Educational Development Unit

The Educational Development Unit is involved in a wide range of activities in the areas of teaching, training, e-learning and research. The unit is lead by Prof. Dr. Amelia Hadfield and is supported by the Researchers Alexandra Mihai and Alina Christova, as well as the intern Marc-Antoine Morin.

Teaching

The unit has a broad teaching programme and conducts the undergraduate exchange programme Hendrix for students from the US, the inter-university Summer School on the European Decision-Making Process jointly with the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, customized summer schools as well as graduate teaching programmes on EU matters jointly with the University of Kent in Brussels and the Erasmus Hogeschool Brussel.

Training

The unit organizes on a regular basis 3-day training sessions on European Union institutions and policy processes. The sessions target students and professionals seeking a better understanding of the European structures and the EU decision-making process. The training concept builds on the outstanding academic expertise of the Institute for European Studies and promotes a balanced approach, where theory and practice complement each other to facilitate the learning experience.

Drawing on its well-known academic expertise in EU matters, the unit is furthermore specialized in organizing and conducting customized training sessions and seminars for national governments, companies and organizations. The objective of customized training is to broaden and update the background knowledge regarding EU institutions, structures, procedures and policies relevant for the everyday work of the entity. The training sessions synthesize academic and practical knowledge, including the latest developments in the field, thus providing a comprehensive overview of the topic under consideration. The subject, curriculum and duration of the training sessions are developed in cooperation with the respective company/organization to best meet its specific training needs.

Webinars

In September 2011, the Educational Development Unit is launching its new Wednesday Webinar Series. The webinar series is meant to complement the traditional in-house training sessions. Through webinars, users can be provided with more flexibility and greater accessibility free of geographical constraints without jeopardizing the pedagogical goals of the unit. The Elluminate webinar platform allows the combination of face to face lecturing with additional presentation and instant feedback options. Webinars will always be held on a Wednesday from 12-13:15 providing for a compact but comprehensive session.

E-Learning – EU Modules

In addition to its teaching and training activities as well as the webinars, the unit offers the possibility of combining the face-to-face sessions with access to its e-learning system EU-modules that provides essential information on the European Union in a user-friendly format. The online content can be used either as support material and reference tool before, during and after the teaching and training sessions or as a stand-alone learning tool for external users.

Research

Furthermore, the unit conducts research on a wide variety of different topics on EU matters including institutional questions, EU law, energy security, foreign policy, etc. as a preparation for the teaching and training activities. In addition, special focus is put on research in the area of innovative methods of teaching European studies and technology enhanced learning/blended learning.

[Back to Research]