2259 (last week: 1872) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 112 (last week: 86)
Confirmed recoveries: 646 (last week: 401)

Turkey now opens its borders to Bulgarians who are in need of treatment for Covid-19, along with up to two accompanying people. They will not be required to wait through a 14-day quarantine. The sick will be treated in hospitals initially meant for health-tourism.

SOURCES:


CZECH REPUBLIC
Report by Quinn O’Dowd.  Quinn is a second-year PhD student in the Department of Sociology, studying tourism and consumption.

Total reported cases: 8604 (last week: 8002) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 301 (last week: 269)
Confirmed recoveries: 5687 (last week: 4369) 

SOURCE:

Accurate testing reveals that 1 in 20 people in the Czech Republic have already had COVID-19. From the 25th of May, bars, restaurants and clubs will be allowed to reopen, with the stipulation that they close by 11pm. Takeaway will still be available between 11pm and 6 am. Outdoor and indoor swimming pools will also opened from May 25th. Facemasks will be required at all pools, except when in the water. Excepting public pools, from May 25th it will no longer be required to wear facemasks outdoors. Facemasks will still be required in any public indoor spaces, or other locations where social distancing cannot be maintained.

SOURCE:



FRANCE
Report by Charlotte Prieu.  Charlotte is a PhD candidate in French linguistics in the Department of French and Italian.

Total reported cases: 142,903 (last week: 137,150)
1998 currently in intensive care units (last week: 3147)
COVID-19 related deaths: 28,239 (last week: 25,809)
Confirmed recoveries: 61,728 (last week: 53,972) 

SOURCE:

The "pressure" on ICUs throughout the country is slowly easing off: for over 5 weeks now, the number of people in ICU has been decreasing daily. 

Although many cultural activities are canceled until further notice, Macron pledges for a learning and cultural summer. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced on May 14th that French people will be able to go on vacation during the summer, meaning that the limit of 100km for non-essential trips will be removed. Borders, however, will remain closed until at least June 15th. 

On May 14th, the CEO of Sanofi made a statement announcing that the US would receive priority over ordering Covid-19 vaccines once they are in production by the pharmaceutical company. The news led to disapproving reactions from the government as Sanofi receives funding from the government for its activities.

SOURCE: 





GERMANY
Report by Evelyn Lamb, Sean Norris, and Shawna Oliver.
Evelyn is a sophomore majoring in economics and Germanic studies, with a minor in art history.  She plans to pursue graduate studies in German.
Sean is a junior majoring in global studies and German.
Shawna is a senior majoring in history.  She is also a member of the Air Force ROTC.

*Germany is an excellent case to highlight discrepancies in statistics.  Each student looked to different reporting agencies for information, and each returned different results.  See below.

Worldometer
Total reported cases: 177,482 (last week: 168,665) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 8145 (last week: 7322)
Confirmed recoveries: 155,700 (last week: 139,900)

SOURCE:

World Health Organization (WHO)
Total reported cases: 174,697 (last week: 166,091) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 7935 (last week: 7119)

SOURCE:

Robert Koch Institut (RKI)
Total reported cases: 174,697 (last week: 164,807) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 7935 (last week: 6996)
Confirmed recoveries: c.154,600 (last week: c. 137,400) 

SOURCE:

The infection rate in Germany has remained remarkably low throughout the entire COVID-19 pandemic with relatively tame statistics to reflect the situation. Immediately after the reopening of certain small businesses, Germany saw a spike in the infection rate that surpassed 1.0 (meaning each infected person is infecting approximately one healthy person) for the first time since the beginning of April. This increase caused concern among experts that the German government had been too hasty with relaxing restrictions but, nearly two weeks later, the infection rate has deflated below 1.0 and approaches the same level as before restrictions were relaxed. Currently, Germany’s government believes their national curve is flattening and is preparing to proceed with plans to gradually reopen the economy. The media has reacted controversially to this announcement, with some stations claiming Germany is taking hasty and unnecessary risk while other applaud the government’s control in planning and close monitoring of statistics.

Despite Germany’s relaxed restrictions on business operations, there still remains a narrow definition of what is considered essential for citizens to venture outside of the home. Like most nations, grocery shopping, doctor visits, and restaurants that can handle take-out orders are deemed essential. With the reopening of small businesses, certain retail stores including florists, bookshops, car outlets, and bike rentals were permitted to continue operation, given they are smaller than 800 square meters. Some graduating students in Berlin were permitted to take on-campus finals.

Germany’s large car brands, such as Volkswagen, restarted their production in late April in a drive to help get Europe working again.  Since Germany started to lessen their restrictions in mid-April, the Volkswagen group (which also owns Skoda, Audi, Bentley, Porsche, and Seat) resumed production at a slow rate to start.  Not only will it help jumpstart the economy throughout Europe, it also serves as a symbol for the people who work in the industry.  It symbolizes the return to a working world.  Just like the Bundesliga boosts morale, this does the same for the working people of Germany and Europe.

Some local authorities in Germany are continuing to keep stores, restaurants, and fitness studios locked down due to a spike in COVID-19 cases only days after Chancellor Angela Merkel released that Germany can slowly begin to come out of a lockdown.  Some of the restrictions that have been eased by the government is that pubs, gyms, larger shops, and cafes are allowed to reopen with people also being able to socialize outside of their household.  However, with this there have been spikes in cases in certain places, specifically three meat processing plants.  Schools are planning to reopen with children being tested regularly and social distancing measures put into place in the classroom.

Even though Germany has begun the process of reopening, many future events including Munich’s Oktoberfest (several months away) have been cancelled. This comes as a fear of a second wave is expected to hit Germany according to the public help experts. A video from Deutsche Welle has explained that being vigilant is the key to a successful reopening to the country. The country also has plans to kick off the restart of the Bundesliga giving professional sports back to the German people. They will be doing this without fans, which is key to safely resume play. It looks as though if Germany remains smart, they should continue to keep their people safe. 

In addition to Oktoberfest, the Berlin Marathon (scheduled for September 27) has also been cancelled.  The marathon is one of the six major marathon races in the world. The other marathons, including Boston, London, Chicago and New York, are to be rescheduled, but no one knows for sure because it is dependent on the future spread of the virus.

SOURCES:









POLAND
Report by Pamela Binda.  Pamela is a senior with a major in Political Science and a minor in Slavic Languages, Literature, and Culture.

Total reported cases: 18,529 (last week: 15,047) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 925 (last week: 755)

SOURCES:


The Upper Silesia region of Poland has been noted to be the hotspot for COVID-19. Due to the industrial aspect of the region, COVID-19 has been able to spread rapidly. Rumors of governmental isolation have been circulating however the government denies instigating the proposal. The death to infection ratio has risen from 5.01% to 5.03%. So far there have been 6,918 recoveries. Poland is set to reopen restaurants and hair studios on May 18th in an effort to continue to ease restrictions. Poland’s presidential election was never formally canceled, however with the turnout being less than 0%, it has been titled as a ‘ghost election’. The Polish government hopes to hold the election as soon as possible, prospectively even in June.

SOURCES:


SPAIN
Report by Maria Arruti Iparraguirre.  Maria is a PhD student in Spanish Literatures and Cultures.

Total reported cases: 231,606 (last week: 221,447) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 27,709 (last week: 26,070)
Confirmed recoveries: 196,958 (last week: 128,511) 

SOURCE:



During the first days of the pandemic, daily confirmed cases grew extremely fast, however, since then they have tended to stabilize. Spain’s curve is flattening out. Last March 30th, the Spanish Government declared that only essential workers could keep working. The services were reduced to the really essential ones like health personnel, bank employees, delivery people or supermarket cashiers. Now, as the lockdown is getting more flexible, some other businesses are opening too.




SWEDEN
Reported by Lucas Henry

Total reported cases: 30,377 (last week: 24,623) 
COVID-19 related deaths: 3698 (last week: 2679)

SOURCE:

Sweden’s approach to the coronavirus crisis has indeed resulted in a higher rate of infection and deaths when compared to their Scandinavian neighbors, as their percentage of overall deaths are 27% above normal—this metric takes into account all deaths, which therefore includes COVID-19 deaths that may have slipped through the cracks because they were not officially caused by the coronavirus. This puts Sweden on par with moderately-hit nations such as Switzerland, but well ahead of Norway, which has a +0% change from the same time last year.  Chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell insists that the strategy will pay off, as his country’s goal was not to contain the virus but to flatten the curve so that hospitals would be able to handle the traffic.  Even though the virus has continued to spread throughout the country, hospitals are not taxed and are still well below the cap level; 30 percent of intensive care beds are available throughout the country.  Data also suggests that the curve has flattened in some urban areas, including Malmö.  There are also other discussions that while this approach works in Sweden, it would not in other places where trust in the government is low (Swedish governmental trust is currently at 80%; the average for trust in national governments in Europe as a whole is 34%, according to the latest Eurobarometer).

SOURCES:










Share/Bookmark

 
Cookie Settings