CASE

The European Union Center of Excellence (EUCE) at the University of Pittsburgh strikes a new path in EU Studies through its initiative to reconsider the area studies model; Critical Area Studies for Europe (CASE) breaks with inherited (post-) Cold War approaches and considers the EU befitting its 21st-century role in the world. CASE will address central questions of contemporary EU policy while building scholarly communities that bring together colleagues and units whose work has not attended explicitly attended to Europe, to focus on the EU.

Following our earlier emphasis on EU cultural policy, CASE will promote excellence in teaching and research by expanding our inclusion of diverse units that have not historically played a role in EU Studies and European area studies. ESC will focus on sustainability and security as key themes as we enter this three-year grant cycle. 

Year of 1

EU ENLARGEMENT LECTURE SERIES:
 

The European Studies Center/European Union Center of Excellence (ESC/EUCE), along with the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (REEES), is launching a new lecture series to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of EU Enlargement. This virtual lecture series will be held on the last Thursday of each month. 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the biggest enlargement in the European Union's history. Ten countries, mainly former socialist Eastern European states, almost doubled the EU from 15 to 25 member states. For many, May 1, 2004, marked a triumphal return to the European family. But for some, it initiated a process of disenchantment with the EU and the West. Each month, the ESC/EUCE, together with REEES at the University of Pittsburgh, will focus our attention on a specific country or a group of countries in the EU by inviting experts and eyewitnesses to discuss the hopes and realities of the EU integration before and after expansion, to address what hopes were fulfilled and what new hopes exist for the Union in the present.

Year of 2
Year of 3