Study Tour in European Memory Politics: An extraordinary learning experience and engagement with youth

UViC’s Jean Monnet Network in Memory Politics launches one of its most ambitious initiatives and offers 18 students from various departments at the University of Victoria a 21-day tour to Europe (June 2-23), visiting sites of commemoration related to the Holocaust, the First and Second War, Communism, and resistance movements in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland. During the tour, the students will be engaged in experimental learning experiences and become familiar with various educational methods including using artistic reflections, photography, podcasts, literary expression, short movies etc.

In addition, the graduate and undergraduate students will have an opportunity to participate in a high-level scholarly exchange on a high level during two international events (one in Vienna and one in Budapest). For instance, during the international conference in Budapest, they will participate in a Youth Panel co-organized by the Zachor Foundation for Social Remembrance. This event is financially supported by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Canada.

Accompanying the study tour, there will be a student-led blog and an Instagram account that will feature key aspects of this three-week trip through Central Europe. Dr. Oliver Schmidtke, director of UVic’s Centre for Global Studies and professor at the departments of history and political science, and Janine Wulz, a PhD candidate at the Germanic and Slavic Studies, will lead the study tour. The outreach activities will be coordinated by Beate Schmidtke, co-lead of the EUCAnet inititive.

The study tour is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of  Canada, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Canada and the University of Victoria’s Experiential Learning Fund and its Nimrod Hungarian Mobility Award.

For any inquiry, please contact Beate Schmidtke beates@uvic.ca.

Picture credit: Beate Schmidtke