Maynooth University students recently visited Brussels as part of a programme which facilitates students of European Studies, History, Politics and Sociology to engage with the EU institutions and get to know the EU governance landscape.
The annual Field Trip, which is a compulsory trip for Second Year European Studies students, entails a study visit to Belgium for the purpose of experiencing at first hand the workings of the European Institutions in the Brussels area. The base for the Field Trip is the Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe, located in the historic ‘Irish Colleage’ in the university city of Leuven, just north of Brussels.
This year, the group comprised the full complement of twelve students from the European Studies cohort and ten students from both History and Politics/Sociology. Professor John O’ Brennan (Sociology) and Dr. John Paul Newman (History) accompanied the group on the trip. The group visited the European Parliament, met Irish MEPs Mairead McGuinness and Marian Harkin, learned about the specific work our MEPs do within the European Parliament, took a tour of the Parliament and played a Role Simulation game in the visitor centre. This is a virtual simulation of an actual EU negotiation and represents a state-of-the-art mechanism for introducing students to the challenges and vagaries of EU Decision-making.
The group also visited the Northern Ireland Executive Office and learned about the work done by that office in representing the interests of Northern Ireland citizens in EU governance. Equally interesting was a visit to the office of Dr. Rory Keane (Head of Office at the United Nations Liaison Office for Peace and Security), where the students had the opportunity to meet UN officials and investigate the work they do in the EU and wider world.
Students also benefited from a careers session where they met and heard from Maynooth University graduates working in a range of fields in the Brussels beltway. The group also visited Ieper/Ypres for a tour of the Ieper Battlefields, followed by a visit to the “In Flanders Fields” museum and the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin gate. The final day of the trip was spent doing a tour of the historic Leuven University library and culminated with a Gala Dinner that night with guest speakers.
Maynooth University Centre for European and Eurasian Studies
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News
Dr. John Paul Newman's recent research fellowship in Sofia
From October 2019 until February 2020, Dr. Newman was an ‘Advanced Academic Fellow’ at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Sofia, Bulgaria working on two new research projects.
Date: Tuesday, 11 February 2020
IACES Biennial Conference 2019
Members of the Centre were active participants in the biannual conference of the Irish Association for Contemporary European Studies (IACES) at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, on Friday, 29 November 2019.
Date: Thursday, 19 December 2019
John O' Brennan lecture on the future of EU Enlargement policy at the IIEA, Dublin.
John O'Brennan recently delivered a lecture to the Irish Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin, focusing on 'What next for EU Enlargement?
Date: Thursday, 19 December 2019
Professor John O' Brennan's recent lectures on EU politics in Central and Eastern Europe
Professor John O' Brennan has just completed a successful lecture tour in Slovenia (Ljubljana University) and Croatia (Rijeka University)
Date: Thursday, 19 December 2019
Fieldtrip to Brussels and the EU institutions
Students from Maynooth University recently participated in a one week fieldtrip to Brussels and the EU institutions. Partly sponsored by the Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration (Erasmus Plus), students of European Studies, Politics, History and Sociology participated. It was a particularly exciting week to be in Brussels as the trip coincided with a dramatic Brexit European Council summit meeting. The group was led by John O’ Brennan and Francis Jacobs, former head of the European Parliament office in Dublin. Arriving on St Patrick’s Day, students met with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney TD in the Grand Place. The Tánaiste spoke to students about the Brexit talks and Ireland’s place in the European Union. (click on title for more details)
Date: Wednesday, 24 April 2019
Sven Milekic– Irish Research Council Scholar on Croatia and the Balkans
The Centre is home to Irish Research Council scholar Sven Milekic whose work focuses on Croatia and the Balkans
Date: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
The Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies updated schedule for the spring semester, 2019
Exciting programme of events ahead in the Spring 2019 Semester at the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies
Date: Tuesday, 05 March 2019
PhD Research within the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies
The Centre is home to a range of excellent scholars working on Eastern Europe and/or Eurasia. Their work is located within academic disciplines such as Anthropology, History, Political Science and Sociology and, in some cases, is interdisciplinary.
Date: Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Dilyana Kiryakova-Ryan successfully defends PhD thesis
Dilyana Kiryakova-Ryan, a doctoral student attached to the Centre, successfully defended her PhD thesis on civic initiatives in Bulgaria analysed through the lenses of Europeanisation theory. The thesis examines the landscape of civil society in post-Communist Eastern Europe and posits a ‘bottom-up’ perspective on contours of change within the Bulgarian social milieu.
Date: Thursday, 07 February 2019
Seminar on European geoeconomics and geopolitics in the era of Trump and Brexit
On Thursday 14th February 2019, the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, in conjunction with the Department of Sociology and Mussi will host a seminar by Dr. Patrick Holden (Plymouth University). The event will examine the recent turbulence in the international arena and how geoeconomics and geopolitics in Europe have been upended by both Brexit and the policies of the Trump administration. Where and when: John Hume Boardroom, Third floor, Hume Building, 14.00-15.30
Date: Thursday, 17 January 2019