Politics in practice: Field trip to Brussels

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For four days, students at Jacobs University had an opportunity to experience politics in practice by visiting institutions of the European Union in Brussels.

The field trip to Brussels is part of the course “German Politics and Culture,” taught by Dr. Franziska Deutsch and Dr. Antonia Gohr at Jacobs University. The course is designed to introduce students to the political system of Germany and to the European Union. At the beginning of March, 23 visiting and exchange students as well as 35 Foundation Year students visited several institutions of the European Union in Brussels.

The program in Brussels included a visit to the European Parliament and a meeting with a Bremen Member of the European Parliament, Dr. Joachim Schuster. Another highlight of the excursion was a meeting at the Permanent Representation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union. The meetings and lively discussions with politicians provided students with first-hand information about decision-making processes within the European Union and its current challenges.

The group was accompanied by a Jacobs team and Professor Christopher Ruebeck from Lafayette College and his wife Lisa. The visiting and exchange students come from various partner universities such as Lafayette College (USA), Wellesley College (USA), Villanova University (USA), Vassar College (USA), Cornell University (USA), Instituto de Empresa (Madrid, Spain), and the University of Aberdeen (Scotland). They spend a semester abroad at Jacobs University. Several field trips are offered as part of the partner programs. In February, the group visited Berlin where a meeting with Bremen’s Member of the Bundestag, Sarah Ryglewski, was one of the highlights of the program.