BCA's Annual Student Conferences
Each year, BCA hosts a fall and a spring conference for students on important global issues that is co-sponsored by AEGEE – the European Students’ Forum, and other institutions.
In the fall, the conference is focused on “Divided Societies” and is held in Derry/Londonderry where British and Irish identity has long been contested. The city, and the Magee campus of the University of Ulster, provides a perfect venue for exploring the issues that divide many societies throughout the world.
In the spring, the conference is focused on “European – U.S. Relations” and is held in Strasbourg, France, the home of several European institutions dedicated to creating a more peaceful world.
Both conferences are open to students attending BCA programs in Europe, American students studying abroad through other providers, as well as European students.
European - U.S. Relations
2010 Conference
When: March 11-14, 2011
Where: Strasbourg, France
BCA is pleased to announce the 8th Annual International Student Conference to be held in Strasbourg, France from March 11 to 14, 2011.
Since 2004, BCA has sponsored the annual conference so that students learn about important international issues and explore the character and future of U.S.-European relations, as well as the fundamental differences between the European Union and the United States.
About the Conference
Students and speakers from the U.S. and countries across Europe gather in Strasbourg to discuss the differences in politics, economy, culture and foreign policy between the United States and Europe.
Strasbourg, a much disputed region in European history, provides a poignant symbol of the possibilities of reconciliation between states, and of creating a more peaceful international order.
The conference brings together speakers from Britain, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland and the United States, as well as the European Commission, who provide students with broad historical context and lay a framework for discussion. Students then form their own international panels to emphasize their perspectives and provoke questions about the future.
The conference attracts many American students who are studying abroad from different U.S. colleges and universities including BCA programs in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain and England.
Past conference speakers and prominent guests have included the former BBC presenter and New Yorker magazine writer, Isabel Hilton; the United States political representative to the European Union, Lawrence Wohlers; Andras Biro, who won the “Alternative Nobel Prize” – the Right Livelihood Award in 1995; as well as faculty from the Institut de Etudes Politique in Strasbourg, and the Council of Europe, among others.
Why Attend?
Steve Kurz, a student from Cornell University in New York, who studied at the BCA program in Barcelona, articulated the sentiments of his fellow American students: “The BCA conference …was more than I had hoped for on many levels. Not only were the speakers intelligent, the topics relevant, and the debates thought provoking and meaningful, but I genuinely had a great time and will keep in touch with many new friends made over the week.”
Students interested in attending the conference can contact Dr. James Skelly at jskelly@BCAabroad.org with questions.
BCA students: Download an application...Non-BCA or European students: Download an application...
The deadline for applications to attend the conference is February 11, 2010.
Travel to Derry, Northern Ireland to participate in BCA's Annual Student Conference on Divided Societies. Click here for more ...
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Students,
Learn more about the 2009 student conference and join in on discussions with those who attended.
