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Students in Professor of Government Sharon Rivera’s introductory comparative politics class (Govt 112) participated in a mock parliamentary debate on April 3 as part of a semester-long simulation staged in the fictional country of West Europa.

Alan Cafruny, the Henry Platt Bristol Chair of International Affairs and Professor of Government, gave an invited lecture based on his recently published book at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Now back on campus this fall for his junior year Alexandru Hirsu ’17 spent his summer exploring the impact that cooperation with the European Union has had on corruption in Romania through a Levitt Center Summer Research Fellowship. Hirsu, along with the Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs Alan Cafruny, will present on their findings during this fall’s Family Weekend.

Nejla Asimovic ’16 is spending her summer researching the accession of Serbia to the European Union (EU)  in an Emerson project under the guidance of Professor of Government Alan Cafruny. Early this year Serbia began formal membership discussions with the EU, bringing it one step closer to accession. Asimovic says the goal of her research is “to understand the remarkable transformation that Serbia has gone through over the last decade and to explore the remaining obstacles on Serbia’s path to EU accession.”

While planning her study abroad experience in France, Mary (Caroline) D’Ambro ’15 developed a deep interest in the political system of the country, particularly in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) that has affected the European Union (EU).  In her research sponsored by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, D’Ambro will study the past, present and future of this European agricultural policy.

Asle Toje, acting research director for the Norwegian Nobel Institute, visited Hamilton on March 8 to discuss the history of the Nobel Peace Prize and its most recent recipient, the European Union. As research director Toje is responsible for gathering information on Nobel candidates for review by the Nobel committee.

The lecture by Asle Toje, research director for the Norwegian Nobel Institute, originally scheduled for Thursday, March 7, has been rescheduled for Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m., in the Taylor Science Center, room 3024. Toje's original flight from Iceland was cancelled.

Asle Toje, research director for the Norwegian Nobel Institute, will present a lecture titled “The Nobel Peace Prize and the EU,” on Thursday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m., in the Bradford Auditorium, KJ. His lecture is sponsored by the Hamilton Government department and is free and open to the public.

Brigham Young University Professor Wade Jacoby visited Hamilton recently to lecture on Germany and the continued economic woes in Europe.  As Americans, we often view the Great Recession through the lens of our own experiences; however, Europe has found itself in an even more precarious position.  With inordinately high unemployment rates and debt-to-GDP ratios, many countries in the Eurozone are on the precipice of financial disaster.  Germany, however, has weathered the crisis fairly well.  As a result, European countries have turned to German Chancellor Angela Merkel for leadership, guidance and economic support.

Alan Cafruny, Henry Bristol Professor of International Affairs, and Ted Lehmann, assistant professor of government, contributed to the recently published Exploring the Global Financial Crisis, volume 18. It is part of the series Advances in International Political Economy, edited by Cafruny and Herman Schwartz (University of Virginia) under the sponsorship of the International Studies Association (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2013).