The Innovative Universities European Union (IUEU) Centre
The IUEU Centre operates from two principal nodes at La Trobe University (Melbourne) and Macquarie University (Sydney) with five partners: Flinders University (Adelaide), Griffith University (Brisbane), James Cook University, Murdoch University (Perth) and The University of
Newcastle.
IUEU Key priority areas (2006-2009)
• European integration
• Islam and its global impact
• European diaspora
• Ageing, human rights and culture
• Cultural difference
• Environmental sustainability
• Global security
Research
The Centre encourages links between researchers in its constituent universities and in European universities through the sponsorship of conferences, seminars and symposia.
From 2006 to 2009 IUEU Centre member universities presented major conferences. In late 2008 Macquarie presented ‘From Migrant To Citizen: testing language, testing culture'. In the first half of 2009 Murdoch University hosted a conference addressing ‘Security and Contemporary Asia'. For details on earlier conferences, visit the archives at http://www.iueu.org.au/webpages/archive_conferences.html.
La Trobe and Macquarie universities funded six IUEU Centre scholarships for Ph.D. projects on EU-related topics. The first two scholarships commenced in 2007. The Centre has played a role in promoting applications for research funding for projects related to contemporary Europe or involving linkages between Australian and European researchers.
Curriculum
Commencing in 2007, La Trobe University’s undergraduate subject “The European Union” is taught across all six universities in the Centre consortium. Each university is also developing and increasing in range their offerings of subjects and courses in European studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In particular, Masters programmes will be developed which provide an opportunity for a more intensive knowledge of the EU, its institutions and its global role. It is hoped these will be especially valuable for those in occupations or businesses where greater knowledge of the EU is of benefit.
Three IUEU Centre university members have been involved in the EU-AU Global Citizenship
program, in which students from Malmö University, Sweden, Utrecht University, The
Netherlands, University of Roma Tre, Italy, and the University of Cyprus and from Macquarie, Flinders, and La Trobe Universities have participated in student mobility programs. The program was designed to enable students to understand their own role in society and in bringing about change. The Centre has also been instrumental in encouraging undergraduates to take advantage of exchange opportunities with European universities.
Outreach
The Centre has been developing strategies to work with key groups including business, European diasporic groups in Australia, secondary schools and members of the
media. The geographic reach of the participating universities — every mainland capital, the country’s largest regional city, and some other regional centres—ideally position it for effective engagement with a wide cross-section of the Australian community.
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