Expertise for Europe's future
The newly established Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence "EU in Global Dialogue" (CEDI) is a joint project of TU Darmstadt and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The center will focus on research and teaching as well as knowledge transfer and networking relating to the international relations of the EU.
CEDI Directors Professor Michèle Knodt and Professor Arne Niemann (r.) in conversation with Professor Sharon Pardo (l.) of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev (photo: Claus Völker)
The European Commission is to provide the financing for the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JMCE), which will bring together the expertise of the two Rhine-Main Universities in Mainz and Darmstadt on EU-related topics in order to generate and promote synergies between the various specialist disciplines and resources in the field of European Studies. In addition, the JMCE is designed to make an important contribution to informing the public on aspects concerning the EU and to provide a forum through which the related subjects can be critically examined.
The emphasis of the three-year JMCE program at the universities of Mainz and Darmstadt will be on research and teaching relating to the "EU in Global Dialogue". Among the subjects to be scrutinized are the foreign policy implications of EU immigration policy and regional integration from a comparative perspective. With regard to teaching, the new center will make possible the continuation and development of the innovative teaching methods employed at Mainz University in terms of EU-related simulations such as the Model European Union Mainz (MEUM) and the role-playing game EU+, which is designed for high school pupils.
The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence "EU in Global Dialogue", which bears the name of the pioneer of European unification, is part of the newly founded strategic alliance of the Rhine-Main Universities in Frankfurt, Mainz, and Darmstadt.