Halle Institute Launches First Student Study Trip

As Europe celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, The Halle Institute sponsored its first Student Study Trip to Europe. Seven students in a senior seminar course on Political Communication in Comparative and International Contexts went to Brussels for five days in April 2007 to learn more about the European Union (EU). Member of the European Commission Janez Potonik, European Commissioner for Research, invited an international research team led by Professor Martin Holland, director of the National Centre for Research on Europe at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and Emory Professor Holli Semetko, to meet with director generals and debate how the EU is perceived from abroad. The event was organized by the European Science Foundation’s office on European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST), whose Director Dr. Martin Grabert welcomed the Emory seniors and whose COST Officer Dr. Julia Stamm accompanied them to meetings. The students participated in a conference at the COST offices in Brussels where the team of researchers from New Zealand, Asia, and the U.S. discussed external perceptions of the EU.

Trip participant Ana Bedayo shares with Emory in the World her Study Trip experience in Brussels.
In preparation for the trip, Dr. Semetko guided everyone in the class to design projects analyzing U.S. perceptions of the EU through different mediums. A team of four students, Todd Brehm, Holly Cato, Glenn Goncharow, and LeTiffany Obozele, conducted content analysis of the EU in print media through the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and Newsweek, respectively. Brett Zuckerman examined the visibility of EU citizens in the American film industry while Laurent Stemmler utilized Le Monde and the New York Times to compare and contrast French and American newsprint coverage of the EU. I designed a study to identify books and publications concerning the EU and the European Commission based on an analysis of holdings at the Library of Congress. Finally, we had a class with former EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gijs de Vries during our last meeting before the trip, as he was visiting Emory as a Halle Distinguished Fellow.

We departed Atlanta on April 17 and landed in Brussels early in the morning. After checking into our hotel, we reviewed our itinerary with Dr. Semetko over coffee. We then toured the city and had dinner with Dr. Julia Stamm, a corporate science officer with the COST office, who scheduled our meetings.

The next few days were full of meetings with various EU officials at their respective offices. A legislative assistant (equivalent to a senator’s chief of staff) to German Member of the European Parliament Vural Öger gave us a private tour of the European Parliament building while explaining the
intricacies of the functions of the Parliament. During a lunch hosted by Dr. Martin Grabert, director of the COST office, we learned about the organization and areas of cross-national scientific research in the EU.

We also visited the offices of the European Commission. Alain Servantie, head of the Unit for Information and Communication under the Directorate General for Enlargement, discussed the formation of the EU and the current issue of Turkey’s bid to enter. “Human rights was a key factor in its denial,” he explained. “A country cannot enter the EU if it allows the death penalty.” And with this he smiled and admitted, “Under this condition, the U.S. would not be allowed to enter the EU either, hypothetically speaking, of course.”

Andrew Fielding, senior official in the Directorate General of Communication information, explained his position and divulged some of the obstacles his office currently faces. “Communication implies accountability … and accountability implies interaction with your public,” he began. This meeting peaked my interest because I worked on a direct mail campaign during an internship. In the U.S., political campaigns have become increasingly professionalized, resulting in the advent of political consultants and media-savvy politicians. However, political campaigning in Europe is still making this transition. Fielding pointed out that the European Commission has only recently developed a proper “communication culture” that “systematically takes into account public information and consultation needs in all departments and at all levels, from the planning stage to delivery.” He added that the Commission had put its plans into action, having recently published a Europe-wide consultation White Paper on how to communicate more effectively. During the question and answer session I asked why the EU and its organizations did not utilize direct mail to communicate with their constituents as their American counterparts have. Fielding explained that due to the logistical and budgetary constraints faced by the EU, this method of communication had not yet been used.

The highlight of the trip was witnessing our professor present her findings at the conference at the COST office before fellow researchers and distinguished members of the European community. Dr. Semetko introduced each of her students by name.

The study trip also exposed us to unfamiliar aspects of European culture. We not only learned about the EU but also experienced pieces of everyday life. One of our group activities was a concert at La Monnaie, the Royal Opera House. In our spare time we visited museums, explored local grocery and clothing shops, and treated ourselves to Belgian chocolate. I will always carry with me a fond memory of feasting on escargots with Belgians at Place Ste-Catherine, but the image I most frequently recall is of our entire delegation outside of Chez Leon, a restaurant off Grand-Place. We had just finished a spectacular meal of mussels after our first day of meetings with European Commission officials and our smiles said it all, for we looked the way we felt.

The Halle Institute was established to foster learning through people-to-people interactions. I should like to think that our student delegation lived up to this purpose. This class began as a senior seminar composed of seven students. Through our shared experiences I leave it with six great friends, another inspiring mentor, and memories I will take with me wherever I go.

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Ana Bedayo graduated in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She began working for the Hillary for
President Exploratory Committee in August.