 Andrew was born in the shadow of the Colorado Rockies and raised in the expanses of Montana. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree (2001) in French Literature and Economics at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University in Minnesota. He then taught, studied and worked in France for three years. While in France, he obtained a French Maîtrise in International Economics with a focus on European Integration at the Université Lumière Lyon II and served for six months with the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Consulate. Back in the U.S., he worked for one year in corporate sales before moving to Seoul, South Korea to teach English and explore East Asia and Siberia. He has also worked two summers in Yellowstone National Park and, while at IES, hopes to examine the role of the EU in international climate change policy. Andrew is bilingual in English and French and speaks Spanish and Mandarin. |
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 After moving to Vancouver from Dallas, Texas where David was studying Economics, he completed his BA at the University of British Columbia in the spring of 2008 with a major in International Relations and a minor in German. David’s research areas of interest at IES include international political economy, transatlantic relations and EU external relations. |
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 Originally coming from Romania, Dumitru witnessed and participated in the 1989 last revolution in the Eastern Europe, an a event of major historical significance for Europe and for his personal life. After the last communist regime collapsed he decided to get involved in his country's transition to democracy. He was one of the leaders of the Student's League during some of its most glorious years as a vital factor for change in Romanian society. After the first election victory of the democratic forces in 1996, Dumitru started to work as a parliamentary advisor for an MP and eventually became the chief advisor for a Vice-President of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies. After getting a scholarship in government at Georgetown University, he obtained an MA in political science at George Mason University. His current interest in European Studies at UBC is closely related to the last wave of EU enlargement, problems of justice, governmental corruption and unaccountability especially in the Balkan region. |
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 Robertson earned his bachelor's (Political Science & German) and master's (Library & Information Sciences) degrees from the University of Alabama. Over the years he has studied at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and the Freie Universität - Berlin. While completing his previous degrees, Robertson held several library and research related positions as well as a political/economics internship at the United States embassy in Chișinău, Moldova. In addition to his activities at IES, he currently maintains and contributes to several blogs related to European current affairs and politics. His areas of interest include EU consumer protection and environmental policy. |
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 Johanna moved to Victoria, Canada from Stockholm, Sweden in 2003. In April 2007 she completed her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Victoria with a concentration in European Studies. Currently, she is a second-year MA student at the Institute for European Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her main research interests are European migration, citizenship and identity.
Johanna has lived, studied and travelled in Europe, and besides English, she also speaks Swedish and German. |
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 Julian obtained his Honours Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Ottawa. He graduated from the International Studies and Modern Languages program, with distinction, in early 2008. While pursuing his undergraduate degree, he lived and studied in Italy for a year, and spent many months traveling throughout Europe. He held several teaching and research positions in his final year, as an Italian T.A. to first year students, and as a research assistant in Anthropology/Sociology. He then participated in a research expedition to French Polynesia for a month in May 2007 with a small group from the University. Upon completion of his undergraduate courses, he worked for a multi-national corporation in Australia and traveled Oceania for 5 months. Julian speaks fluent Italian and French, and has a working knowledge of Spanish. He is a first year student at the IES and his research interests include EU Environmental policies, citizenship and identity issues, EU-Canada relations and global currency debates. |
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 Margery completed a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a Bachelor of Arts in French at Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. While an undergrad she held several research and teaching assistant positions in a variety of fields including French, Chemistry, Genetics, and Food Science. She also worked as an editor at Memorial’s student newspaper, and as Gallery Co-ordinator for an art gallery in her hometown in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. After finishing her degrees, Margery worked in France as a language assistant in a high school. She is now a second year student in the Masters for European Studies program at UBC, and is interested in human rights, migration, international relations, identity formation, and conflict resolution.
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 Peter was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. He completed his BA with a double major in History and Modern European Studies at UBC in 2007. Since graduation, he has traveled extensively, focusing particularly in Europe. Peter is a first year student in the MA program in European Studies program at UBC. His interests include the relationship between the Baltic States and Russia, as well as the various degrees of interaction between the EU and the Scandinavian nations. |
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 Sara completed her BA with a double major in Sociology and Modern European Studies at UBC in 2006. She has a background in classical music and has worked for a variety of arts organizations over the past few years. In her last year of undergraduate study she worked as a research assistant for Dr. Wendy Roth in the Sociology Department, focusing on issues related to race and racial inequality. She is a second year MA student at the IES. During her first year, Sara worked as a research assistant at the Liu Institute for Global Issues. Her primary research interests include race and ethnic relations, migration, nationalism, identity formation, and EU/ North American policy toward Africa. |
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 Vanessa completed her BA with a double major in Modern European Studies and Creative Writing at UBC in 2008. She was a finalist in the Walrus’ annual fiction contest and her stage work has been produced both in and around Vancouver and Victoria. She works with One Cool Word, a local arts magazine and tutors English, History and French. Her academic and creative pursuits lead her to extended stays in both France and Russia. Currently she is a first year MA student at the Institute of European Studies and is interested in the study of (contested) histories and identities, migration, language, literature and common foreign and security policies. |
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 After 3 years of studies in Political Science at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania Vitalijus moved to Finland and graduated the international programme of World Politics with special focus on the European Union from University of Helsinki. His final essay analyses the issue of three Baltic States in the Western-Russian relations. Currently, he is a second-year MA student at the Institute for European Studies, University of British Columbia. His special interest within Europe lies in between Scandinavia and the Baltic states. He is particularly interested in both ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ security issues in Northern Europe, EU Enlargement and relations with Russia. Vitalijus has studied, lived and traveled in Europe which provided him with extensive knowledge of the region. He speaks Lithuanian, Swedish and basic Russian and Finnish. |
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Random Links |
Civic Education Project
The Civic Education Project® (CEP), an international non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, has supported grassroots efforts to promote pluralism and international standards in social science education in transitioning countries since 1991. |
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