JHU SAIS Transatlantic Center, Partners Receive EU Award

Washington, D.C.-11/15/2001-The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University, together with four partner universities, has been designated one of a select number of Centers for European Union Studies in the United States.

The 15-nation European Union awarded this designation to the American Consortium on EU Studies (ACES), a new partnership of five Washington area universities-Johns Hopkins, American, George Mason, George Washington and Georgetown universities. Affiliated partners will include Catholic, Gallaudet and Howard universities, the University of Maryland at College Park and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution.

ACES will be housed at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at SAIS, a new institute dedicated to a modern European-American agenda keyed to the challenges of a globalizing world. Daniel Hamilton, director of the Transatlantic Center, will also serve as the ACES executive director. The consortium will work to improve the understanding of the European Union and U.S.-EU relations throughout the Washington-Northern Virginia-Baltimore metropolitan region.

"Given the close nature of the transatlantic partnership, it is tempting-but wrong-to believe that the level of expertise on the EU and U.S.-EU relations in Washington must be high," Hamilton said. "In fact, Washington-based expertise on the EU seems to be shrinking as fast as the role of the EU has been growing."

ACES will address this gap by actively engaging students, scholars, legislative and executive branch officials, and media, private sector and NGO leaders in three areas:

Education and Research:

ACES universities will

· Develop special graduate certificate programs in EU Studies;

· Launch a Young Scholars Network of graduate students throughout the region;

· Conduct regular seminars among senior scholars;

· Offer pre-dissertation fellowships and research seed grants;

· Support academic conferences, symposia and workshops on EU and U.S.-EU issues.

Media Outreach and Education:

ACES universities will

· Develop special "transatlantic" editions of the nationally syndicated "American Forum" series on National Public Radio;

· Offer programs on EU-related issues at George Washington University's radio station WRRC;

· Sponsor an "EU Update" program at George Mason University's GMU-TV;

· Present a "EU Perspectives" series of lectures and seminars as part of the Pew International Journalism Program at SAIS.

Policy Outreach

ACES universities will

· Engage administration officials, congressional leaders and other opinion shapers in policy-oriented "strategy groups" to tackle current challenges;

· Publish "ACES Papers" on critical transatlantic policy issues;

· Provide opportunities for European visiting scholars and practitioners-in-residence;

· Design a Web site to inform the scholarly and policy communities of EU-related activities in the nation's capital;

· Develop an Internet database on EU-related economic, legal and foreign policy case studies.

The EU award is supported by a grant of 150,000 Euros for the 2001-2002 academic year. Increased support is anticipated over subsequent years and will be supplemented by individual, corporate and foundation donors.

SAIS is one of the country's leading graduate schools devoted to the study of international relations. Located along Embassy Row in Washington's Dupont Circle area, the school enrolls more than 450 full-time graduate students and mid-career professionals and has trained more than 10,000 alumni in all aspects of international affairs.

For further information contact Felisa Klubes in the SAIS Public Affairs Office at (202) 663-5626 or [email protected].