About the EU Center Jean Monnet Chair

THE EU CENTER

"Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements" Schuman Declaration, May 9, 1950.
(The European Flag)
(The European Anthem)

Considered by many as a European Declaration of Inter-Dependency, the words of Robert Schuman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, inspired by the thinking of Jean Monnet, have been significantly relevant for the development of the study of the European Union at the University of Miami. Course by course, lecture by lecture, it has been one small step after another. The spillover method has been the norm. Aptly described by experts as the nature of the integration process that led to the formation of the European Union as it is today, from the concrete, smaller scale of pooling the coal and steel resources, today's realities at UM are the result of concrete activities.

European Union studies were initiated at the School of International Studies at the University of Miami as a scholarly response to the end of the Cold War at the end of the 1980s. At that time, the School was under the leadership of Professor Ambler H. Moss, Jr., as Dean, and Professor Enrique Baloyra (Havana 1943-Miami 1997), as Associate Dean. As an expansion of the courses on Spain's politics and foreign policy, offered by Professor Roy, Western Europe was incorporated into the curriculum through a course on contemporary European history and politics. In the first part of the 1990s, the core elements of these courses were developed into another pioneer course on the European Community, later to be renamed as The European Union: History, Institutions and Policies.

Simultaneously, with the support of generous grants from the European Commission and the Government of Spain, an Iberian Studies Institute (dedicated to the study of contemporary Spain) and a European Union Research Institute were founded as coordinating units for outreach activities, research, and publications. Over $1,500,000 was raised in the course of a decade to support these activities. The North-South Center of the University of Miami was an irreplaceable partner for these ventures, providing additional funding and expertise, especially in the field of publications.

The logical linkage with the Latin American area took shape with a course on European-Latin American Relations. The courses remained a solid part of the curriculum along with a reformed course on "Contemporary Spain: Politics and Foreign Relations". In 1999 a new course intended to deal with the increased external role of the EU was developed: "The European Union in the World". This course was enriched by a series of guest lectures offered during the Spring of 2001.

In the Summer of 2001, with the School of International Studies under the leadership of Dr. Andy Gómez as Interim Dean, the University of Miami was awarded (in a consortium with Florida International University) a European Union Center, one of the 15 in the United States. Upgraded to be European Union Centers of Excellence, now the network comprises 10 centers:

  1. University of California, Berkeley
  2. University of Colorado at Boulder
  3. Florida International University and the University of Miami
  4. University of Illinois, Urbana
  5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  6. University of Pittsburgh
  7. University of Texas at Austin
  8. University of Washington (Seattle)
  9. University of Wisconsin
  10. Washington, DC, Consortium (American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, The Johns Hopkins University)

THE JEAN MONNET CHAIR

In a separate act, the European Commission awarded Joaquín Roy a Jean Monnet Chair, one of only four in the United States granted in the initial year of 2001, since the opening of the program to countries others beyond the EU. In 2011, simultaneously with the award of the fourth consecutive cycle of the EU Center, a Jean Monnet Chair "ad personam" was awarded, the only one granted in the 2011 competition in the Americas.

In addition to these accomplishments and in recognition of the progress made in promoting the study of the EU, the Jean Monnet Chair of the University of Miami was chosen as a recipient of an EU Fellowship, to host an officer of the EU institutions for a semester or one year residency. Along the Center and Chair, this completes a "hat trick" as, inspired by Canadian hockey, soccer fans in Europe refer to a single player feat scoring of three goals. Only two other Centers in the Western Hemisphere have this triple honor.

The UM EU Center has received over $800,000 from the European Union and other institutions. In conjunction with FIU, the total contribution to the Miami-Dade EU Center of Excellence (MEUCE) exceeds $1,100,000. These financial resources have permitted:

  • the consolidation of 4 courses on the EU and other related courses in the International Studies curriculum
  • the enrichment of others in the schools of Business and Law
  • the offering of dozens of lectures, conferences and symposia on campus
  • a series of outreach activities in the Miami community and Florida
  • the organization of panels and seminars in international scholarly associations
  • lectures and symposia held in two continents, in 15 countries
  • the publication of 10 edited volumes and more than 500 papers/chapters
  • The development of 12 Ph. D. dissertations
  • Regular media impact in two languages in both continents

Most of the publication production is available on the Center/Jean Monnet website. See publications, books, papers.

EUROPEAN UNION FELLOWSHIP

List of 14 Universities:

  1. Harvard
  2. Yale
  3. Tufts
  4. Texas
  5. North Carolina/Duke
  6. Univ. of Southern California
  7. U Washington, Seattle
  8. George Mason
  9. Berkeley
  10. Pittsburgh
  11. New York U
  12. European University , Florence
  13. Singapore
  14. Miami

University of Miami grantees: