University of Windsor/Western University
16th Annual
European Union Study Abroad Program
May 3 - May 16, 2026
At NATO headquarters in May 2025
POLS 4880
"The EU as a Global Actor"
About the Program
One of the best ways to gain an understanding of a society—perhaps the best way—is to meet its people, experience in person its streetscapes and soundscapes, and have the opportunity to question and hear from its own experts at their places of work. One acquires from such an experience a depth of knowledge and an appreciation of the lived reality of another society. Being there, immersed in its culture and its daily rhythms, can transform knowledge into understanding.
This is what our European Union Study Abroad Program aims to achieve: an understanding of EU politics governance and the context within which this remarkable if occasionally troubled enterprise in integration--now in its second half-century--continues to evolve. This understanding cannot be achieved in mere weeks! But it is a beginning. And for those of you who wish to take the next step, building on what you have learned about European politics and the challenges facing the EU, this EU Study Abroad Program should help take you to this next level in your studies or along your career path.
This is not a classroom-based course. Our program’s model involves experiential learning and an immersive cultural experience. With the exception of an annual lecture from a professor at the College of Europe, the rest of our 14-day program consists of briefings from policy makers, administrators, politicians, diplomats, journalists and NGO researchers at their places of work. This keeps us constantly on the go, travelling between locations and institutions by train, metro and on foot. This movement is, in fact, part of your cultural immersion. You will experience personally and on a daily basis the rhythms of life in Belgium and particularly in Brussels, the administrative capital of Europe.
The itinerary, which will be available by the end of March 2026, will include about 40 hours of meetings with officials of all the major EU institutions, NATO, Europol, the German, UK, Chinese and Turkish country missions to the EU (and perhaps one or two more: TBA), and spokespersons for some NGOs, including International Crisis Group and Payoke, a Brussels-based think tank, as well as media persons. Cultural activities are included, including a day trip to Bruges, where we will also have a meeting at the College of Europe, and to Antwerp.
Students will stay at the Irish College (https://irishcollegeleuven.eu/) in Leuven, which is home to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Founded in 1425, KU Leuven is one of Europe’s great universities and is today ranked among the top 50 universities in the world. Its past reputation was based mainly on philosophy and theology. In recent decades, however, KU Leuven also has been known for work in such fields as international law, political science and sociology, engineering and medicine. It has been a magnet for scholars and students since the days of Erasmus and is today, in fact, a member of the Erasmus network that enables European students to take courses toward their degrees at major universities across Europe.
At the Chinese Mission to the EU, May 2024
What some participants have said about the program
“This is a program that has truly changed my life as it has made once seemingly distant ambitions seem much more achievable and it has given me an insight into the European Union that I would not have otherwise been able to receive. From our meeting at NATO to our interactions with the staff at the various foreign missions, this trip has been the most transformative experience in my academic career.” University of Windsor student
“Going beyond the specifics of what I learned at the various institutions that we visited, I am forever grateful for the opportunity to not only experience these incredible institutions and to shape my views on European and global politics both but to have challenged myself socially and culturally by traveling to new parts of the world. I had the great pleasure to meet and connect with students from different ethnicities and backgrounds, all of whom had found themselves in this course for a variety of diverse reasons. I got to spend my time with an exceptionally bright and eager to learn group of students and that will forever be my greatest takeaway from this trip.” Western University student
“This trip was such a great experience, and I am so grateful to have been a part of it with you and the rest of our group. Not only was this a way to learn and grow professionally, but also individually. I learned so much and had a wonderful time throughout the entire trip, every day was something new, interesting and enriching. The meetings we had with different organisations and diplomats opened up new possibilities for me and I'm sure for many others as well.” University of Western student
Program Requirements
1. Attendance at two pre-departure meetings to be held in Windsor, London students joining online, in the winter 2026 semester.
2. Research paper (15 pages), due no later than June 15th: 60%
3. Journal or blog (short daily entries, involving your reflections on program activities: total length 5-7 pages), due no later than June 15th: 20% *
4. Participation (attending all sessions and cultural activities): 20%*
* Requirements #3 and #4 are pass/fail. You must submit a journal/blog and you must attend all program activities, unless illness prevents you from doing so. Your numerical grade for the course is based on the research paper, requirement #2.
The paper and your journal must be sent in Word or PDF format.
This is the Oude Markt, a two-minute walk from where our group stays. It is a traditional meeting place for students.
The courtyard at the Irish College, where you'll stay.
At the European Parliament, May 2025
This Year’s Program Theme: The EU as a Global Actor
From modest beginnings in 1950 as the European Coal and Steel Community, with a membership of six states and functions that were limited to trade and economics, the EU has evolved into an association of 27 member-states representing an economic market of over 400 million people. Since the 1990s the EU has been taking steps toward playing a more active role in the world, developing aspects of a unified approach to world and regional issues that goes beyond the foreign policies of its member-states. In this course we will examine such questions as the degree to which collective EU action has and can replace that of sovereign member-states when it comes to external relations; the role and effectiveness of the EU in certain international conflicts on its borders and elsewhere, in reacting to humanitarian crises, managing the challenges of immigration; and whether the EU represents a new form of influence in the world that has the potential to rival or even replace the United States as the voice of western democratic values.
At the European Council, where the heads of state meet, May 2025
Suggested research paper topics
- Parties, Ideologies and Coalitions in the EU Parliament: How Does It All Work?
- Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once asked, “When I want to talk to Europe, who do I call?” Who would the Secretary of State call today and why?
- Conflicting visions between member-states of the EU
- The EU without the UK, five years after the formal divorce
- EU-Russia relations
- EU-China relations
- Can an integrated EU security policy and military force under a unified command replace state sovereignty or reliance on NATO?
- The role of human rights in the EU’s foreign policy
- The War in Ukraine and the EU’s response
Some of you have backgrounds and interests outside of political science and international relations. If anyone would like to explore the possibility of a format other than the research paper or a topic other than the options listed above, you need only contact me about this. Over the years we have found that most students make up their minds about their paper topic by week two of the program, after having attended meetings and talked to various speakers and to their fellow students about what they've seen and heard.
Meetings are done for the day, it’s time for dinner!
Suggested Readings
Simon Usherwood and John Pinder, The European Union: A Very Short Introduction, 4th ed. (Oxford University Press):
https://www.veryshortintroductions.com/view/10.1093/actrade/9780198808855.001.0001/actrade-9780198808855
Resources that may be useful for your paper
Oxford University Press provides links to useful online resources:http://https://global.oup.com/uk/orc/politics/eu/eupolitics/resources/weblinks1/
On EU foreign policy, the College of Europe and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven offer an excellent website: http://www.eufp.eu/
At the Turkish Mission to the EU with Ambassador H.E. Faruk Kaymakcı, May 2025
Some students decide to visit other places after the program. Helen did! (May 2025)
For more information, contact Stephen Brooks at brooks3@uwindsor.ca
University of Windsor students: To apply, download the application form here, complete it, and email it to Dr. Brooks at brooks3@uwindsor.ca no later than December 22, 2025.
Western University students: You must apply through Western International. Click on https://www.uwo.ca/international/learning/go_abroad/facultyled_programs.html, then click on Atlas and enter the keyword "Belgium."
Offers of acceptance for the 2026 program may be made as early as late December, 2025. We endeavor to have roughly equal numbers of students from Windsor and Western, the two partner institutions in this program.
Those accepted into the program will be required to pay a $300 non-refundable deposit toward the cost of accommodation by mid-January, 2026. The precise date and manner of payment will be announced.
Information on the estimated cost of the program may be found here: COST ESTIMATE
