How to teach the EU

1
How to teach the EU

• Professor R. Daniel Kelemen
• Director, Center for European Studies
• Rutgers University

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Teaching ResourcesEU Centers of Excellence

• Network of European Union Centers of Excellence
  http//www.euce.org/education/
• Which includes
• Lesson Plans
• Multimedia Resources
• External Links
• University of Washington http//jsis.washington.e
  du/euc/educators/web_resources
• University of Pittsburgh http//www.ucis.pitt.edu
  /euce/outreach/index.html
• Teach Europe Resources page http//www.teacheurop
  e.org/resources.php
• New York Times, Learning Network Blog
  http//learning.blogs.nytimes.com
• Outreachworld http//www.outreachworld.org/

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Outline

• The bad news I dont know how to teach high
  school or middle school students. You do!
• Resources for teaching the EU
• Some Major themes
• Discussion

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Teaching ResourcesEU resources

• EU Resources
• EU Delegation to the US Teaching Resources
  http//www.eurunion.org/eu/index.php?optioncom_co
  ntenttaskviewid2144Itemid9
• EU Teachers Corner http//europa.eu/teachers-cor
  ner/
• The EU in Slides http//europa.eu/abc/euslides/i
  ndex_en.htm
• EU Kids Corner http//europa.eu/europago/welcome
  .jsp
• EU Games/Quizzes Competitions http//europa.eu/qu
  ick-links/eu-kids/index_en.htm
• EUtube http//www.youtube.com/user/eutube

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EU ResourcesNews

• BBC Europe
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/europe/2003/in
  side_europe/default.stm
• EU Observer http//euobserver.com/
• NPR
• http//www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story
  Id128407020

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Major ThemesWhat does the EU help us teach?

• Interdependence and Cooperation
• Nationalism, Language and Identity
• Diversity, Multiculturalism and Immigration
• Enlargement and challenges of political
  unification (parallels with the US)
• Europe as model? Benefits of integration

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Interdependence and Cooperation

• EU is most successful example in world history of
  countries working together to solve common
  problems
• EU countries are interdependent. They face common
  challenges that none can solve alone
• Environment
• Economic Globalization
• Defense / Security

8
Nationalism, Language, Identity

• Nationalism discredited by WWII
• But languages and identities remain national
• Can Europe craft a stronger common identity
• First build Europe, then Europeans?

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23 Official Languages
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Can Europe Craft Common Identity?

• Common symbols
• Exchange programs

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Diversity, Multiculturalism and Immigration

• Muslims in Europe
• http//www.euce.org/assets/doc/education/k12/mich_
  muslims_in_europe.pdf
• The Veil Controversy
• http//www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/Veil20
  00/burqa.htm
• The Danish Cartoon Crisis
• http//topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timesto
  pics/subjects/d/danish_cartoon_controversy/index.h
  tml
• http//learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/02/06/print
  ing-error/
• EU vs. France over the Roma
• http//euobserver.com/9/31074

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Enlargement

• Bridge to the Future http//euce.org/assets/doc/e
  ducation/k12/UW-EUcurriculum_bridge.pdf
• Debating Benefits and Challenges of EU
  Membership http//learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010
  /02/16/western-union-debating-benefits-and-challen
  ges-of-eu-membership/
• Council for Economic Education Enlarging the
  European Union
• http//www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lid16
  3typeeducator
• Outreach world
• http//www.outreachworld.org/Files/university_of_w
  ashington_seattle/enlarging_the_eu.pdf

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Major EU Achievements

• Peace
• Enlargement
• Internal market
• The Euro
• Environmental Policy
• ..and many more

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From war to peace
to the Love Parade in Berlin
From the rubble of Dresden
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From war

• Centuries of warfare culminating in
• WWI over 15 million casualties
• WWII over 50 million casualties, including 6
  million Jews killed in the Holocaust

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to peace

• On Bastille Day 1994, a German battalion marched
  down the Champs-Elysées and they were invited!
• War between France and Germany is now unthinkable
  
• EU is moving toward a common defense policy

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EU Enlargement From 6 to 27
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Enlargement from six to 27 countries
1952
1973
1981
1986
1990
1995
2004
2007
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ENLARGEMENT 1957 France, Italy, Germany, Bel.,
Neth., Lux 1973 Denmark, Ireland, UK 1981
Greece 1986 Spain, Portugal 1995 Finland,
Sweden, Austria 2004 Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Hungary, Poland, Czech Rep., Slovakia, Slovenia,
Malta, Cyprus 2007 Bulgaria and Romania
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Enlargement

• Helped spread and stabilize democracy across
  Europe
• Brought prosperity to ailing economies

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Internal Market
Education
Investment
Travel
Communications
Retirement in the sun
Free Trade
22
Internal Market

• Market power The EU has the worlds largest
  market and is Americas biggest trading partner
• Businesses benefit
• Consumers benefit
• Economic performance improves

23
From many.
24
to one the Euro
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The Euro

• Value of in circulation now exceeds
• Gaining ground as reserve currency (roughly 25
  of global reserves)
• Business benefits
• Consumer benefits

26
Environmental Policy

• EU has become world leader on environmental
  policy
• EU has spread high environmental standards across
  Europe
• - Climate Change Policy
• - REACH Chemicals law
• Automobile recycling

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To stop global warming, EU leaders decided in
2007 to

• reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• by 20 by 2020
• 4 improve energy efficiency by 20 by 2020 
• 4 raise the share of renewable energy
• to 20 by 2020 (wind, solar, hydro power,
  biomass)

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Europe as model?

• We mostly hear bad news about Europe
• But European Model is attractive to many around
  the world
• Less militaristic foreign policy
• Stronger support for environmental protection
• More social security
• Can it be sustained?