EU Policy Forum Educator Workshop

2024 EU Policy Forum Educator Workshop

This event has passed. Please join us next August for the 2025 EU Policy Forum Educator Workshop. Information coming in summer 2025!

20 Years after the EU’s Big Bang: Enlargement, Prosperity, the Far Right, and the Russian Threat

A teacher workshop for Middle School, High School, and Community College Educators

Location: University of Washington, Thomson Hall Room 317,  (in-person only)

Date: Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Time: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Registration Fee: $15.00

Washington State educators are eligible to receive 8 clock hours upon full participation upon full completion of the workshop! 

FREE parking is available for this event. Lunch and coffee will be provided as well! 


The University of Washington’s Jackson School for International Studies and the World Affairs Council’s Global Classroom are excited to host our annual full-day EU Policy Forum for Educators on Tuesday, August 13th, 2024. This workshop will offer an in-depth exploration of the European Union (EU), a monumental entity whose rich history and dynamic present continue to shape the global future. The program provides a comprehensive examination of the EU’s origins, significant milestones, and current challenges, delivering critical insights into its evolution, achievements, and hurdles.

Key highlights include an analysis of the EU’s enlargement process, tracing its transformation from post-World War II beginnings to a global economic powerhouse, and addressing fundamental questions about its role in the global arena. Participants will gain unique perspectives from the experiences of Baltic states, engage in a roleplay simulation of a European Council Summit, and delve into the political psychology behind Europe’s populist movements. These themes are designed to offer valuable lessons for educational contexts, emphasizing the importance of fostering global competence among students.

By understanding the EU’s past, present, and future, educators can prepare the next generation to navigate and address global challenges, contributing to a sustainable and interconnected world. This program empowers educators to support students in developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for college, career, and civic life, fostering meaningful connections between local and global contexts. Join us on this enriching educational journey to equip your students with a profound understanding of the European Union’s significance and its ongoing evolution. Washington State educators are eligible to receive clock hours upon full participation upon full completion of the workshop! 

 


Workshop Sessions

Session 1 | From Before the Big Bang into the 21st Century: EU Origins and Challenges for the EU

  • Dean LaRue, Senior Lecturer, UW Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies

Session 2 | Fundamental Questions of the EU: Enlargement, Colonization, and the Uncomfortable Global Challenges of Ukraine, Gaza, and China

  • Dean LaRue, Senior Lecturer, UW Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies

Session 3 | A Baltic Perspective: Was joining the EU a Success?

  • Guntis Šmidchens, Director UW CEREAS (CES and Ellison Center), UW Associate Professor and Head of Baltic Studies

Session 4 | Model European Union – Roleplay

  • Facilitated by Dean LaRue, Senior Lecturer, UW Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies

Session 5 | Emotional Elections: Political Psychology and Europe’s Populist Right – On the 2024 European Parliament Election and Other 2024 Summer Elections

  • Dustin Ellis, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Eastern Oregon University

All participants will receive a supplemental curriculum resource guide to further explore the workshop’s themes.

Jean Monnet Chair for Civil Society, Inclusion and Diversity in the EU (CIDEU) resources for European Studies


Workshop Facilitator

Ryan Hauck is a teacher at Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish,WA. As a teacher of comparative politics and international studies, he is often applauded for bringing the world into his classroom by engaging students around the importance of living in an increasingly interconnected, interdependent world. One of Ryan’s global projects has been his work in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, building not only a sister school relationship between his high school and a remote village school in Oporoza, but also a village library. Recently, Ryan participated in a U.S. State Department fellowship to Senegal as part of the Teachers for Global Classroom Program and as a fellow with the Goethe Institut’s Transatlantic Outreach Program to Germany. Ryan Completed his master’s degree in Globalization and Educational Change from Lehigh’s Comparative & International Education Department. As part of this program, Ryan worked with a cohort of classmates and teachers on a professional development project in Cambodia to enhance teacher training and student learning. As a Washington State Council for the Social Studies Board Member, Ryan extends his passion for global studies to other teachers, students, and communities. Ryan brings his own real-life experiences into the classroom so that his students begin to understand the value of cross-cultural understanding and humanitarian action.


This teacher workshop is sponsored by the European Union, the UW Center for European Studies & EU Center, the Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, the Center for Global Studies, the World Affairs Council. The workshop is hosted by the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. For more information, please email the Center for European Studies at cweseuc@uw.edu.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

To request disability accommodation contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at: (206) 543-6450/V, (206) 543-6452/TTY, (206) 685-7264 (FAX), or dso@u.washington.edu.