New Jean Monnet teaching module "NearEU" approved

The Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies has received funding from the European Commission to develop a new teaching module on the neighbourhood and enlargement of the European Union.

The application for the teaching module NearEU (Neighbourhood Enlargement and Regionalism in Europe) - related to Europeanization of the European Union’s Eastern neighbourhood, candidate countries, and wider Europe - has been selected for funding by the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet programme. It is the only approved Jean Monnet activity led by an Estonian institution in the 2020 round of applications.

The project is coordinated by the University of Tartu and led by Dr. Stefano Braghiroli – Associate Professor of European Studies and Director of the Master’s Programme in “European Union – Russia Studies” – and Ms. Anna Beitane - Manager of Online Learning Projects at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies. It includes a network of partners from Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Montenegro, Poland, and Ukraine. Particular attention is devoted to the involvement of junior instructors and early stage researchers.

The approved Jean Monnet module aims to create new knowledge, tools, and resources related to the evolution of partners’ and candidates’ relationship with the EU and alternative models of regionalism. NearEU is functional to the creation and the support of a new “European Union – Russia Studies” module within the framework of the master’s programme in “International relations and regional studies” at the J. Skytte Institute of Political Studies.

According to Dr. Stefano Braghiroli, the political connotation of the enlargement process seems to be increasingly evident. “This presents us with a new reality in which the actual dividing lines between partnership and candidacy are increasingly blurred. Such reality, and the emergence of alternative models of regional integration, justifies the necessity to update our teaching perspective and the didactical tools that we utilize in our activities.”

The activities of the new NearEU module will start in the fall 2020, with its kick-off meeting scheduled for October. In the course of three years, the project foresees the creation of several courses, MOOCs and simulation exercises, hosting graduate conferences and study visits, as well publishing a wide set of didactical material and teaching aids, including an ebook on on didactics of preparing and running simulation exercises.

In the words of Ms. Anna Beitane: “NearEU represents an opportunity to develop up-to-date digital content and sophisticated online teaching material related to external Europeanization. Their open-access nature grants a wide diffusion of innovative best practices and of our teaching perspective far beyond the University of Tartu and the home institutions of the participating regional experts.”

For more information, please contact: Stefano Braghiroli, academic coordinator of the project and Associate Professor of European Studies, stefano.braghiroli [ät] ut.ee

Forwarded by:
Maili Vilson
Research Communication Specialist
Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies
maili.vilson [ät] ut.ee
+372 737 6584